WORLD

France on Monday was due to receive five Afghan women "threatened by the Taliban" after repeated requests it create a humanitarian corridor for women shut out of public life, an official said.

The United Arab Emirates has set up a regulatory body for "commercial gaming" -- a step which could potentially allow for casino licences in the Arab Gulf state where gambling is currently banned.

The astronaut now holds the record as the first Arab to perform a spacewalk and spend six months in space.

"It will also explore new paths for exchanging knowledge regarding government action and sustainable economic development," Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates, Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday in a long-shot bid to revive a Ukrainian grain export agreement in time for the autumn harvest.

The general who came to power in Gabon's coup last week is to be sworn in as "transitional president" on Monday, taking control for an unspecified period after overthrowing the country's 55-year Bongo dynasty.

Algeria said Sunday its security forces had opened fire this week after a group of jet skiers from Morocco ignored warning shots and refused to comply with orders to stop.

Oleksiy Reznikov, who was replaced as Ukraine's defence minister on Sunday, was appointed three months before Russia's invasion and led efforts to equip Ukraine's forces with modern weaponry from allies.

Israel's foreign minister arrived in Bahrain Sunday for talks with senior officials, state media reported, in his first visit to one of the Gulf Arab states with ties to Israel.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday announced the departure of defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov, calling for "new approaches" a year and a half into Russia's invasion.

Five civilians were killed by bombs that "fell on their homes" in Khartoum, a Sudanese medical source told AFP, a day after an air strike in the city's south killed at least 20 civilians.

On the approach to Malaysia's $100-billion island megaproject backed by Chinese investment, a collapsed bridge forces drivers to detour before they reach an artificial city emerging from palm oil trees where condos, roads and shops lay empty.

Chronic electricity shortages had shaped the daily lives of Libyans since the fall of Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed 2011 uprising.

The Nobel Foundation said Saturday it was reversing its decision to invite ambassadors from Russia and Belarus to this year's Nobel award ceremony in Stockholm, after the move sparked a backlash.

Thousands of Pakistan traders shuttered their shops on Saturday, striking over soaring energy and fuel bills stirring widespread discontent ahead of national elections.

Few things were beyond the reach of billionaire Egyptian tycoon Mohamed Al-Fayed who has died at the age of 94.

Some of Ukraine's allies have started wondering whether the counteroffensive against Russia is getting bogged down, to the irritation of Kyiv which says it needs more weapons, not criticism.

Russia on Friday added respected journalist and Nobel Prize co-recipient Dmitry Muratov to its list of foreign agents, a label authorities commonly use to stifle critics.

Makar and Nadiya Mikhailyuk chatter excitedly as they get ready for their first day back at school in Ukraine, after they and their mother moved back from Poland.

Morocco has begun an investigation into the death of a French-Moroccan after he and another Moroccan on jet skis were shot dead by Algerian coastguards, media reports said Friday.

Ukraine's military intelligence said Friday that a recent drone attack on an airport in northwestern Russia which damaged several transport planes was carried out from within Russian territory.

Kyiv police reported bomb threats to the Ukrainian capital's schools on Friday as children returned to classrooms for a second academic year since Russia's all-out invasion.

"A pleasure to welcome @DamienOConnorMP, New Zealand's Minister of Trade & Export Growth 🇳🇿, to Dubai. Our collective non-oil trade surged by 7% in 2022, reaching $805m, and we discussed the great potential for us to drive this number higher under a future UAE-NZ CEPA," Minister of State for Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates, Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi posted.

The bank of screens in Ismail Aydin's Istanbul water management system control room flashes a worrying number: 29.7 percent.

Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Sudan's war have crossed into Chad to find themselves in overcrowded camps, sweltering in plastic huts and awaiting healthcare that never comes.

Singaporeans headed to the polls Friday in the city-state's first contested presidential election in more than a decade, a vote being closely watched as an indication of support for the ruling party after a rare spate of political scandals.

A key US inflation measure used by the Federal Reserve to set interest rates rose in July, due largely to another jump in the cost of services, according to government data published Thursday.

At least 48 people have been killed in a crackdown on an anti-UN protest in eastern DR Congo, according to sources and official documentation reviewed by AFP on Thursday, raising a previously reported death toll.

The United Nations Security Council on Thursday renewed the mandate for its peacekeeping force in Lebanon for another year after tense debate around the troops' freedom of movement.