International news

US President Joe Biden said the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion will deny American women control of their own lives.

Ukrainian forces have been ordered to withdraw from the key battleground city of Sievierodonetsk after weeks of fierce street fighting, in order to limit more casualties and regroup, but the move will be seen by Russia as a significant victory.

Afghanistan lacks the medical supplies to treat those injured in an earthquake that killed more than 1,000 people this week, a senior official said, as an aftershock on Friday killed five more.

Two people were killed and 14 wounded in a shooting at a nightclub and in nearby streets in Norway's capital Oslo on Saturday.

The US Supreme Court on Friday took the dramatic step of overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that recognised a woman's constitutional right to an abortion and legalised it nationwide.

Authorities in Afghanistan have ended the search for survivors of an earthquake that killed 1,000 people, a senior official said on Friday, adding that supplies of medicine and other critical aid were inadequate.

Ukraine signalled on Friday its troops were withdrawing from the city of Sievierodonetsk, the scene of weeks of intense bombardments and street fighting, in a move that would be a significant setback in its struggle to defeat Russian forces.

Firefighters sought to contain a wildfire in southwestern Turkey from land and air on Friday as the blaze raged on for a third day, with windy conditions fanning the flames and spreading them through a forested area.

A bipartisan package of modest gun safety measures passed the U.S. Senate late on Thursday even as the Supreme Court broadly expanded gun rights by ruling Americans have a constitutional right to carry handguns in public for self-defence.

Afghan authorities struggled on Thursday to reach a remote area hit by an earthquake that killed 1,000 people but poor communications and a lack of proper roads hampered their efforts, officials said.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday hailed the European Union's expected offer of candidate status for his battle-weary nation, as Russian forces pounded Ukraine's second-biggest city Kharkiv and the eastern Donbas region.

Strikes crippled Britain's rail network on Thursday as union bosses, train operating firms and the government faced off over demands that workers' pay increases keep pace with surging inflation.

Nearly 1 in 5 American adults who reported having COVID-19 in the past are still having symptoms of long COVID, according to survey data collected in the first two weeks of June, US health officials said on Wednesday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continued to preside over the second day of the nation's major party meeting on its military and defence policies, the state media reported on Thursday, amid concerns over a potential imminent nuclear test.

The death toll from an earthquake in Afghanistan on Wednesday hit 1,000, disaster management officials said, with more than 600 injured.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey emphasised determination on a new period of cooperation in bilateral relations during talks in Ankara.

Authorities in Bangladesh intensified efforts on Wednesday to deliver food and drinking water to millions of people struggling after heavy rain unleashed catastrophic flooding across a quarter of the country.

Russian forces pounded Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv and surrounding countryside with rockets, killing at least 15 people, in what Kyiv called a bid to force it to pull resources from the main battlefield to protect civilians from attack.

Employees on the British train network around Liverpool have voted to accept a 7.1 per cent pay rise, a union said on Wednesday, after the first day of massive strikes across the region over pay.

The law enforcement response to the Uvalde school shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers was "an abject failure" in which a commander put the lives of officers over those of the children, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Director Steven McCraw said on Tuesday.

Denmark plans to offer a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose in the autumn to those who are over 50 years old, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Wednesday as she announced a strategy to curb the spread of the disease over the coming months.

Ukraine acknowledged difficulties in fighting in its east as Russian forces captured territory and intensified pressure on two cities ahead of an EU summit this week expected to welcome Kyiv's bid to join the bloc.

Floodwaters inundated more of Bangladesh and northeast India on Tuesday, officials said, as authorities struggled to reach more than 9.5 million people stranded with little food and drinking water after days of intense rain.

Dmitry Muratov, the co-winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize and the editor of one of Russia's last major independent newspapers, auctioned off his Nobel medal for a record $103.5 million to aid children displaced by the war in Ukraine.

Britain's biggest rail strike in 30 years kicked off on Tuesday as tens of thousands of staff walked out in a dispute over pay and jobs that could pave the way for widespread industrial action across the economy in the coming months.

Britain's biggest rail strike in 30 years will begin on Tuesday when tens of thousands of staff walk out in a pay dispute that unions warn could lead to coordinated action across other industries.

Police in Nepal's capital fired tear gas and charged at protesters with sticks on Monday to break up a demonstration by students against fuel price hikes, officials and witnesses said, in a sign of growing public discontent over rising inflation.

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday was faced with trying to salvage a ruling majority and with it his economic reform agenda after voters punished his centrist 'Ensemble' alliance in France's parliamentary election.

Authorities in India cancelled more than 500 trains services on Monday because of calls for protests by young men angry with a military recruitment plan that they say will rob them of the opportunity of a career in the armed forces.

At least 25 people were killed by lightning or landslides over the weekend in Bangladesh while millions were left marooned or homeless in low-lying northeastern parts hit by the worst monsoon floods in the country's recent history, officials said.

Brazilian federal police said five more suspects helped hide the bodies of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, after having already arrested three men for their murder in the Amazon rainforest.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy predicted Russia will escalate its attacks this week as European Union leaders consider whether to back his country's bid to join the bloc and Russia presses its campaign to win control of east Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine could last for years, the head of NATO said on Sunday, as Russia stepped up its assaults after the European Union recommended that Kyiv become a candidate to join the bloc.

Sara Duterte-Carpio, daughter of outgoing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, was sworn in as the country's 15th vice president on Sunday, calling for national unity following a divisive election campaign.

Voting was underway in France on Sunday in a parliamentary election that could deprive centrist President Emmanuel Macron of the absolute majority he needs to govern with a free hand.

Two people were killed and six were injured when suspected militants opened fire on a bus in southwestern Rwanda.

Sir Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, will be boarding Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity and blasting off to space on Sunday.

Singapore is reviewing penalties for violent offences following an outcry over a 12-day prison sentence for a student who strangled his girlfriend until she blacked out.