At least 26 schoolchildren have been killed when their classrooms made out of straw and wood were engulfed in a blaze in southern Niger a local governor told the AFP news agency. “Right now, we have 26 dead and 13 injured, four of them seriously,” said Chaibou Aboubacar,

Kuwait's government has submitted its resignation to the ruling emir, Al Qabas and Al Rai newspapers reported, in a move that could help end a standoff with opposition lawmakers that has hindered fiscal reform. It was the second time a government headed by Prime Minister Sheikh

The UK is pledging £290m to help poorer countries cope with the impact of climate change, as the COP26 climate change summit enters its second week. Government ministers from around the world are in Glasgow for more talks. They will discuss how to support poorer countries and

At least 98 people have died after a massive explosion when a fuel tanker collided with a lorry in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown. Fuel spilled before igniting and the resulting inferno engulfed bystanders and vehicles at a busy junction. Footage broadcast by local media

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has said he escaped unhurt after an attack on his home in the capital Baghdad. Officials said his residence in the capital's Green Zone was targeted by a drone laden with explosives, in an alleged assassination attempt. Earlier media

At least 84 people have died after a massive explosion when a fuel tanker collided with a lorry in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown. Fuel spilled before igniting and the resulting inferno engulfed bystanders and vehicles at a busy junction. Footage broadcast by local media

At least eight people have died and scores of people have been hurt after a crowd surge on the opening night of a music festival in Houston, Texas. Panic broke out after the crowd began to compress towards the front of the stage at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival, emergency

Major coal users including Poland, Vietnam and Chile are committing to shift away from the fossil fuel, in pledges made at the COP26 climate summit, the UK government says. Coal is the single biggest contributor to climate change. The UK said 190 nations and organisations had vowed

A four-year-old girl missing for 18 days in a remote part of Western Australia has been found alive and well in a locked house, police have said. Cleo Smith disappeared from her family's tent at a campsite near the town of Carnarvon on 16 October, triggering a massive search. A

India has promised to cut its emissions to net zero by 2070 - missing a key goal of the COP26 summit for countries to commit to reach that target by 2050. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the pledge, the first time India has set a net zero target, at the Glasgow summit. Net zero,

More than 100 world leaders will promise to end and reverse deforestation by 2030, in the COP26 climate summit's first major deal. Brazil - where stretches of the Amazon rainforest have been cut down - will be among the signatories on Tuesday. The pledge includes almost

Leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies have agreed to tackle “the critical and urgent threat of climate change” but angered activists by offering few concrete commitments to limit global warming. Wrapping up a summit in Rome, the leaders of the G20 pledged on

Japan's prime minister Fumio Kishida has declared victory for his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). In a big win for Mr Kishida, who only became PM a month ago, his party secured more than 233 lower house seats - enough to govern without its coalition partner Komeito. The

The highly anticipated COP26 climate change summit begins later in the Scottish city of Glasgow. Delegates from about 200 countries will be there to announce how they will cut emissions by 2030 and help the planet. With the world warming because of fossil fuel emissions caused by

Climate change and Covid are top of the agenda as leaders from the world's major economies meet in Italy. It is the first time the G20 leaders are meeting face-to-face since the start of the pandemic. However, China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin will not be in

Thousands of anti-coup protesters in Sudan took to the streets to demand the restoration of a civilian-led government in “Million of October 30” demonstrations. The protesters have called for a return to a path to democracy, as they rejected military measures and demanded

National plans to cut carbon fall far short of what's needed to avert dangerous climate change, according to the UN Environment Programme. Their Emissions Gap report says country pledges will fail to keep the global temperature under 1.5C this century. The Unep analysis suggests

Southeast Asian leaders have begun their annual summit without Myanmar, after its military refused to send a representative to the three-day meeting in protest over the exclusion of its top general. Neither Brunei, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) chair, nor the

Millions of Afghans will face starvation this winter unless urgent action is taken, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. More than half the population - about 22.8 million people - face acute food insecurity, while 3.2 million children under five could suffer acute

Military forces in Sudan have moved Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to an unknown location after putting him under house arrest earlier on Monday, the country’s information ministry has said. Al Hadath TV also reported that several members of the country’s civilian leadership