WORLD

At first glance, it's a happy image -- hundreds of smiling faces torn from newspapers and pasted into a frame.

Israel's defence minister ordered the army on Thursday to start making preparations to allow for "voluntary" departures from the Gaza Strip, after US President Donald Trump floated a proposal to move Palestinians out of the territory.

At an open-cast mine, Abdullahi Ibrahim Danjija carefully chisels away at a hunk of whitish rock before stuffing a sack with the pieces which break off the walls.

Germany's former chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday urged politicians to dial back tensions ahead of elections this month after her centre-right CDU party sparked uproar by accepting the far right's support.

South Korean ministries and police said Thursday they were blocking DeepSeek's access to work computers, after the Chinese AI startup did not respond to a data watchdog request about how it manages user information.

Turkey on Thursday commemorates the second anniversary of the February 6, 2023 earthquake, which claimed nearly 60,000 lives including in neighbouring Syria and turned entire cities into ruins.

The UN chief warned Wednesday against ethnic cleansing in Gaza as he rejected US President Donald Trump's bombshell proposal for the United States to take control of the Palestinian territory and displace all its people.

Ten "high-threat illegal aliens" have arrived at Guantanamo and are being held at the notorious American base in Cuba, the Pentagon said Wednesday, without providing details on their alleged offenses.

Mattel says it plans to raise toy prices to counter the 10% China tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump.

World leaders condemn Trump's plan to take over Gaza and expel Palestinians, calling it "ethnic cleansing" and a violation of international law.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was seeking cooperation on migration Wednesday in Guatemala, whose leader, an anti-corruption advocate, is eager to please the new US administration to bolster his standing at home.

Wild monkeys egged on by YouTubers have been rampaging at Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat complex, attacking tourists, wrecking temple stonework and damaging information boards, officials said Wednesday.

Japanese police said they have arrested seven people suspected of running an illegal sex business that reportedly targeted tourists in Tokyo's busy red-light district.

The Kremlin on Wednesday dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying he was ready for direct talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as "empty words".

Philippine lawmakers on Wednesday voted to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, who has fallen out spectacularly with the country's leader, paving the way for a Senate trial that could see her removed from office.

The leaning minaret of Mosul in northern Iraq has been restored using its original brickwork, years after it was reduced to rubble under Islamic State group rule.

Sweden on Wednesday was recovering from the deadliest mass shooting in its history after 10 people -- as well as the suspected gunman -- were killed at an education centre in the city of Orebro, with many questions still unanswered.

India's Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a ritual river dip on Wednesday at the world's largest religious festival, a week after a stampede killed at least 30 pilgrims.

Myanmar's junta failed in its attempt to auction Aung San Suu Kyi's lakeside mansion on Wednesday, with no bids submitted for the former democracy leader's home -- the third time the sale has flopped.

President Donald Trump's suggestion that the U.S. should "take over the Gaza Strip" and develop the disputed territory into "the Riviera of the Middle East" drew sharp actions across the globe and political spectrum on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump sent shockwaves around the world Tuesday night by announcing the U.S. could "take over the Gaza Strip" and "develop" the disputed territory.

The US Treasury said Tuesday that Elon Musk's government reform team can read data from its highly sensitive payment system but not alter it, after Democratic lawmakers raised the alarm over the move and called for an investigation.

World leaders and people should respect Palestinians' desire to remain in Gaza, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations said Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump said he believed people from the territory should be resettled elsewhere "permanently."

Trump said the key is to find an "alternative" for refugees of Gaza, which he called a "demolition zone" that "has been unlucky" for its citizens.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday backed an offer by El Salvador to take in prisoners -- including US citizens -- despite clear legal problems with such an outsourcing under American law.

As Elon Musk and his aides take control of the US Treasury's payments system, the drastic job cuts and other shake-ups he instituted on buying Twitter may offer a preview of what government workers can expect.

Linn could not get the thought of "blood everywhere" out of her head after her usually quiet town of Orebro on Tuesday became the scene of the worst mass shooting in Swedish history.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday lashed out at authoritarian left-wing regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, accusing them of being "enemies of humanity" and of causing a regional migration crisis.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Palestinians would "love" to leave their embattled homeland in Gaza and live elsewhere if given an option.