Opinion

As he gears up for his first Christmas as leader of the world's Catholics, Pope Leo XIV is starting to show more noticeable differences in leadership style with his predecessor Francis.

Residents in the remote Turkmen village of Bokurdak have long depended on the Karakum Desert for their livelihoods, cultivating every square metre they can in a constant battle with nature.

A US blockade of Venezuelan oil shipments could slash production and halve exports of the country's most valuable commodity, tipping its economy even deeper into crisis, experts say.

Nearly a million young Ukrainians are still living in an eternal lockdown, doing either all or part of their lessons online.

The Arctic has experienced its hottest year since records began, a US science agency announced.