AFP news

Leaders and diplomats the world over expressed condolences and offered their support for Morocco Saturday after a devastating earthquake struck the mountains southwest of Marrakesh.

Millet crisps -- twice over -- and millet pudding: the G20 leaders were served a vegetarian gala dinner on Saturday showcasing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's favourite grain.

The United States confirmed Friday that it seized a tanker load of Iranian oil in April, just before Iran seized two vessels in the Gulf region, in the Justice Department's first official statement on the incident.

The old city, or medina, of Marrakesh is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, drawing tourists who help account for about seven percent of Morocco's economy.

Firefighters backed by the army were rescuing hundreds of people Saturday in villages in central Greece blocked off by floods that have claimed at least 10 lives.

A world facing catastrophic climate change is perilously off course in meeting goals for slashing carbon pollution and boosting finance for the developing world, according to the UN's first official progress report out Friday.

A broad alliance of states on Saturday unveiled ambitious plans to create a modern-day Spice Route linking Europe, the Middle East and India, boosting trade ties with potentially wide-ranging geopolitical implications.

More than 50 world sites hope for inclusion on the UN's coveted heritage list at a meeting opening in Riyadh Sunday, while some incumbents, including Venice and Kyiv, face the risk of a downgrade.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has stripped Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas of the French capital's highest honour after he made remarks about the Holocaust that echoed anti-Semitic tropes, her office said on Friday.

Ukraine denounced what it called "fake elections" being held by Moscow on its occupied territory Friday, while Russian air strikes across the country killed four people and wounded dozens more.

Global rice prices reached a 15-year high in August after top exporter India banned some overseas sales of the grain, the Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday.

Ukraine on Friday said four people were killed and dozens injured as Russia launched a new wave of air strikes in the centre and east of the country.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has said that he prevented a Ukrainian attack on a Russian Navy base last year by declining Kyiv's request to activate internet access in the Black Sea near Moscow-annexed Crimea.

A disgraced Turkish crypto founder who fled to Albania and his two brothers have been sentenced to 11,196 years in jail each, the Anadolu state news agency reported Friday.

G20 leaders began to descend on New Delhi Friday, hoping to make progress on trade, climate and a host of other global problems despite the Chinese and Russian presidents skipping the summit.

A policeman waves reporters away from a desert prison in Xinjiang, part of a network of detention facilities transformed by China's shifting policies in the northwestern region.

Homes of people who went missing in China's crackdown on its Muslim minorities stand locked and silent in Xinjiang's rural heartland.

Russia "must stop" its blockade of Ukrainian seaports after pulling out of a United Nations and Turkey-mediated deal to ensure grain shipments, European Council president Charles Michel said Friday.

G20 leaders meet this weekend during what is likely the hottest year in human history, but hopes are slim that the divided grouping can agree ambitious action on the crisis.

President Joe Biden arrives in Vietnam on Sunday on a mission to bolster US influence, but the heavy emphasis on countering rival China will likely confine human rights concerns to the margins.

Stocks sank again Friday after another report pointing to a resilient US jobs market added to the misery for investors who fear the Federal Reserve is not finished with its campaign of monetary tightening.

North Korea on Friday announced it had built a "tactical nuclear attack submarine" as part of its effort to strengthen its naval force, the state news agency KCNA reported.

Divided G20 leaders will descend on New Delhi from Friday, with host Prime Minister Narendra Modi seizing a chance to occupy the geopolitical centre stage and hammer home India's growing diplomatic clout.

Astronomers have discovered the first "bubble of galaxies," an almost unimaginably huge cosmic structure thought to be a fossilised remnant from just after the Big Bang sitting in our galactic backyard.

France's top administrative court on Thursday upheld a government ban on traditional over-garments worn by some Muslim women in schools and rejected complaints it was discriminatory and could incite hatred.

US President Joe Biden headed for the G20 in India on Thursday promising that the summit would "deliver" despite the absence of the Chinese and Russian leaders.

Apple shares fell sharply for a second straight session Thursday following reports of significant Chinese restrictions on iPhones at government offices and state-backed entities.

Armenia on Thursday accused arch-foe Azerbaijan of preparing a "fresh military provocation" by massing troops on their border and near the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Renewables funding, global finance reform and carbon taxes head the demands formulated by African nations at a summit in Nairobi this week as the world heads towards annual climate negotiations.