Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to deepen their strategic partnership in Beijing on Thursday, in a stark show of their growing alignment as Moscow’s troops advance in Ukraine. Putin — whose delegation includes top defense and security officials — was welcomed by Xi to Beijing’s Great Hall of the People earlier with full military pageantry, heralding ...

“Everything is possible and is on the table, including the downgrade of the relations. But we are not there yet. We are talking to the Israelis, trying to explain and reach a consensus,” the official said. The official said that coordination between the two countries on the Rafah operation, which Egypt has publicly opposed, “didn’t go well. And that’s why ...

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly rule out Israeli governance over Gaza and to lay out his post-war plans, warning that he opposes Israeli rule in the Palestinian enclave. “The ‘day after Hamas,’ will only be achieved with Palestinian entities taking control of Gaza, accompanied by international actors, establishing a governing alternative to Hamas’ ...

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico was hospitalized on Wednesday after he was shot five times in an assassination attempt that shocked the country. The attack took place after an off-site government meeting in the central Slovak town of Handlova. The suspected gunman was among a small crowd of people waiting to greet the prime minister on the street outside the ...

Whitaker would go on to earn the nickname “Snakeman of India,” and spend more than six decades dedicated to reptile research and conservation. He’s written several books on snakes, spearheaded a lifesaving anti-venom program, and launched wildlife research stations throughout the country. His field work with snakes and crocodiles ultimately led his conservation efforts to help save India’s rainforests. Today, ...

Pro-Palestinian protesters occupying a building at the University of Melbourne have been told to leave by university officials, who say they’ve “crossed a line” by entering the building and disrupting class for thousands of students. “Students have a right to protest but that is not a blank check,” said the university’s Deputy Vice Chancellor Michael Wesley in a video message ...

A young activist jailed for insulting Thailand’s monarchy died on Tuesday following a prolonged hunger strike, officials said, prompting an outpouring of grief and renewed calls for justice reform in the Southeast Asian kingdom Netiporn “Bung” Sanesangkhom, 28, died after suffering a “sudden cardiac arrest,” Thailand’s Corrections Department said in a statement. A medical team tried to resuscitate her before transferring her ...

Deadly violence on the French island of New Caledonia erupted for a third day Wednesday, with armed clashes between protesters, militias and police, and buildings and cars set on fire in the capital of the South Pacific archipelago. At least three people have been shot dead during the unrest, which is considered the worst since the 1980s, and prompted authorities to ...

There was no doubting the message from Antony Blinken’s musical debut in Kyiv on Tuesday night. The US secretary of state made a surprise appearance on stage in a bar in Kyiv, as he appeared alongside Ukrainian band 19.99 in a rendition of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.” Blinken, who played guitar with the punk/jazz band and even ...

A deadly heat wave in Gaza in April, which saw punishing temperatures worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis, was made hotter and more likely by the human-caused climate crisis, according to an analysis published Tuesday. Gaza was not alone. Several heat waves spanning a vast area of the Asian continent last month during the world’s hottest April on record were made more ...