AFP news

The city of Shire in northwest Tigray has been bombarded for several days in a joint offensive by Ethiopian and Eritrean troops, with civilian casualties reported in the push against rebels from the war-torn region.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government and the Tigrayan authorities have accepted an AU invitation to talk, but negotiations set for last weekend in South Africa failed to materialise and no new date has been announced.

Already bitter, divisive and full of mud-slinging, the campaign has if anything veered further into negative territory since the first-round vote.

Neymar is one of nine defendants on trial on corruption-related charges, among them his parents and their N&N company, which manages his affairs.

More than one million football fans are expected to descend on the capital Doha during the November-December tournament, putting a strain on the tiny Gulf nation.

The former Dutch colonies are among the world's most tree-covered countries, hosts to the so-called forest "lungs" that sequester massive amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide.

Queen Consort Camilla will award the coveted prize at the televised ceremony, in one of her highest-profile appearances since her husband King Charles III ascended the throne last month.

The healthy gains Asian markets enjoyed on Friday were largely wiped out in early trade as expectations about elevated prices and central bank moves to rein them in continued to fan recession fears.

Coal is a bedrock of South Africa's economy, employing almost 100,000 people and accounting for 80 percent of electricity production.

It has been hailed as a new economic beginning in developing Africa, and condemned as a new source of pollution in a world suffocating from global warming.

The results were dented by JPMorgan's move to add $808 million in reserves for potential bad loans.

In comments to French television Wednesday, Macron accused Russia of "destabilising" and "seeking to create disorder" in the Caucasus.

Former cabinet minister Lorenzo Fontana won the vote in a show of unity by the country's nascent right-wing government coalition after the squabbling alliance agreed a temporary truce.

At the same time, Russian-backed forces in the east have announced they are inching closer to the Ukraine-held down of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region.

The announcement came one day after staff staged the first of 19 walkouts targeting the critical run-up to Christmas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed piping natural gas to southern Europe via Turkey following the near total disruption of Russian supplies via the Nord Stream project.

The government of newly elected President William Ruto last week "effectively" lifted the 2012 ban saying it was in response to dwindling food security.

A Treasury spokesman confirmed Kwarteng had cut short the trip "to continue work on his medium-term fiscal plan" due on October 31.

"We're not neutral when it comes to an invasion like that, but we're neutral when it comes to joining a military alliance," country's European Affairs Minister Thomas Byrne said.

Following the annexation of Crimea by Russia and the Donbas war in 2014, Ukraine embarked on dismantling Soviet-era monuments and changing place names.

Fed up over the lack of change, the country's Gen-Z teens -- those born before 2010 -- have come of age and been credited for their bravery while facing off with the security forces.

Thousands of Albanians and dozens of foreigners have dared to confront the dark past when Albania was one of the most repressive countries in the world.

Danone said the move to "transfer the effective control" of the dairy business could result in a write off of up to one billion euros ($980 million).

The soldiers are taking part in a realistic training exercise involving exploding munitions and military vehicles.

What was an artists' pastime has increasingly become a business, with real estate firms to commissioning artworks to give their buildings a facelift.

British finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng was already under fire back home when he arrived in Washington for the annual gathering, which Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey is also attending.

The Saudi-led OPEC+ cartel -- which includes Russia -- angered Washington by cutting production by two million barrels a day from November, adding further pressure on soaring crude prices.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 major economies met during the IMF and World Bank annual meetings that have focused on the war, soaring inflation and the climate crisis.

The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced that Venezuelans entering the United States by land will be returned to Mexico, in line with almost all other migrants without visas coming over the border.