World

Almost 500 rhinos were killed by poachers in South Africa last year, up 11 percent on 2022, despite government efforts to tackle the illicit trade in horns, ministers said Tuesday.

The country is home to a large majority of the world's rhinos and a hotspot for poaching, which is driven by demand from Asia, where horns are used in traditional medicine for their supposed therapeutic effect.

The French government issued a decree Tuesday banning the term "steak" on the label of vegetarian products, saying it was reserved for meat alone.

Other terms that can no longer be used for meat-free products include "escalope", "ham", "filet" and "prime rib", according to the decree.

Hamas has received a draft proposal from Gaza truce talks in Paris for a pause in military operations and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages, a senior source close to the talks said on Tuesday.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Israel has agreed to halt military activities in Gaza for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as the Islamist group studied the draft proposal.

Australian police are investigating claims Taylor Swift's father -- nicknamed "Papa Swift" by her adoring fans -- punched a photographer while disembarking a superyacht in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

"Police have been told a 71-year-old man allegedly assaulted a 51-year-old man at Neutral Bay Wharf about 2:30 am, before leaving the location," police spokeswoman Alicia McCumstie told AFP.

Pundit Laura Ingraham was raked Monday night over a strange question she asked on Fox News Monday night: "Is Russia stronger now than it was under Trump?"

The video, when it hit X, spurred the obvious response, noting Vladimir Putin, not Trump, is the nation's president: "Russia was never under Trump."

Denmark became the latest country to close its investigation into the underwater explosions that caused leaks in two pipelines that were built to carry gas from Russia to Germany, with authorities saying they had found that "there was deliberate sabotage" of the infrastructure but would not go further in their probe to confirm who was behind the blasts.

"The assessment is that there are not sufficient grounds to pursue a criminal case," said the Danish police, prompting criticism from Russian officials and other critics.

German officials will investigate how Berlin film festival winners made "one-sided" comments condemning Israel's war in Gaza at the awards gala, a government spokeswoman said on Monday.

At Saturday's ceremony, several winners were accused of making anti-Semitic remarks on stage in relation to Israel's military assault, which began after an attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Hungary’s parliament voted Monday to ratify Sweden's bid to join NATO, bringing an end to more than 18 months of delays that have frustrated the alliance as it seeks to expand in response to Russia's war in Ukraine.

The vote, which passed with 188 votes for and six against, came as a culmination of months of wrangling by Hungary's allies to convince its nationalist government to lift its block on Sweden's membership. The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán submitted the protocols for approving Sweden's entry into NATO in July 2022, but the matter had stalled in parliament over opposition by governing party lawmakers.

Associates of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Monday that talks were underway shortly before his death to exchange him for a Russian imprisoned in Germany.

“Alexei Navalny could have been sitting here now, today. It's not a figure of speech,” Maria Pevchikh, who lives outside Russia, said in a video statement. She said she received confirmation the talks were in the “final stages” on February 15, the day before Navalny was reported dead.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is questioning whether Donald Trump is loyal to the nation he seeks to lead.

Zelensky told CNN that Trump would be "against Americans" if he supported Russia over Ukraine, and he said the former president did not understand the conflict or Vladimir Putin's intentions.

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg was in Japan on Monday on a mini-Asia tour involving sword-making, mixed-reality headsets in Seoul and reportedly also lavish pre-wedding celebrations for an Indian multi-billionaire's son.

Zuckerberg posted footage on Sunday on social media of a "special afternoon learning about making katanas" with a sword master, including of him hammering molten metal and swinging a blade.

Last August, the marathon swimming test events were cancelled because the water was too dirty, as were the swimming legs on two of the four days of triathlon and para-triathlon tests.

The city of Paris has insisted "there is no plan B".