WORLD

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte believes he has no case to answer at the International Criminal Court, his daughter said Sunday, and is confident he has a strong legal argument.

His life is one of speeches, masses and visits from heads of state. His doctors have advised against him meeting groups of people, to limit the risk of infection, so mingling with crowds of faithful and kissing babies is out, as may be visits from heads of state and government.

The Kremlin on Sunday downplayed expectations of a rapid resolution to the Ukraine conflict, saying talks were just beginning and that "difficult negotiations" lay ahead.

Israel's military pressed ground operations across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, urging Palestinians to flee an offensive in Rafah city nearly a week into a renewed assault on the Hamas-ruled territory.

Living in the gutted-out eastern Ukrainian city of Kostyantynivka, Maryna has learned to recognise the sound of the devastating Russian glide bombs that have pounded her city for months.

China's number two leader told a gathering of business executives in Beijing on Sunday that the country would pursue economic globalisation despite "fragmentation", a thinly veiled reference to trade turmoil sparked by US President Donald Trump.

Pope Francis is to return to his residence in the Vatican on Sunday after his doctors said that was the best place for him to recover following a five-week hospitalisation for pneumonia.

Tens of thousands of people in Paris and other French cities rallied against racism and the rise of the far right on Saturday.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement called on its Islamist rivals Hamas on Saturday to relinquish power in order to safeguard the "existence" of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Pope Francis is to leave hospital on Sunday and return to his residence in the Vatican, where he is to spend "at least two months" recovering, one of his doctors announced.

White House envoy Steve Witkoff has praised Vladimir Putin in glowing terms as trustworthy and said the Russian leader told him he had prayed for his "friend" US President Donald Trump when he was shot.

Hundreds of Russians placed flowers at Crocus City Hall in the Moscow suburb of Krasnogorsk Saturday, paying homage a year on to the 145 victims of the gun attack there.

When fighting first gripped the Sudanese capital in April 2023, quickly overwhelming Khartoum's hospitals, Dr. Safaa Ali faced an impossible choice: her family or her patients.

Israel conducted deadly strikes on Lebanon Saturday in response to a rocket attack from across the border, as militant group Hezbollah denied responsibility for the launch.

Moscow is hoping to achieve "some progress" at talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday, a Russian negotiator told state media some 48 hours before the United States meets delegations from both Ukraine and Russia in a bid to halt the three-year conflict.

Sudan's military said Saturday it seized several key buildings in central Khartoum from paramilitary control after army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan promised "full liberation" following the recapture of the presidential palace.

Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans took to the streets Saturday as rallies for and against the impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol intensified over the upcoming Constitutional Court's decision on whether to dismiss him.

More than 340 people were arrested following Turkey's biggest street protests in over a decade sparked by the detention of Istanbul's powerful opposition mayor, a minister said Saturday.

Pakistan detained a leading female Baloch rights activist on Saturday for holding a sit-in in southwestern Balochistan at which three protesters were also killed, police said.

Israel threatened a severe response to three rockets it said had been fired from Lebanon Saturday, prompting the Lebanese prime minister to warn the country risked being dragged into a "new war".

The United States said Friday it was terminating the legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, giving them weeks to leave the country.

His business is booming in India, but his golf courses have been vandalized in Ireland and Scotland, and he has had business setbacks in Indonesia: two months after his frenetic return to the White House, Donald Trump's brand has had mixed success worldwide.

Japan, China and South Korea's top diplomats hold talks in Tokyo on Saturday, aiming to bolster cooperation at a time when US trade tariffs are looming over the region.

Ukraine hopes to secure at least a partial ceasefire at upcoming talks in Saudi Arabia, during which US officials will meet separately with Russian and Ukrainian delegations, a senior Ukrainian source told AFP on Friday.

The UN warned Friday that all of Gaza's approximately one million children were facing "massive trauma" as fighting in the war-ravaged territory resumed, and amid dire aid shortages.

The EU may be scrambling to boost its defences in the face of Russia and unpredictable US President Donald Trump -- but low-spending Spain and Italy insist Brussels avoids saying "rearm".

Lawyers for Irish mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor's began an appeal Friday after a woman won a civil court damages claim over her allegation that he raped her.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened Friday to annex parts of the Gaza Strip unless Hamas militants release the remaining Israeli hostages held in the war-battered Palestinian territory.

Germany's upper house of parliament on Friday gave the final seal of approval to a massive spending package to build up the military and overhaul infrastructure.