AFP news

Invasive species that wreck crops, ravage forests, spread disease, and upend ecosystems are spreading ever faster across the globe, and humanity has not been able to stem the tide, a major scientific assessment said Monday.

Russia damaged a grain export hub in a massive drone attack, Ukrainian officials said Monday, as Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Moscow hoping to revive the deal allowing Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea.

Premier Li Qiang will lead China's delegation to the G20 summit in India this weekend, Beijing said Monday, all but confirming President Xi Jinping will snub the meeting of the world's biggest economies.

France on Monday was due to receive five Afghan women "threatened by the Taliban" after repeated requests it create a humanitarian corridor for women shut out of public life, an official said.

Turkey's annual inflation approached 60 percent last month, official data showed Monday, putting pressure on the central bank to further hike interest rates at the risk of angering President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The United Arab Emirates has set up a regulatory body for "commercial gaming" -- a step which could potentially allow for casino licences in the Arab Gulf state where gambling is currently banned.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday in a long-shot bid to revive a Ukrainian grain export agreement in time for the autumn harvest.

The general who came to power in Gabon's coup last week is to be sworn in as "transitional president" on Monday, taking control for an unspecified period after overthrowing the country's 55-year Bongo dynasty.

Asian stocks rose Monday on hopes the Federal Reserve has come to the end of its interest rate hiking cycle following a positive US jobs report.

Algeria said Sunday its security forces had opened fire this week after a group of jet skiers from Morocco ignored warning shots and refused to comply with orders to stop.

Oleksiy Reznikov, who was replaced as Ukraine's defence minister on Sunday, was appointed three months before Russia's invasion and led efforts to equip Ukraine's forces with modern weaponry from allies.

Israel's foreign minister arrived in Bahrain Sunday for talks with senior officials, state media reported, in his first visit to one of the Gulf Arab states with ties to Israel.

Venice hosted an unprecedented collaboration between Israeli and Iranian filmmakers, who say there are similarities between their governments and hope they can set an example for greater unity between their people.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday announced the departure of defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov, calling for "new approaches" a year and a half into Russia's invasion.

Five civilians were killed by bombs that "fell on their homes" in Khartoum, a Sudanese medical source told AFP, a day after an air strike in the city's south killed at least 20 civilians.

Across the globe, data servers are humming, consuming both megawatts and precious natural resources to bring life to our digital world.

On the approach to Malaysia's $100-billion island megaproject backed by Chinese investment, a collapsed bridge forces drivers to detour before they reach an artificial city emerging from palm oil trees where condos, roads and shops lay empty.

Chronic electricity shortages had shaped the daily lives of Libyans since the fall of Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed 2011 uprising.

Young Saudis wander through a museum of video game history stretching from the original Pac-Man to PlayStation 5, a project intended to inspire them to create their own blockbuster titles.

The Nobel Foundation said Saturday it was reversing its decision to invite ambassadors from Russia and Belarus to this year's Nobel award ceremony in Stockholm, after the move sparked a backlash.

Thousands of Pakistan traders shuttered their shops on Saturday, striking over soaring energy and fuel bills stirring widespread discontent ahead of national elections.

Chinese developer Country Garden has won approval from creditors to extend a deadline for a key bond repayment, narrowly avoiding a potential default, Bloomberg reported Saturday.

Few things were beyond the reach of billionaire Egyptian tycoon Mohamed Al-Fayed who has died at the age of 94.

Some of Ukraine's allies have started wondering whether the counteroffensive against Russia is getting bogged down, to the irritation of Kyiv which says it needs more weapons, not criticism.

Russia on Friday added respected journalist and Nobel Prize co-recipient Dmitry Muratov to its list of foreign agents, a label authorities commonly use to stifle critics.

Makar and Nadiya Mikhailyuk chatter excitedly as they get ready for their first day back at school in Ukraine, after they and their mother moved back from Poland.

NASA has spotted a small new crater on the Moon that was likely caused by a Russian probe crash landing on the surface around two weeks ago.

Morocco has begun an investigation into the death of a French-Moroccan after he and another Moroccan on jet skis were shot dead by Algerian coastguards, media reports said Friday.

Ukraine's military intelligence said Friday that a recent drone attack on an airport in northwestern Russia which damaged several transport planes was carried out from within Russian territory.