AFP news

With heavy fighting raging in Khartoum, the rival sides struck a deal on a seven-day ceasefire beginning the evening of May 22, the United States and Saudi Arabia said Saturday in a joint statement after talks in Jeddah.

Russia's claim to have conquered the destroyed city, which Ukraine rejected Sunday, does not mean significant new terrain from which to launch attacks nor harden defences.

The city is crossed by the Bakhmutka River in Donetsk region -- one of four Ukrainian regions Russia claimed to have annexed last year without fully controlling them months into its invasion.

The golden blobs of resin tapped from thorny acacia trees are an emulsifying agent used in everything from soft drinks to chewing gum and pharmaceuticals.

They are all being targeted by Kenya's taxman in a raft of new proposals aimed at filling the coffers of President William Ruto's cash-strapped government.

Primera Gold, a joint venture between the Congolese government and the United Arab Emirates, operates with a transparency that is highly unusual in conflict-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Said is one of dozens of depositors who have queued at a branch of the Bank of Khartoum in Madani, a city about 160 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of the capital, to recover their savings.

The violence erupted on Monday, with an initial death toll of 30, in several villages of Plateau State, an area which has struggled with ethnic and religious tensions for years.

The surprise trip will be his first to Asia since the war began and would allow him to meet key allies like US President Joe Biden and the leaders of powerful unaligned nations who have been invited, including Brazil and India.

Twitter called on Microsoft to identify all Twitter content that has been in its control during the past two years; how it is stored and what has been done with it, according to the letter sent to Nadella.

If the push against Moscow's troops stalls, it could play into Western fears of a prolonged war in Ukraine and provide ammunition to politicians in Washington and European capitals who oppose maintaining an open-ended commitment to Kyiv.

Large parts of the city on the Sea of Azov were razed to the ground during a brutal three-month siege.

Families like hers have used protest, political pressure and their own pain to battle for their loved ones' return since the siege in the port city of Mariupol, which came to symbolise Ukrainian resistance.

Eskom warned that it may ramp up crippling power outages to prevent a national grid collapse as winter arrives in the coming weeks. Winter demand for power is expected to surge to around 33,000 megawatts but Eskom is only able to produce 26,000 megawatts out of its installed capacity of 47,500 megawatts. Already the country is going into winter with a shortfall of some 3,000 megawatts compared to last year as its Koeberg nuclear power station is undergoing an overhaul.

Frankfort, a farming community of around 5,800 people located 140 kilometres (90 miles) south of Johannesburg, started using locally produced energy in February to lessen the impact of crippling nationwide power cuts that can last up to 12 hours a day.

Speaking a month before the West African nation's presidential vote, Julius Maada Bio, who is seeking a second five-year term, said the war had wreaked havoc in his country and other places.

"The Patriot system remains operational" and the damage -- caused by an unspecified projectile landing near it -- is still being assessed, the official told AFP.

Petro shared the news on Twitter, saying the children were discovered after "arduous search efforts" by the military.

"The child and her family were in custody at the Harlingen Station where she experienced a medical emergency," US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement.

Over a year into Russia's invasion, the fighting has seeped into Ukrainian children's games and worldviews, impacting them in ways they will carry forever.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will host leaders from six other wealthy democracies in his hometown -- a city synonymous with nuclear destruction now peppered with peace monuments.

In Kyiv, officials also sought to allay fears that Russian forces destroyed a US-supplied Patriot air defence system, saying the powerful weapon was in operation.

The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) said government forces had launched an "all-out offensive" across a number of areas in Oromia after the negotiations wrapped up earlier this month.

But the supermassive star described in a new study has an estimated mass of 5,000 to 10,000 Suns.

Needs have soared since a bloody conflict erupted in Sudan last month, the UN said, dramatically revising up its response plan.

The report comes amid an investigation into what happened to journalist Olivier Dubois, 48, who was abducted in the northern Malian town of Gao in April 2021.

Crowds in Ziguinchor, where Sonko is mayor, on Monday hurled stones at police who responded with tear gas, according to an AFP correspondent there.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have "agreed to receive the mission and the African heads of state" in Moscow and Kyiv, Ramaphosa said. Ramaphosa said he had held "separate telephone calls" with Putin and Zelensky over the weekend, where he presented an initiative drawn up by Zambia, Senegal, the Republic of Congo, Uganda, Egypt and South Africa.

The United Nations' health agency released new guidelines on Monday advising against using so-called non-sugar sweeteners or NSS.