Monaco Journal - News from Monaco, Monte-Carlo and the world

The sacking of a top diplomat and mysterious disappearance of a defence minister have raised fresh questions around President Xi Jinping's increasingly opaque decision-making, experts say.

Australia on Wednesday abandoned its fight to eradicate the destructive Varroa mite, an invasive parasite responsible for the collapse of honeybee populations across the planet.

A tornado in eastern China killed 10 people and seriously injured several others, state media said Wednesday, the latest in a string of extreme weather events to strike the country.

Brighton's "incredible" journey from homeless exiles facing oblivion to their current status as Premier League trendsetters will reach a memorable climax when they host AEK Athens in their first-ever European match on Thursday.

British inflation unexpectedly slowed in August, data showed Wednesday, hitting an 18-month low and sparking hope this week's widely-forecast interest rate hike by the Bank of England could be its last for now.

A tornado in eastern China killed five people and seriously injured four others, state media said Wednesday, the latest in a string of extreme weather events to strike the country.

Australia on Wednesday abandoned its fight to eradicate the destructive Varroa mite, an invasive parasite responsible for the collapse of honeybee populations across the planet.

Most of Spain's international footballers have agreed to rejoin the squad, the government said Wednesday, following a strike by the World Cup winners over the disgraced former president of the federation forcibly kissing a player.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is set Wednesday to host a climate meeting marred at its outset by the absence of speakers from the world's top two emitters, China and the United States.

Ukraine's president is set to go face to face with Russian officials for the first time since his country was invaded, as the UN Security Council meets Wednesday for a potentially dramatic session.

Russia and the United Nations called Wednesday for an end to fighting in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, after the launch of a military operation against separatist forces.

A London restaurant is exploring whether eating invasive species such as grey squirrel, American Signal crayfish and Japanese knotweed could help fight their spread, but scientists remain sceptical.

India hosts its maiden MotoGP on Sunday as the premier motorcycling championship looks to tap a potentially lucrative new fan base and succeed on a track where Formula One stalled.

Most species of the famously large Rafflesia flower, which has long captured the imagination with its enormous speckled red petals, are now at risk of extinction, new research warned Wednesday.

Runaway Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen will be determined to roar back at Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix after his record streak of 10 straight wins ended in Singapore.

The leader of Paraguay, one of a dwindling number of countries that recognize Taiwan, called Tuesday for its readmission to the United Nations in recognition of its democratic credentials.

The Asian Games is home to some sports that are a little more quirky than the Olympic staples of athletics, swimming and cycling.

China's eastern city of Hangzhou is set to host the largest Asian Games ever with nearly 12,000 athletes in action.

The UN Security Council on Tuesday scheduled an urgent meeting as France and the United States led efforts to stop a military operation by Azerbaijan in the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Concerns that the Federal Reserve will have to lift interest rates again or keep them at a 22-year high for an extended period weighed on investor sentiment Wednesday as traders await the bank's latest policy decision.

Russia called Wednesday for an immediate halt to the fighting and bloodshed in Nagorno-Karabakh, where Azerbaijan has launched a military operation against separatist forces.

Actress Bijou Phillips filed for divorce from Danny Masterson less than two weeks after the former "That '70s Show" star was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for raping two women, US media reported Tuesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday he was willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seeking a diplomatic path as tensions soar over Pyongyang's weapons programs.

Analysts expect the US Federal Reserve to pause interest rate hikes on Wednesday as the central bank looks to tame inflation while avoiding a recession, despite a recent energy-fueled rise in consumer prices.

The battle against climate change is increasingly being fought in the courtroom, as national governments, specific laws and individual companies are targeted for their roles in the crisis.

At 10 years old, Martin cannot read, but he is an old hand at detecting traces of the gold he and his young cousins dig for at an open-pit mine in southeastern Venezuela.

Worried by the surge of skyscrapers fast replacing the houses and historic buildings in her Sao Paulo neighborhood, Rosanne Brancatelli put up a sign on her street: "Don't take away our sun."

She already rules music, so now it's on to Tinseltown: Taylor Swift's concert documentary is poised to dominate the fall movie season, challenging the hegemony of film studios and consecrating her business empire.

Ukraine's first lady urged world leaders on Tuesday to help return Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia, where she said they are being indoctrinated and deprived of their national identity.

Canada's Sikh community is hoping Ottawa's shock accusations against India -- that New Delhi may have been involved in the assassination of one of their leaders on Canadian soil -- will be just the first dramatic step taken against alleged "Indian interference."

Muslim leaders addressing the United Nations on Tuesday berated the West over burnings of the Koran, denouncing the acts protected as free speech as discriminatory.

Mexico's biggest rail operator said Tuesday that it had halted 60 freight trains after a surge in the number of US-bound migrants traveling on them led to deaths and injuries.