Driver Tharaa Ali takes her seat at the helm of a high-speed train ferrying pilgrims to Makkah, a beneficiary of conservative Saudi Arabia's bid to employ its booming female workforce.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday dismissed a senior ally whose murky tax dealings have focussed anger at the government as a cost-of-living crisis brings misery to millions.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Saturday a "strong, swift and precise" response to a deadly Palestinian shooting attack near a synagogue on Jerusalem's outskirts, as its military sent more troops into the occupied West Bank.

The US city of Memphis on Saturday disbanded the special police unit whose officers fatally beat a young Black man, after graphic video of the assault sparked widespread shock and outrage.

At least 25 people died Saturday when a bus carrying 60 passengers plunged over a cliff in northwestern Peru, police said.

Aryna Sabalenka powered her way to a maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Kazakh 22nd seed Elena Rybakina on Saturday in a thrilling final.

The Israeli military was sending more troops into the occupied West Bank, a day after a Palestinian gunman shot dead seven people on the outskirts of Jerusalem and another shooting attack in the city yesterday wounded two people.

President Joe Biden on Friday named his former top Covid-19 aide Jeff Zients to White House chief of staff -- one of the most crucial positions in an administration gearing up for a likely re-election campaign.

People who criminalise homosexuality are "wrong", Pope Francis said in a letter published on Saturday, seeking to clarify earlier comments about homosexual acts being a "sin".

A four-star US Air Force general has warned of a conflict with China as early as 2025 -- most likely over Taiwan -- and urged his commanders to push their units to achieve maximum operational battle readiness this year.

Russia's defence ministry on Saturday accused the Ukrainian army of striking a hospital in the eastern Lugansk region, leaving 14 dead and injuring 24 others.

Israeli police said Saturday they had arrested 42 people following a deadly shooting at an east Jerusalem synagogue, including members of the Palestinian gunman's family.

Five people died and another 12 were unaccounted for after an improvised boat they were using to reach the United States from Cuba sank, official Cuban media reported Friday.

US President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday condemning what he called a "horrific terror attack" outside an east Jerusalem synagogue in which a Palestinian gunman killed seven people.

Seven people were killed and 10 were injured in a synagogue shooting attack on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Friday, Israel's foreign ministry said.

A truck-sized asteroid that suddenly loomed out of the darkness a few days ago -- with the Earth in its sights -- sailed harmlessly past us on Thursday, space scientists said.

Israeli jets struck Gaza overnight on Friday in retaliation for two rockets fired by Palestinian militants, further escalating tensions after one of the worst days of violence in the occupied West Bank in years.

US authorities on Thursday charged five former police officers with murder over the fatal beating of a Black man in Memphis, as the southern city braced for possible civil unrest and President Joe Biden urged demonstrators to protest peacefully.

Ukraine yesterday battled Russian troops trying to pierce its lines in the east and northeast before Kyiv takes delivery of tanks from its Western allies, saying the fighting showed it needed more weapons to repel the invaders.

The global chemical weapons watchdog yesterday blamed Syria for a 2018 chlorine attack that killed 43 people, in a long-awaited report on a case that sparked tensions between Damascus and the West.