Colombia's leftist president ramped up denunciations of Donald Trump's anti-drug air strikes and swatted aside US threats to freeze hundreds of millions of dollars in aid Thursday.

The Trump administration is gearing up to defend its new H-1B visa policy in court, amidst multiple lawsuits challenging the $100,000 fee imposed on new visa applicants.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said military brotherhood between his country and Russia would "advance non-stop", state media KCNA reported on Friday.

At least one US B-1B bomber flew over the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela Thursday, flight tracking data showed, the second such show of force by US military aircraft in a week.

US President Donald Trump embarks on a major trip to Asia this week with all eyes on a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that has huge implications for the global economy.

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Israel was "not going to do anything" in the West Bank, after Israeli lawmakers advanced bills paving the way for annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory.

Brazilian senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, on Thursday urged the United States to bomb boats in Rio de Janeiro to fight drug trafficking, as it has done in the Caribbean and Pacific.

European Union leaders on Thursday endorsed a plan to ensure that Europe can defend itself against an outside attack by the end of the decade as concern mounts that Russia is already probing the 27-nation bloc's defences.

A fragile ceasefire has brought respite to Gazans exhausted by two years of fighting, but even without the daily bombing, they are struggling to live amid the catastrophic destruction wrought by the war.

President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who created the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Apple lost a UK lawsuit Thursday, which accuses the US tech giant of abusing the dominant position of its App Store, with claimants seeking more than 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) in damages.

Pakistan on Thursday banned the far-right Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) under anti-terrorism laws, following deadly clashes during anti-Israel protests near Lahore that left at least five people dead.

Stocks are drifting on Wall Street, and oil prices are jumping after President Donald Trump announced "massive" new sanctions on Russia's crude industry. The S&P 500 rose 0.1 per cent in the early going on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday the latest US sanctions targeting two major oil firms were "serious", but not strong enough to significantly affect the economy.

A 13-year-old boy in New Zealand had part of his bowel surgically removed after swallowing nearly 200 neodymium magnets.

An 18-year-old Indian student, recipient of the UAE Golden Visa, died of cardiac arrest in Dubai during Diwali celebrations, local media reported.

Doctors have long known that heat puts a strain on the heart, kidneys and other organs. Those risks are exacerbated for pregnant people, as the body's processes for staying cool are altered.

Border closures between Pakistan and Afghanistan have pushed up prices of essential goods in both nations, with tomatoes now costing five times more in Pakistan since fighting broke out between the two South Asian neighbours this month.

French magistrates this summer issued a new arrest warrant against ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad over deadly chemical attacks in 2013, a judicial source said on Thursday.

The World Health Organisation said Thursday there had been little improvement in the amount of aid going into Gaza since a ceasefire took hold, and no observable reduction in hunger.