Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of Bangladesh's former President Ziaur Rahman and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, is returning to the country after nearly 17 years in self-imposed exile.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas on Wednesday of violating the Gaza ceasefire agreement after a military officer was wounded by an explosive device in Rafah and Israel vowed retaliation.

Pope Leo XIV held the first Christmas mass of his pontificate on Wednesday, greeting thousands of faithful in St Peter's Square before the service in an usually informal style.

An explosion ripped through a mosque in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri and killed at least seven worshippers Wednesday, witnesses and security sources told AFP.

The Justice Department said Wednesday that finishing the release of all of the Jeffrey Epstein files could take a "few more weeks," further delaying compliance with a Dec. 19 deadline set by Congress.

Scouts marched under a clear blue sky in Bethlehem on Wednesday, as the Palestinian city emerged from the shadow of the war in Gaza to celebrate its first festive Christmas in more than two years.

Amid mounting concerns over press freedom in Bangladesh, a fresh intimidation episode has surfaced just days after violent attacks on leading newspaper offices drew international outrage.

Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro, imprisoned for attempting a coup, was temporarily released Wednesday to undergo surgery in the capital Brasilia, a source at the clinic told AFP.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that the country would invest $110 billion over the next 10 years to develop an independent arms industry.

Precious and industrial metals are surging to record highs as the year ends, driven by economic and geopolitical uncertainty, robust industrial demand and, in some cases, tight supply.

As the ongoing military conflict between the two nations drags on, New Delhi said that such "disrespectful" acts hurt sentiments of followers around the world and "should not take place".

A man was killed on Wednesday evening after assailants threw a crude explosive from a flyover in the Mogbazar area of the Bangladeshi capital, police said.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has recounted a sequence of events that placed him in close proximity to one of the Middle East's most high-profile assassinations in recent years -- the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Russia plans to put a nuclear power plant on the moon in the next decade to supply its lunar space programme and a joint Russian-Chinese research station, as major powers rush to explore the earth's only natural satellite.

A Pentagon report submitted to the US Congress has flagged China's claim over Arunachal Pradesh as part of its stated "core interests". The document states that China is not open to negotiation or compromise on these interests.

As supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) celebrate the return of Tarique Rahman to the country after 17 years, attention has shifted to the policies the party is likely to pursue under his leadership.

As the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia drags on, a Cambodian official has accused Bangkok of destroying a statue of Lord Vishnu in a disputed border area.

A video posted online captures the moment a small, fast-moving Ukrainian interceptor drone closes in on -- and destroys -- a Russian jet-powered Shahed suicide drone at altitude.

For the present idea of Bangladeshi nationalism, a Hindu factory worker claiming that God is one and the same for everyone, despite different names, is an inconvenience. It hasn't been a new inconvenience, though.

Viraansh Bhanushali, a Mumbai-born law student at Oxford University, has recently gone viral for his hard-hitting address at a high-profile debate on India-Pakistan relations at Britain's prestigious Oxford Union.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed details of the latest US-led plan to end the war in Ukraine, saying it had been agreed between negotiators from Kyiv and Washington and sent to Moscow for feedback.

A small airplane landed safely on its own, using a special autopilot system called Garmin Autoland, after an in-flight emergency in Colorado, US.

YouTuber and travel vlogger Adam Williams, popularly known as Adam the Woo, left fans in shock after posting a cheerful holiday video just a day before his body was discovered at his Florida home.

US trade officials determined that China should be punished for employing unfair tactics to dominate the semiconductor industry, but will wait 18 months to impose tariffs, American authorities said Tuesday.

Mary-Jane Parker was attacked by cows while hiking in Newtonmore and survived by pretending to be dead.