U.S.-funded contraceptives worth nearly $10 million are being sent to France from Belgium to be incinerated, after Washington rejected offers from the United Nations and family planning organisations to buy or ship the supplies to poor nations,

In 1958, amendment of the McMahon Act updated the special partnership with Britain in the nuclear weapons sphere. Nuclear military technology was shared with the British, and the U.S. played an active role in supplying a credible nuclear deterrent to the close ally.

Twenty-five countries including Britain, France and Canada, have called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza.

France's foreign minister urged Israel on Tuesday to allow international journalists into the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza to "bear witness" to the situation after 21 months of war. The United Nations and human rights groups say Gaza and its population of more than two million people face famine-like conditions,

The group bluntly criticised the way humanitarian aid is being allowed into Gaza, calling it a "drip feeding" system that fails to meet basic needs. They pointed out that more than 800 people have been killed while trying to collect food.

Malaysia, together with ASEAN member states, is proposing reforms to the veto power held by the five permanent members (P5) of the United Nations