WORLD

Syria has avoided getting embroiled in the Gaza war, experts said, despite a strike on Iran's Damascus consulate, blamed on Israel, that threatened to ignite a regional conflagration.

Blinken, in China for the second time in less than a year, met leading Chinese politicians in the capital Beijing, where US officials said he would directly raise crucial areas of difference including Russia, Taiwan and trade.

Both sides have stepped up attacks this week, with Hezbollah increasing rocket fire and Israel saying it had carried out "offensive action" across southern Lebanon.

Criticism of Qatar over its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas has prompted a rare pushback by the Gulf state against its detractors, analysts have said.

China's foreign minister warned Antony Blinken on Friday that US pressure could trigger a "downward spiral", as the visiting secretary of state raised concerns on issues including support for Russia.

Olga drew her index finger abruptly across her neck as she recounted the threats her husband levelled at her after he returned to Russia, wounded from fighting in Ukraine.

Columbia University backed off late Thursday from an overnight deadline for pro-Palestinian protesters to abandon an encampment there as more college campuses in the United States sought to prevent occupations from taking hold.

China on Friday urged US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to address rising disagreements or risk a "downward spiral" between the two powers as talks opened in Beijing.

The Bank of Japan was widely expected to keep its ultra-low interest rates unchanged Friday but analysts say the tumbling yen is putting pressure on officials to act.

The first jeepneys rolled onto the streets of the Philippines just after World War II -- noisy, smoke-belching vehicles initially made from leftover US Jeeps that became a national symbol.

The US Supreme Court heard arguments on Thursday on whether a former president is immune from criminal prosecution and appeared poised to issue a ruling that could further delay Donald Trump's trial on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election.

The UK on Thursday joined the United States and Canada in announcing a fresh set of sanctions against Iran's drone and missile industries after its recent attack on Israel.

Iranian authorities on Thursday faced pressure to release and clear a prominent rapper sentenced to death in a verdict supporters say is merely revenge for his music backing anti-government protests.

A long-awaited transitional ruling council was sworn in Thursday in violence-wracked Haiti, while the Caribbean nation's embattled prime minister Ariel Henry submitted his formal resignation.

Every metre that farmer Igor Kniazev ploughs in an east Ukrainian village holds the danger of mines, booby-traps and unexploded shells -- the remains of a nearly three-month Russian occupation that ended over a year ago.

A crew of three astronauts from China's Shenzhou-18 mission took off on a rocket bound for the Tiangong space station Thursday, the latest mission in Beijing's space programme that aims to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030.

The US economy cooled markedly in the first three months this year, expanding less than anticipated as consumer spending and exports decelerated, according to government data released on Thursday.

Exhausted Ukrainian soldiers near the front line were eagerly awaiting the arrival of desperately needed US weapons Thursday, with some bitter at how much the long wait has cost them.

On Day 202 of the raging Gaza war, tensions in Israel's northern border with Lebanon raises the risk of a new battle front even as the international community calls for de-escalation in the Middle East.

Palestinians on Thursday mourned over people killed in Israeli bombardment of Rafah, the southern Gaza city where Israel says it is advancing plans for a ground invasion.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday warned that Europe faced an existential threat from Russian aggression, calling on the continent to adopt a "credible" defence strategy less dependent on the United States.

More than 100 people were arrested Wednesday at two universities in California and Texas, officials said, after pro-Palestinian protests erupted across US campuses this week.

Police intervened as around 60 students gathered on a central Paris campus of the elite Sciences Po university on Wednesday evening, management said.

The blades of the windmill on top of the Moulin Rouge cabaret, one of the most famous landmarks in Paris, collapsed during the night, firefighters said Thursday, just months before the French capital hosts the Olympics.

Visiting the local Communist Party leader in a reception room with sweeping views of the Shanghai skyline, Blinken said President Joe Biden was committed to "direct and sustained" dialogue between the world's two largest economies after years of mounting tension.

Visitors entering the UNESCO World Heritage site for the day have to buy a five-euro ($5.3) ticket, with inspectors carrying out spot checks at key entry points.

Diving into the darkness of the Yangon River, Than Nyunt starts another murky sortie in his months-long mission to salvage a sunken ship using the power of the moon.

Taiwanese president-elect Lai Ching-te named his cabinet and security team appointees on Thursday as he prepares to take office next month.