Afghan President Ashraf Ghani declared a provisional three-month ceasefire with the Taliban in a televised broadcast Sunday, but said the truce would hold only if the insurgents reciprocated.

Sergio Aguero hit a hit-trick as Manchester City's record-breaking forward inspired a 6-1 demolition of Huddersfield on Sunday.

More than two million Muslims from around the globe started the hajj pilgrimage on Sunday in Saudi Arabia, one of the world's largest annual gatherings in a country undergoing unprecedented change.

From his native Africa to the United States, tributes continued to pour in from around the world Sunday after UN chief, Nobel peace laureate, and "diplomatic rock star" Kofi Annan died at the age of 80.

A strong earthquake rocked the Indonesian island of Lombok Sunday, triggering landslides, damaging buildings and sending people fleeing just two weeks after a tremor killed more than 480 people there.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday angrily denounced the federal probe of Russia's 2016 election meddling as "McCarthyism at its WORST!," insisting he had authorized his White House counsel to testify to bring the matter to a close.

Rescuers searched submerged villages in southwest India on Sunday in a desperate hunt for survivors after floods killed at least 370 people and drove more than 700,000 from their homes.

Captain Min Min, a Buddhist from Myanmar, looks on as a stream of Muslim Rohingya labourers zig-zag up narrow gangplanks hauling sacks of ginger from his boat onto Bangladeshi soil -- one of many seizing the economic opportunities presented by a refugee crisis.

The toll of Genoa's bridge collapse rose to 43 Sunday as rescuers confirmed they had found the remains believed to be of a missing family, a day after Italy held a funeral for the disaster victims.

More than two million Muslims from around the globe on Sunday started the hajj pilgrimage at Islam's holiest sites in Saudi Arabia, one of the world's largest annual gatherings.

Ghana is backpedalling out of a banking crisis as the government takes on debt to save a troubled sector and vows to punish the executives responsible.

Greece will formally turn the page on its debt saga this week, but the eurozone remains vulnerable to further crises, with economists particularly worried about the situation in Italy.

The youngest Greeks may not be able to remember what life was like beforehand: the third and last of the country's international bailouts comes to an end on Monday, and while Greece is faring better, it still bears the scars of eight years of austerity.

Uncertainty reigned in Venezuela on Saturday after President Nicolas Maduro unveiled a major economic reform plan aimed at halting the spiraling hyperinflation that has thrown the oil-rich, cash-poor South American country into chaos.

"Since they are going to remove Franco, I wanted to see it. It's morbid curiosity," says Antonio Nevado, one of thousands of Spaniards who have rushed to visit the late dictator's tomb before his remains are moved.

In August 1968 Soviet tanks rolled into communist Czechoslovakia to crush a burgeoning democratic reform movement known as the Prague Spring.

Bulgarian soldiers who took part in crushing the 1968 Prague Spring democracy movement under orders from Moscow bristle at being considered aggressors.

American Lizette Salas had eight birdies in an eight-under par 64 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead heading into the final round of the US LPGA tournament in Indianapolis.

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will be fighting for records when the all-star pair clash in Sunday's final at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters.

India captain Virat Kohli fell three runs short of a hundred but had the satisfaction of leading a batting revival on the first day of the third Test against England at Trent Bridge on Saturday.

Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score on his Serie A debut but champions Juventus won 3-2 at Chievo as Carlo Ancelotti began life as Napoli coach with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory at Lazio in two bruising opening matches of the 2018-2019 league season on Saturday.

Novak Djokovic edged closer to a historic Cincinnati Masters title Saturday, book his spot in the final with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Marin Cilic.

World number one Simona Halep was aiming to make it third time lucky in Cincinnati after beating Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final on Saturday.

The head of the Italian infrastructure giant under fire over the deadly bridge collapse in Genoa said Saturday that 500 million euros will be made available to help the city and to rebuild the viaduct.

Tanzania is an "independent" country and will not be "intimidated", the ruling party said on Saturday after the US expressed concern about the conduct of 70 recent by-elections.

A man accused of crashing his car into the security barriers surrounding Britain's Houses of Parliament was charged Saturday with attempted murder, police said.

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo missed chances to score on his Serie A debut but helped Juventus get their title defence off to a winning start with a late 3-2 victory against Chievo in the opening match of the 2018-2019 league season on Saturday.

When people talk about a "Rolex" in Uganda, one of the last things they probably have in mind is a luxury watch.

The deadly Ebola outbreak in eastern DR Congo has now claimed 49 lives since the start of the month, the government has said, and the World Health Organization expects more cases.

Photographer Ron Amir spent years visiting African migrants in the Israeli desert to understand the new world they had created. He came back with a provocative set of pictures -- without people in them.

Captain Min Min, a Buddhist from Myanmar, looks on as a stream of Muslim Rohingya labourers zig-zag up narrow gangplanks hauling sacks of ginger from his boat onto Bangladeshi soil -- one of many seizing the economic opportunities presented by a refugee crisis.

The death 40 years ago of Pope John Paul I, who reigned for just 33 days in 1978, paved the way for the Roman Catholic Church to have three pontiffs in three months.

The sight of a basking shark's brooding silhouette gliding through the waters off western France is more than just a rare treat for sailors -- it is a boon for scientists trying to trace its secretive migrations across the globe.

They bandy about terms like "co-working" but instead of coding and developing algorithms in open space offices they work out in the open trying to tease tomatoes from the soil.

"Since they are going to remove Franco, I wanted to see it. It's morbid curiosity," says Antonio Nevado, one of thousands of Spaniards who have rushed to visit the late dictator's tomb before his remains are moved.

Robots that can diagnose diseases, play badminton and wow audiences with their musical skills are among the machines China hopes could revolutionise its economy, with visitors to a Beijing exhibition offered a glimpse of an automated future.

Jacopo Strumia never gave much thought to the giant suspension bridge that looms over the ground floor apartment he lives in with his wife and two young children in a sleepy suburb of Genoa.

Mansour al-Amer swipes a card to reveal a narrow sleep pod, reminiscent of Japan's famed capsule hotels. But this pod is in Saudi Arabia, where the Muslim hajj pilgrimage begins Sunday.

Her father and grandfather gained fame in the pool. Now, 12-year-old Rama Omar hopes to do the same -- a bold move in Mosul, a former jihadist stronghold in Iraq where swimming was never for women.

The Swiss city of Lausanne has blocked a Muslim couple's bid to become Swiss nationals over their refusal to shake hands with members of the opposite sex.

Two Chinese academics have proposed a controversial idea to encourage childbirth as their country faces an ageing population: Make people with no or fewer than two children pay into a "maternity fund".

Rita Choksi says yoga and breathing exercises have kept her sharp as the Indian grandmother goes for gold at the age of 79 -- just one of many elderly contenders in the Asian Games bridge competition.

By the time Baba John escaped the tribal militia he had joined as an 11-year-old, he had long stopped counting the number of people he had killed.

Two moon bears are gently removed from the cramped cages where they have been held for 13 years, rescuers carefully checking their rotten teeth and matted paws before sending them to their new home in a grassy sanctuary in northern Vietnam.

A spate of bloody killings is fuelling unease in the Rohingya camps on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, where overstretched police are struggling to protect nearly a million traumatised refugees from violent gangs.

Two million Muslims gather in Saudi Arabia this week for the hajj as the annual pilgrimage becomes increasingly hi-tech with apps to help the faithful navigate Islam's holiest sites.

Couples twist across a wood floor to the melancholy sounds of tango music, swaying and swivelling in a dance that comes from far away.

China's Communist Party has sacked a dozen provincial and local officials and vowed to punish a pharmaceutical firm over a vaccine scandal that inflamed public fears over the safety of domestically produced drugs.

Middle-aged people who get roughly half their daily calories from carbohydrates live several years longer on average than those with meat-heavy low-carb diets, researchers reported Friday.

Middle-aged people who get roughly half their daily calories from carbohydrates live several years longer on average than those with low-carb diets, researchers reported Friday.

New York University said Thursday it would offer all its current and future medical school students free tuition in an effort to tackle soaring debt levels and encourage more applicants.

US regulators Thursday approved the first generic alternative for the EpiPen, a life-saving emergency allergy medicine, two years after soaring prices for the original version owned by Mylan stoked controversy.

US drug overdose deaths surged to nearly 72,000 last year, as addicts increasingly turn to extremely powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl as the supply of prescription painkillers has tightened.

A set of Roman-era tombs dating back some 2,000 years have been discovered near the Palestinian city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank during road works, an official said Thursday.

Steven Gerrard called for plastic pitches to be banned after Rangers winger Jamie Murphy suffered a serious knee injury in Sunday's 3-1 win at Kilmarnock.

Estonian driver Ott Tanak won the Rally of Germany on Sunday as championship leader Thierry Neuville and closest challenger Sebastien Ogier remained locked in the race for the title.

Swimmer Sun Yang led China to a clutch of gold medals on Sunday as the regional heavyweights started the 2018 Asian Games where they left off in 2014 -- on top of the medals table.

Pep Guardiola claimed Sergio Aguero has never been better after the Manchester City striker's hat-trick inspired a 6-1 rout of Huddersfield on Sunday.

Watford maintained their 100 percent start to the Premier League season as Andre Gray returned to haunt Burnley in a 3-1 win at Turf Moor on Sunday.

Midfielder Marko Grujic has joined Hertha Berlin on a season-long loan deal after extending his Liverpool contract, it was confirmed on Sunday.

Sergio Aguero hit a hit-trick as Manchester City's record-breaking forward inspired a 6-1 demolition of Huddersfield on Sunday.

Tyson Fury insists he will be motivated by pride rather than prize money when the controversial British fighter faces Deontay Wilder.

Anthony Martial was recalled by Jose Mourinho for Manchester United's Premier League trip to Brighton on Sunday as Alexis Sanchez missed out through injury.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jordan Clarkson has called on the NBA to let players compete in more global tournaments to boost the sport's popularity worldwide, ahead of his first appearance for the Philippines at the Asian Games.

Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness says the chances of Jerome Boateng joining Paris Saint-Germain are "50-50" with the Germany defender also linked to Manchester United.

Chinese giant Sun Yang swept to Asian Games 200m freestyle gold Sunday to add to his Olympic and world titles -- then had his national anthem played twice after a flag-pole malfunction.

Jamaica wunderkind Leon Bailey has extended his Bayer Leverkusen contract until 2023, it was announced Sunday, as the German club fought off reported interest from Chelea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Roma.

Eden Hazard reassured Chelsea fans he won't leave the club this month, despite continued interest from European champions Real Madrid.

James Anderson polished off India's first innings to move closer to Glenn McGrath's record for the most Test wickets by a pace bowler before England's openers rode their luck at Trent Bridge on Sunday.

When the Rugby World Cup comes to the small northern Japanese town of Kamaishi in just over a year, it will stir emotions far beyond the pitch.

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has heaped praise on Lionel Messi's start to the Liga season after the Argentine bounced back from a disappointing World Cup with two goals against Alaves.

Olympic Council for Asia (OCA) delegates could be forgiven for thinking they had wandered into a Jakarta karaoke joint after being subjected to a surprise serenade on Sunday.

Brazilian left back Filipe Luis, reportedly coveted by París Saint-Germain, is an "extremely important player" for Atletico Madrid and "one we want to keep a lot," coach Diego Simeone said on Sunday.

North Korea are looking to get the Asian Games weightlifting competition off to a glorious golden start on Monday led by their very own Ant Man -- Om Yun Chol.

The under-fire president of the German Football Association (DFB), admitted on Sunday that he should have given Mesut Ozil more support when the midfielder was the target of "racist attacks".

A veteran Australian rugby broadcaster said Sunday he regrets describing a Wallabies player as having a "golliwog" haircut during the first Bledisloe Test in Sydney.

Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson said Sunday he was retiring from all forms of cricket as his body was "starting to shut down", almost three years after he stepped down from the international game.

Indonesia's nine-year-old skateboarder Aliqqa Noverry is set to melt hearts at the Asian Games -- but give her ice cream and she could be a medal threat, says her mum.

Chinese giant Sun Yang has all the tools to be the perfect swimmer -- the predatory instinct and a two-metre physique that can intimidate before a race has even started.

Beyond an olive grove in opposition-held northwestern Syria, rebel fighter Zakaria Abdelwahhab, 29, dashes across the astroturf towards the football, hoping to score a goal for his lost hometown.

The All Blacks will be without both first-choice centres for next week's second Bledisloe Cup Test against Australia in Auckland, coach Steve Hansen said Sunday.

Congregants celebrated the life of Aretha Franklin at her father's Baptist church in Detroit at the first Sunday service since her death, with her powerful voice again ringing out within its walls in tribute to her spectacular career.

As tributes flooded in from around the world Sunday for former UN chief Kofi Annan, Switzerland mourned a "visionary" who helped bolster his adopted home's position as an international diplomatic hub.

In 2010, Panagiota Kalliakmani had just secured her chemistry degree and dreamed of going into research. Then the Greek economic crisis struck.

The death 40 years ago of Pope John Paul I, who reigned for just 33 days in 1978, paved the way for the Roman Catholic Church to have three pontiffs in three months.

"Since they are going to remove Franco, I wanted to see it. It's morbid curiosity," says Antonio Nevado, one of thousands of Spaniards who have rushed to visit the late dictator's tomb before his remains are moved.

Propaganda-fuelled Soviet soldiers were ready to take on American and German armies during the 1968 invasion of former Czechoslovakia -- before they realised the "enemies" were filmmakers.

Former UN chief and Nobel peace laureate Kofi Annan died Saturday at the age of 80, triggering a flood of tributes from around the world for the "diplomatic rock star".

Ghana-born Kofi Annan, who died Saturday aged 80, was the first UN chief from sub-Saharan Africa, and it was on this continent that he experienced both the most difficult moment of his career, as well as some of his biggest diplomatic successes.

From singing for free to raise money for the cause, to uplifting activists with her phenomenal voice and upbeat anthems, Aretha Franklin was indelibly linked to the US civil rights movement.

A woman refused to leave her flooded house in India's Kerala state without her 25 dogs, a rescuer said Saturday, as the death toll continued to rise.

There was an outpouring of condolences from leaders around the world on Saturday after the death of former UN Secretary General and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kofi Annan.

Kofi Annan, who died Saturday at the age of 80, led the United Nations through the divisive years of the Iraq war and the trauma of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

American singer Nick Jonas on Saturday announced Indian superstar Priyanka Chopra will be "Mrs Jonas" after the couple performed a traditional ceremony in Mumbai, the home of Bollywood cinema.

Brazil's "queer museum," forced to close last year after conservatives attacked it for allegedly promoting pedophilia, blasphemy and bestiality, is reopening in the shadow of Rio de Janeiro's iconic Christ the Redeemer statue.

Usain Bolt says he's deadly serious about becoming a professional footballer and plans to show the world what he's capable of after arriving in Australia Saturday for a trial stint with an A-League club.

For years, Jacqueline Robinson was a hairdresser to Aretha Franklin, invited to lavish Christmas parties, whisked off to meet Oprah Winfrey or joining the likes of Stevie Wonder at dinner.

Imran Khan's anointment as Pakistan's new prime minister caps a more than two decade transformation from a World Cup winning cricket captain to a world leader, placing him in charge of a nuclear armed state.

The estate of prolific late pop icon Prince made more than 300 songs from his later career available on digital download and streaming services for the first time on Friday.

The funeral of legendary singer Aretha Franklin will be held in her hometown Detroit on August 31, after a two-day public viewing at a city museum to allow fans to mourn, her publicist said Friday.

Tesla shares took a pounding Friday amid fresh fears about the future of the electric carmaker after a wide-ranging interview with chief executive Elon Musk in which he revealed his struggles with exhaustion and a lengthy but unsuccessful effort to find a number two executive.

ESPN will not broadcast the US national anthem -- during which some players have knelt in protest -- before its showcase Monday Night Football NFL games this season, network president Jimmy Pitaro said Friday.

Tributes poured in across the world to "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin on Friday, as her family and hometown made arrangements for her funeral and a celebration of the late singer's extraordinary career.

The expected attendance of Russian President Vladimir Putin at Saturday's wedding of Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl sparked a row Friday over whether the visit was appropriate.

Top names in French cooking, as well as foreign followers and hundreds of well-wishers, attended a memorial service Friday for Joel Robuchon, the world's most-starred Michelin chef who died earlier this month.

Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov is "losing hope" and no longer believes that he will be freed after almost 100 days on hunger strike in a Russian prison, his cousin told AFP.

Top names in French cooking, as well as foreign followers and thousands of well-wishers, are to attend a memorial service Friday for Joel Robuchon, the world's most-starred Michelin chef who died earlier this month.

Thousands of mourners in white funereal dress escorted the coffin of three-time prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee through the Indian capital on Friday, showering his body in rose petals before his cremation.

Rescuers waded into submerged villages in southern India on Sunday in a desperate search for survivors cut off for days by floods that have already killed more than 350 people.

Financial aid for drought-stricken Australian farmers will be increased to Aus$1.8 billion (US$1.3 billion) as they endure the driest conditions in half a century, the prime minister said Sunday.

The sight of a basking shark's brooding silhouette gliding through the waters off western France is more than just a rare treat for sailors -- it is a boon for scientists trying to trace its secretive migrations across the globe.

A trio of rare elephants led an unusual ceremony in the Sumatran jungle Friday, raising Indonesia's red and white flag to help mark the country's independence day.

Pressure intensified Saturday to save thousands still trapped by devastating floods that have killed more than 300 in the Indian state of Kerala, triggering landslides and sending torrents sweeping through villages in the region's worst inundation crisis in a century.

The death toll from major floods in India's tourist hotspot Kerala has jumped to 164, state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Friday, issuing a fresh heavy rainfall warning for the battered region.

Two moon bears are gently removed from the cramped cages where they have been held for 13 years, rescuers carefully checking their rotten teeth and matted paws before sending them to their new home in a grassy sanctuary in northern Vietnam.

Indonesia is about to open the Asian Games but its traffic-clogged capital Jakarta remains shrouded in a haze of air pollution that threatens to mar the world's second-biggest multi-sport event.

A rare rodent species known as a "bamboo rat" that lives around the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu in Peru has resurfaced after a decade of absence and been photographed for the first time.

In a breakthrough that experts say will help feed the growing global population in the coming decades, scientists Thursday revealed they have cracked the full genome of wheat for the first time.

Hundreds of troops led a desperate operation to rescue families trapped by mounting floods in India's Kerala state Thursday as the death toll reached 106 with nearly 150,000 left homeless.

Visitors to a theme park in western France this week have a new attraction to enjoy: six crows that have been specially trained to pick up cigarette ends and rubbish.

First came the war, which developed into a brutal, bloody tussle between militias who abused civilians or killed them.

A state of emergency has been declared in Florida as the worst red tide in a decade blackens the ocean water, killing dolphins, sea turtles and fish at a relentless pace.

A new class of pesticides positioned to replace neonicotinoids may be just as harmful to crop-pollinating bees, researchers cautioned Wednesday.

The flood toll in India's southern tourist hotspot of Kerala jumped to 67 after another 25 deaths were reported Wednesday, with more than 50,000 people seeking shelter in relief camps, a state official told AFP.

British Columbia declared a province-wide state of emergency Wednesday as Canada's military joined firefighters in trying to douse 556 wildfires burning across the craggy region.

Canada announced plans Wednesday to phase out two pesticides widely applied to canola, corn and soybean crops in this country and linked to bee and now also aquatic insect deaths.

The number of days marked by potentially destructive ocean heatwaves has doubled in 35 years, and will multiply another five-fold at current rates of climate change, scientists warned Wednesday.

Manmade global warming and a natural surge in Earth's surface temperature will join forces to make the next five years exceptionally hot, according to a study published Tuesday.

Botanists have discovered a new species of orchid in Peru's central Amazonian rainforest, the country's national parks service announced Tuesday.

Bin bags at the ready, "long-distance activist" Mohamed Oussama Houij moves methodically along a beach in Tunisia's Mediterranean town of Nabeul, scooping up all kinds of trash as he goes along.

Burundi's president, Pierre Nkurunziza, has issued a decree banning the use of plastic bags in the small central African country within the next 18 months.

New Caledonia agreed Tuesday to tougher protections around a huge swathe of some of the world's last near-pristine coral reefs, in a move conservationists hailed as a major breakthrough.

Tech magnate Elon Musk's SpaceX vowed Monday to send its first astronauts into orbit on schedule next year -- part of a drive to restore America's dominance of the space race.

Scientists on Monday unveiled a previously unknown species of giant pterosaur, the first creatures with a backbone to fly under their own power.

France plans to introduce a penalty system next year that would increase the costs of consumer goods with packaging made of non-recycled plastic, part of a pledge to use only recycled plastic nationwide by 2025, an environment ministry official said Sunday.