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A US fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that approached an American aircraft carrier in the Middle East on Tuesday, Washington said, as renewed tensions on the high seas overshadowed plans for nuclear talks.

British police Tuesday launched a criminal probe into the former UK ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, amid allegations he passed confidential information to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The United States is still planning talks with Iranian officials this week, the White House said Tuesday, even after a US warplane shot down an Iranian drone that approached an American aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.

Renowned American intellectual Noam Chomsky privately sympathized with Jeffrey Epstein over what he described as the "horrible way" the press treated the late sex offender, urging him in a 2019 email to lie low and avoid media "vultures."

French prosecutors on Tuesday demanded that an appeal court maintain a five-year ban on far-right leader Marine Le Pen from holding public office for a European parliament fraud, stepping up threats to her presidential ambitions.

Russia's economy grew by one percent in 2025, President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday, marking a much slower expansion compared to the 2024 figure as it stutters under the burden of the Ukraine war.

Jacob Bethell underlined his importance to England's T20 World Cup hopes as he spun them to a hard-fought 12-run win over Sri Lanka to complete a 3-0 clean sweep at Pallekele on Tuesday.

Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann on Tuesday backed Marc-Andre Ter Stegen in his bid to regain fitness ahead of the 2026 World Cup, after the goalkeeper's latest injury setback.

The face of the Brazilian president is omnipresent as a samba school rehearses its Carnival parade in front of thousands of spectators chanting the refrain of its theme song: "Ole, ole, ole, ola; Lula, Lula!"

The European Union must be "less naive" and "more transactional" in global climate negotiations and consider using financial and trade leverage to assert its position, the French ecology ministry said Tuesday.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro and US President Donald Trump held their first face-to-face talks at the White House on Tuesday, aiming to ease months of tensions over Venezuela and drugs.

Air India has begun inspecting fuel control switches on its 33 Boeing 787 aircraft after grounding a flight over a possible defect, according to a company note seen by AFP on Tuesday.

Washington has plans for a "prosperous and democratic" Venezuela, the new American envoy to Caracas said Tuesday, a month to the day after the deadly US military ouster of leader Nicolas Maduro.

Syrian government forces entered the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli on Tuesday as part of a deal agreed last week to gradually integrate the Kurds' forces and institutions into the state.

Lindsey Vonn will attempt to defy the odds and compete at the Winter Olympics despite a ruptured knee ligament, the US ski icon insisting on Tuesday that she will be at the starting gate when the women's events get underway at the weekend.

The World Health Organization on Tuesday appealed for $1 billion to tackle health crises this year across the world's 36 most severe emergencies, including in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and Afghanistan.

French authorities summoned billionaire Elon Musk to a "voluntary interview" and searched the local offices of his social media network X on Tuesday in a probe into alleged political interference and sexual deepfakes, prosecutors said.

Nearly four out of every 10 cancer cases could be prevented if people avoided a range of risk factors including smoking, drinking, air pollution and certain infections, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

The 29-year-old son of Norway's crown princess told an Oslo court on Tuesday that he did not rape four women, arguing that he perceived the sex as consensual.

The UK's former ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, is stepping down as a member of the upper house of parliament, it was announced Tuesday, as a scandal deepened over his ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The US House of Representatives is set to vote on Tuesday on a spending bill to end the partial government shutdown sparked by fury among Democrats over funding for the federal agency carrying out President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

Rights groups blasted Eswatini's education minister Tuesday for reportedly threatening to expel LGBTQ pupils from school, and demanded the government protect the right of every child to education.

Pfizer reported a quarterly loss Tuesday following a large write-down, denting shares as it confirmed 2026 financial targets with lower revenues.

Norwegian skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde announced Tuesday that he had pulled out of the Winter Olympics after failing to regain top form following a devastating crash two years ago.

US ski star Lindsey Vonn said Tuesday that she thinks she can compete at the Winter Olympics despite rupturing a knee ligament while crashing out in her most recent World Cup race.

The German government said Tuesday that it had acquired a stake in the local subsidiary of Dutch power grid operator TenneT, a strategic investment by Berlin in critical energy infrastructure.

French authorities summoned billionaire Elon Musk to a "voluntary interview" and searched the local offices of his social media network X on Tuesday in a probe into alleged political interference and sexual deepfakes, prosecutors said.

Finland is building a new fleet of icebreakers for the US but President Donald Trump's plans for Greenland, which he covets, and tense US-EU ties have raised concerns over the deal.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro extradited a drug lord to the United States early Tuesday morning, hours before his meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House.

The Walt Disney Company announced Tuesday that Josh D'Amaro, head of its theme parks division, will replace Bob Iger as chief executive when the entertainment titan steps down in March.

The Walt Disney Company announced Tuesday that Josh D'Amaro, head of its theme parks division, will replace Bob Iger as chief executive when the entertainment titan steps down in March.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that he was preparing to resume dialogue with Vladimir Putin nearly four years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine but stressed Moscow was not showing any "real willingness" to negotiate a ceasefire.