Russia shot down three drones over its northern Murmansk region on Wednesday, more than 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles) from Ukraine, the regional governor said.

Iran and Iraq on Wednesday signed more than a dozen agreements to deepen already strong ties as Masoud Pezeshkian visited Baghdad on his first foreign trip as president of the Islamic republic.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump shook hands Wednesday at New York's 9/11 memorial to mark the anniversary of the attacks, hours after they clashed in a combustible TV debate

The evacuees have taken temporary shelter at schools and community centres away from the volcano, city information officer Edna Lhou Masicampo told AFP on Wednesday.

Fin whales are the world's second-biggest animal after the blue whale.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump battled it out over immigration, abortion, Israel, and their respective approaches to policy and performance in their pivotal presidential debate, as the nation barrels toward the November 5 election

Outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had pushed hard for the reform and criticized the current judicial system for serving the interests of the political and economic elite.

Anti-war protesters set bins alight and threw horse manure at police during clashes in Australia on Wednesday, with officers arresting 33 people and using tear gas, stun grenades and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

The main drive behind the plan, however, "is the need to constantly innovate railway technology, and that could in turn help address labour shortage and other issues", a JR East spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.

Alcohol is outlawed in Afghanistan but caffeine-rich energy drinks are consumed by all, from secret police to children, and advertised on billboards more than even Taliban state propaganda.

Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, arrived in neighbouring Iraq on Wednesday on his first foreign visit since taking office, the Iraqi prime minister's office said.

Taylor Swift, a self-declared "childless cat lady," has endorsed Kamala Harris for president of the United States.

AFP fact-checked the accuracy of what both contenders said on key issues:

Trump and Harris clashed over issues such as immigration, foreign policy and healthcare, but the debate was light on specific policy details.

The ambitious mission, dubbed Polaris Dawn, is being carried out on a SpaceX capsule that launched early Tuesday from Florida

Canada has suspended some 30 permits for arms shipments to Israel, including a rare move against a US company's Canadian subsdiary's deal with the US government

Heading into the debate, there was a question as to how Harris and Trump, who have never met, would greet each other.

A former prosecutor, Harris, 59, appeared to get under the former president's skin with a series of sharp attacks, prompting a visibly angry Trump to deliver a stream of falsehood-filled retorts.

Pakistani police arrested several lawmakers and leaders of ex-prime minister Imran Khan’s party in midnight raids a day after it held a major rally in the capital to demand his release, the party and police said yesterday.

Israeli strikes tore a huge crater, set tents ablaze and buried Palestinian families alive under sand in a supposedly safe zone of southern Gaza before dawn yesterday, killing or wounding scores of people, according to Palestinian officials.