WORLD

A world facing catastrophic climate change is perilously off course in meeting goals for slashing carbon pollution and boosting finance for the developing world, according to the UN's first official progress report out Friday.

Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema will begin an official visit to China on Sunday, as the heavily indebted African nation works to secure financial relief after a restructuring agreement reached in June.

Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the once-feared Zulu nationalist and historic leader of Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) which was implicated in South Africa's deadliest violence ahead of the first all-race elections, died Saturday aged 95, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced.

Children in eastern DR Congo are facing unheard-of violence, the UN warned Friday, cataloguing rapes, killings and use of youngsters by armed groups, including a case of infant twins taped to a booby-trapped bomb.

Ukraine on Friday said four people were killed and dozens injured as Russia launched a new wave of air strikes in the centre and east of the country.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has said that he prevented a Ukrainian attack on a Russian Navy base last year by declining Kyiv's request to activate internet access in the Black Sea near Moscow-annexed Crimea.

A disgraced Turkish crypto founder who fled to Albania and his two brothers have been sentenced to 11,196 years in jail each, the Anadolu state news agency reported Friday.

G20 leaders began to descend on New Delhi Friday, hoping to make progress on trade, climate and a host of other global problems despite the Chinese and Russian presidents skipping the summit.

Homes of people who went missing in China's crackdown on its Muslim minorities stand locked and silent in Xinjiang's rural heartland.

Russia "must stop" its blockade of Ukrainian seaports after pulling out of a United Nations and Turkey-mediated deal to ensure grain shipments, European Council president Charles Michel said Friday.

G20 leaders meet this weekend during what is likely the hottest year in human history, but hopes are slim that the divided grouping can agree ambitious action on the crisis.

Hong Kong was flooded by the heaviest rainfall in nearly 140 years on Friday, leaving the city's streets and some subway stations under water and forcing its schools to close.

"The President will also on the margins of the G20 have bilateral meetings with Heads of State and Government to strengthen South Africa's diplomatic, economic, and cultural ties," the presidency announced.

President Joe Biden arrives in Vietnam on Sunday on a mission to bolster US influence, but the heavy emphasis on countering rival China will likely confine human rights concerns to the margins.

Divided G20 leaders will descend on New Delhi from Friday, with host Prime Minister Narendra Modi seizing a chance to occupy the geopolitical centre stage and hammer home India's growing diplomatic clout.

France's top administrative court on Thursday upheld a government ban on traditional over-garments worn by some Muslim women in schools and rejected complaints it was discriminatory and could incite hatred.

US President Joe Biden headed for the G20 in India on Thursday promising that the summit would "deliver" despite the absence of the Chinese and Russian leaders.

Apple shares fell sharply for a second straight session Thursday following reports of significant Chinese restrictions on iPhones at government offices and state-backed entities.

Armenia on Thursday accused arch-foe Azerbaijan of preparing a "fresh military provocation" by massing troops on their border and near the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Renewables funding, global finance reform and carbon taxes head the demands formulated by African nations at a summit in Nairobi this week as the world heads towards annual climate negotiations.

Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met Qatar's emir on Thursday during his third trip abroad since war broke out in April, after also visiting Egypt and South Sudan in recent days.

Philips said Thursday it had clinched a deal in the United States to settle claims related to a recall of sleep respirators that rocked the Dutch medical tech firm.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised what he called Ukraine's "extraordinary resilience" against Russian aggression during a visit to Chernigiv region Thursday as he concluded a surprise two-day trip.

A Norwegian out walking on doctors' advice unearthed rare 6th-century gold jewellery using a newly bought metal detector, a discovery archaeologists said on Thursday was Norway's "gold find of the century".

Attacks on an army base and a passenger boat on the Niger River in northern Mali on Thursday by suspected jihadists killed 64 people, a Malian official said.

Police in Ethiopia's war-scarred region of Tigray arrested and baton-charged opposition leaders and supporters ahead of planned demonstrations on Thursday, a protest organiser and a local journalist said.

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).