AFP news

Crowds of robed worshippers will circle the Kaaba, the black cubic structure at Mecca's Grand Mosque, with many expressing sadness eight months into the Israel-Hamas war.

Li is on a six-day tour of New Zealand and Australia, the highest-ranking official to visit either nation since his predecessor in 2017.

Luciano Spalletti's Italy take on Albania in Dortmund in the first of three clashes in a fiendishly difficult Group B which also contains Spain and Croatia.

The offer, equivalent to $750 million, comes weeks after Paris said it would not allow the French company's strategic activities from being taken over by foreign actors.

The Conservative party of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has fallen behind the hard-right anti-immigration Reform UK party for the first time in a poll by YouGov, which called the development a "seismic shift".

Li is embarking on a six-day tour of New Zealand and Australia, key trading partners that have become increasingly vocal critics of China's expanding influence in the South Pacific.

Lawmakers for hours on Wednesday debated a swath of liberalizing reforms proposed by the budget-slashing president, while security forces fired tear gas and water cannon at rioting demonstrators outside.

The civil complaint filed in a California court in Los Angeles contends Musk had the workers terminated after they published an open letter detailing their concerns and calling on the American aerospace firm's board to distance itself from the SpaceX chief executive.

The announcement comes a day after the esoteric world of speed eating contests was rocked by news that Chestnut had been banned from a popular New York event sponsored by fast-food company Nathan's.

The embattled aviation giant delivered its official response on Wednesday contesting the Justice Department's assessment, Bloomberg News reported late Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.

The former president, who is running to unseat Joe Biden in November, will have separate closed-door sessions with House members at a private club near the US Capitol and with senators at their campaign headquarters nearby, and address dozens of CEOs.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will join US President Joe Biden and leaders from Italy, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan for the talks at the luxury Borgo Egnazia resort in Puglia.

Washington announced Wednesday it was sanctioning Moscow Exchange, Russia's main stock market and clearing house for foreign currency transactions, a major new financial punishment.

Euro 2024 kicks off on Friday in Germany as the continent's footballing heavyweights prepare to fight it out over the next month with the aim of taking the crown away from reigning champions Italy.

Just 24 hours after the oldest member of the world's biggest boyband was discharged from duty, the South Korean capital was overtaken by BTS fans, with tens of thousands of people lining up Thursday to join the group's annual party.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said late Wednesday that the electric vehicle company's shareholders were voting to approve his multibillion-dollar pay package by "wide margins" before the ballot had been concluded.

China has spearheaded a targeted industrial strategy to boost its EV sector, pouring vast state funds into domestic firms as well as research and development.

Israeli ground forces have been operating in Rafah, near the Egyptian border, since early May to pursue Hamas Palestinian fighters, despite widespread international alarm over the fate of displaced people crowded in the city.

French right-wing parties were mired by infighting Thursday as campaigning intensified for snap elections called by President Emmanuel Macron, but his government faces a more unified challenge from the left.

The decree appointing members of the new cabinet was published in Haiti's official gazette, two weeks after the country's transitional government council named Garry Conille as interim prime minister.

In a California court, Musk had accused the AI firm he helped set up in 2015 of breaching a commitment to creating artificial intelligence that benefits society when it became a for-profit enterprise backed by Microsoft.

Moscow said it had no interest in joining this weekend's meeting and so was not invited by hosts Switzerland, while Ukraine wants to get some concrete outcomes from the meeting to take forward to a second summit.

The BBC said United were understood to be talking to the Dutchman about extending his contract at Old Trafford, which is about to enter its final season.

Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, was speaking Tuesday after a state-linked Emirati AI firm secured a major investment from Microsoft, reportedly divesting Chinese interests as part of the deal.

As Moscow's closest EU ally despite its invasion of Ukraine, Orban is increasingly stoking fears of a war between the West and Russia, which he blames on Brussels and NATO.

One of the world's largest annual religious gatherings officially begins on Friday, and Saudi officials are trying to keep the focus on prayers.

Thomas Dutronc, Hardy's son with another French music star, Jacques Dutronc, announced her death on Tuesday.

The zero growth in April followed an expansion of 0.4 percent in March, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Adam Zampa led the rout of an outclassed Namibia with figures of 4-12, becoming the first Australian man to reach 100 T20I wickets.