AFP

More than 15 months of war, triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, have left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins and most of its population displaced. UN estimates put the cost of reconstruction at more than $53 billion. 

The G20, a grouping of 19 countries as well as the European Union and the African Union, is divided on key issues, from Russia's war in Ukraine to climate change, with world leaders scrambling to respond to drastic policy shifts from Washington since the return of US President Donald Trump.

India's Kumbh Mela festival wraps up Wednesday, with final ritual river bathing ceremonies ending six weeks of celebration that organisers say have been attended by hundreds of millions of devotees.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that he and US president Donald Trump should meet to discuss an accord granting Washington access to Ukrainian natural resources before any meeting between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

England captain Jos Buttler expects Australia to pose a tough challenge when they meet in a Champions Trophy Group B clash in Lahore on Saturday, despite missing their pace trio.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday called the Associated Press a "radical left organization", his latest salvo against the US media mainstay over its use of the Gulf of Mexico for the renamed body of water.

A pod of 157 dolphins from a poorly understood deep-sea species was found stranded Tuesday evening on an isolated beach in Australia's southern island of Tasmania.

A 24-year-old Afghan man who drove a car into a crowd at a demonstration in Munich on Thursday, injuring 39 people, may have had Islamist extremist motives, authorities said Friday. The lead prosecutor in the case said the suspect had confessed to deliberately ramming the car into the crowd.

Turkey has hit German sporting equipment giant Adidas with a fine of more than $15,000 for failing to inform customers that one of its flagship footwear models contained pigskin, Agence France-Presse reported.

Palestinian sources reported progress on Thursday in efforts to salvage the ceasefire in Gaza from its worst crisis yet, with a view to ensuring that Hamas releases Israeli hostages this weekend as planned.