AFP news

The UN climate conference opens in Dubai on Thursday with nations urged to increase the pace of action on global warming and phase out fossil fuels, amid intense scrutiny of oil-rich hosts UAE. The two-week-long climate negotiations being held this year in the glitzy Gulf city come at a pivotal moment, with emissions still rising and this year likely to be the hottest in human history.

The UN's former climate chief said she was "giving up hope" that fossil fuel firms will be part of the solution to warming as pivotal COP28 talks start Thursday in oil-rich United Arab Emirates.

Hours after the traumatic October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Michael and his wife knew they had to abandon their Tel Aviv home and flee to the nearest destination, Athens, for the sake of their family.

Henry Kissinger, the relentlessly ambitious US diplomat whose unapologetic promotion of raw American power helped shape the post-World War II world, died Wednesday, his consulting firm said.

They are ambitious and relatively young leaders whose passionate views about running their large, powerful states offer contrasting ideals on how the deeply-polarized United States should be run.

The Emirati host of the UN climate conference in Dubai denied Wednesday reports that he used his presidency of the crucial talks on global warming to pursue fossil fuels deals.

High in remote mountains in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, a new plant will soon take atmospheric CO2 and pump it into rock -- part of controversial attempts to target planet-heating emissions without abandoning fossil fuels.

Four-year-old American hostage Abigail is surrounded by family in Israel who "brought her life back" after seven weeks of captivity, her great aunt said Wednesday, as relatives stressed they will not rest until everyone held by Hamas is freed.

A US Osprey military aircraft with eight crew on board crashed on Wednesday off a Japanese island, the coastguard said, in the latest accident involving the tilt-rotor military aircraft.

After 17 days trapped inside a collapsed Himalayan road tunnel they were building, Indian workers described the horror of their ordeal, and the hopes and prayers that kept them strong.

"All views are welcome. All views are needed," declared Sultan Al Jaber, president of the UN's COP28 and head of the Emirates state oil and gas company in the run-up to the climate talks in Dubai.

Ecuador's new president and vice president have been in office less than a week -- but it's already clear no love is lost between them.

The Dutch version of a new book about the British Royal Family has been withdrawn amid reports it accidentally revealed which royal commented about the skin colour of Harry and Meghan's baby.

The death toll from floods that have devastated many parts of Kenya has almost doubled to 120, a government official said on Tuesday.

British airline Virgin Atlantic on Tuesday piloted the first long-haul flight powered entirely by Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), an event environmental groups labelled "greenwashing".

A year after the history-making release of ChatGPT, the AI revolution is here, but the recent boardroom crisis at OpenAI, the super app's company, has erased any doubt that Big Tech is in charge.

Finland's prime minister said Tuesday the country will shut its last border crossing with Russia, following an influx of migrants which Helsinki claims is a hybrid attack orchestrated by Moscow.

Liverpool and their Premier League counterparts West Ham United and Brighton can all clinch spots in the knockout phase of the Europa League this Thursday with a round of group games to spare, while troubled Ajax face elimination from the competition.

Global revenues from women's sport will top $1 billion for the first time in 2024 thanks to an explosion in popularity, according to financial experts Deloitte.

From Hamas's brutal attacks in Israel, and the fierce retribution it provoked, to the kiss that caused a revolt in Spanish football, here are 10 events that marked a tumultuous 2023: - Israel-Gaza war - On October 7, hundreds of Hamas gunmen pour across the border from Gaza, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 240 people hostage in the worst attack in Israel's history, traumatising the country and stunning the world.

Hong Kong's largest-ever national security trial began final arguments Wednesday, more than 1,000 days after authorities filed charges against 47 democracy activists under a law imposed by China to quell dissent.

The United States on Tuesday sent the first of three military planes to Egypt to bring vital humanitarian aid for Gaza, promising to assist Palestinians during a truce between Hamas and US ally Israel.

Charlie Munger, the longtime friend and business partner of famed US investor Warren Buffett, died on Tuesday at the age of 99, his employer has confirmed.

North Korea's ambassador made a rare appearance at the UN Security Council on Monday to defend his country's launch of a spy satellite, as leader Kim Jong Un studied images including of the White House and Pentagon.

In their studio in Bristol, western England, rescue dogs Rosie and Alba are hard at work on their canvases, redefining the essence of abstract art -- one tail swish at a time.

From Italy's ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi to rock queen Tina Turner and Wagner warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, here are some of 2023's most notable deaths.

The White House said on Monday a "robust" US delegation would attend a key UN climate summit in Dubai despite the fact that President Joe Biden is planning to miss it.

The fashion industry's enormous waste problem is pushing governments, particularly in Europe, towards ambitious recycling targets.

Could Donald Trump make a comeback? Poll after poll shows that a majority of voters think the gaffe-prone Democrat is too old to be commander-in-chief, despite his likely rival, ex-president Donald Trump making similar slip-ups at 77.