WORLD

France's highest administrative court is to rule on Thursday whether a school ban on abayas, traditional over-garments worn by some Muslim women, is legal.

Turkey's new Wall Street-trained finance chief will kick off a global investment roadshow at the G20 summit in New Delhi on Friday to drum up support for his rescue plan for the troubled emerging economy.

Hundreds of articles praising Bangladeshi government policies apparently by independent experts have appeared in national and international media but the authors have questionable credentials, fake photos, and may not even exist, an AFP investigation has found.

Traditional mud-brick houses that the people of northern Syria have built for thousands of years risk disappearing, as 12 years of war have emptied villages and left the buildings crumbling.

Asian investors took fright Thursday at a forecast-busting reading on the US services sector that revived speculation the Federal Reserve could lift interest rates again, compounding a spike in oil prices that has fanned fresh inflation fears.

For two and a half decades, it has been a top and consistent goal for the United States across very different presidencies -- encouraging the rise of India.

US Vice President Kamala Harris, China's premier and Russia's foreign minister will gather at an East Asia summit in Indonesia on Thursday, offering a rare chance of direct, top-level diplomacy between their sparring nations.

Google on Wednesday said it will mandate that political advertisements on its platforms disclose when images and audio have been altered or created using tools such as artificial intelligence (AI).

A high-level delegation of Chinese officials will visit North Korea this week to attend celebrations for a key national holiday, state media reported Thursday.

The United States will provide depleted uranium tank ammunition to Ukraine as part of more than $1 billion in military and humanitarian aid announced by Washington on Wednesday.

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken stopped at a McDonald's with his counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv Wednesday, as part of a trip to shore up US support for Ukraine.

The fugitive father and stepmother of a 10-year-old girl found dead at her home in Britain said Wednesday that they are prepared to cooperate with UK authorities, after they fled to Pakistan.

Statements by G20 ministers ahead of a key summit are "woefully inadequate" about addressing the climate emergency, the UN's climate change chief told AFP in an interview Wednesday, calling for stronger action from the nations responsible for most planet-heating pollution.

The UK government said on Wednesday it would ban Russian mercenary outfit the Wagner Group by listing it as a terrorist organisation.

The United States slapped sanctions on top officials of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces Wednesday for a range of alleged murders and rights abuses, including the killing of the governor of West Darfur.

A rise in imports widened the US trade deficit in July, government data showed Wednesday, although the increase was smaller than analysts had expected.

Ukraine's newly appointed Defence Minister Rustem Umerov vowed on Wednesday to recapture all territory under Russian military control, in his first comments in the new role.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday confirmed a major policy reversal by backing his new economic team's decision to drastically hike interest rates to fight runaway inflation.

United States-backed Kurdish-led fighters in northern Syria on Wednesday fought a deadly battle with Turkish-supported forces who said they intervened after clashes killed dozens in an Arab-majority province further east.

The European Union's enlargement commissioner told Turkey on Wednesday to address issues around democracy and the rule of law if it wants to boost its drive to join the bloc.

Storms that unleashed torrential flooding in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria have killed at least 11 people, authorities said Wednesday, as extreme heat gave way to heavy rain.

Rustem Umerov, confirmed by parliament as Ukraine's new defence minister Wednesday, is known as a skilful and pragmatic negotiator with excellent connections in the Muslim world.

Climate change is driving more intense and more frequent heatwaves, which in turn generate a "witch's brew" of pollutants, threatening the health of humans and all living things, the UN warned Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv Wednesday after another night of Russian strikes on Ukraine, with Washington set to unveil more than $1 billion in fresh aid to battle Russia.

Landmark African climate talks are set to wrap up Wednesday with leaders seeking a united voice to highlight the continent's potential as a green powerhouse, provided the world steps up funding and eases debt.

2023 is likely to be the hottest year in human history, and global temperatures during the Northern Hemisphere summer were the warmest on record, the EU climate monitor said on Wednesday.

"This initiative builds on the UAE's track record of commercially driven, innovative blended finance solutions that can be deployed to promote the adoption of clean energy in emerging and developing nations," COP28 President-Designate, Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber said.

Most Asian markets fell Wednesday as a jump in oil prices to 10-month highs rekindled worries of another US Federal Reserve interest rate hike.

US President Joe Biden heads to India for the G20 summit this weekend aiming to capitalise on the glaring absence of China's and Russia's leaders to bolster alliances in the sharply divided bloc.