AFP news

Humanitarian leaders fear the besieged territory will soon be overwhelmed by disease and starvation, and are piling diplomatic pressure on Israel to boost efforts to protect civilians.

Myanmar produced an estimated 1,080 metric tons of opium -- essential for producing heroin -- this year, according to the latest report by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Biden's visit was part of US efforts around the world to contain China's rising economic power -- and to secure supplies of crucial materials needed for high-tech manufacturing.

The brown flannel robe is one of a number of items from the Coen brothers' slacker-noir film going under the hammer in California this weekend.

The UN is convening the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva with thousands due to participate, including heads of government and state, in a search for concrete responses to record displacements. The number of people displaced worldwide passed 114 million by the end of September, an all-time high.

When Kenya banned FGM in 2011, few expected that the practice -- traditionally performed in public with pomp and ceremony -- would migrate to backroom clinics and private homes, with nurses and pharmacists doing the procedure underground.

Hikers hit the trail before dawn at South Africa's natural jewel Table Mountain, but instead of simply trekking its rugged landscape they were also demonstrating against a surge in attacks on walkers and tourists.

In the weeks following the Hamas attack, around 4,000 Ukrainians left Israel, according to embassy figures.

Aid trucks stalled at the Gaza border, hospitals treating missing limbs: UN Security Council envoys visiting Egypt on Monday encountered the fallout of the Israel-Hamas war, days after the United States vetoed a ceasefire resolution.

Federal prosecutors asked the US Supreme Court on Monday to rule quickly on whether former president Donald Trump has immunity from prosecution so his trial on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election can go ahead as scheduled.

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates at a 22-year high for a third consecutive meeting on Wednesday as it continues to fight elevated inflation.

ECOWAS commission President Omar Touray said a heads of state group from Benin, Togo and Sierra Leone would engage with Niger regime's CNSP leadership to decide on progress towards a transition and other conditions for lifting sanctions.

The United States is helping lead the charge at UN climate talks to phase out fossil fuels, but the superpower's status as the world's top oil producer is already casting doubt on its credibility.

The United Nations has only been able to reach a fraction of the nearly 25 million people needing aid in war-devastated Sudan, the head of the UN's humanitarian response in the country says.

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Washington Tuesday to meet President Joe Biden and plead his case before Republicans balking at sending more money for his fight against Russia, amid warnings aid will run out in weeks.

An original cover painting from the 1963 comic book "Asterix and Cleopatra" went under the hammer Sunday but failed to find a buyer after a legal challenge from the artist's daughter.

Israel bombed southern Gaza's main city on Monday after Hamas warned no Israeli hostages would leave the territory alive unless its demands for prisoner releases were met.

Indonesia in September banned sales on social media to protect small businesses that were losing out to e-commerce giants, forcing TikTok to close its online shopping business in October.

Ten Hag's hopes that a turning point had been reached were short-lived as a 3-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth on Saturday saw a troubled campaign reach a new low.

Three pro-EU opposition parties that have promised to improve frayed relations with Brussels and introduce liberal reforms won a majority in October 15 elections.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces questions Monday over whether his "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme to help the struggling hospitality sector during the pandemic spurred the spread of Covid-19.

Donald Trump changed his mind about testifying in his own defense in his New York fraud case on Monday, he said, announcing that he will not take the stand as expected because he has "nothing more to say."

Several Israeli soldiers were wounded when Hezbollah launched a drone attack from Lebanon on Sunday, both the Israeli army and the militant group said.

Toy giant Lego and videogame leader Epic Games joined forces Thursday to launch "Lego Fortnite" in a bid to grow a platform already used by hundreds of millions of people.

When Australian politician Brian Hood noticed ChatGPT was telling people he was a convicted criminal, he took the old-fashioned route and threatened legal action against the AI chatbot's maker, OpenAI. His case raised a potentially huge problem with such AI programs: what happens when they get stuff wrong in a way that causes real-world harm?

Stock markets mostly gained and the dollar firmed Friday before the release of key US jobs data, but Tokyo was knocked by the yen's recent rally.

If the Gunners slip up, Liverpool will seize pole position with a win against Crystal Palace, while reeling Manchester City aim to get back on track at Luton.

Egypt is gearing up this month for a presidential election certain to win incumbent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi a third term in office, despite rising public discontent as the country faces its worst ever economic crisis.

The death toll in Gaza has risen 17,000, mostly women and children, the Hamas-run health ministry said, with vast areas reduced to a rubble-strewn wasteland of bombed-out and bullet-scarred buildings.