A huge stampede has killed at least 717 people and injured at least 863 more at the hajj in Saudi Arabia in one of the worst-ever tragedies at the annual Muslim pilgrimage.
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WASHINGTON - Pope Francis has left Washington for a hectic 36 hours in New York that includes a Mass at Madison Square Garden and a speech before the UN General Assembly.
PARIS - France says it is willing to pay 80 million euros ($A127.8 million) to acquire one of two Rembrandt paintings being sold by the Rothschild family for the Louvre museum.
BRUSSELS - A Belgian court has confirmed a ban on controversial ride-sharing app UberPOP, giving it 21 days to close operations in Brussels or risk massive penalties.
FRANKFURT - The head of German luxury sports carmaker Porsche, Matthias Mueller, has been picked to succeed Martin Winterkorn as the chief executive of scandal-battered auto giant Volkswagen.
NEW YORK - A pink diamond the size of a postage stamp is going on the auction block and it could fetch as much as $US28 million ($A40.01 million).
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin has called British musician Elton John and agreed to meet with him after Russian pranksters called him, pretending to be Putin and his spokesman.
FLORENCE - Italian archaeologists trying to solve the mystery behind the identity of one of the world's most famous models claim to have found shards of bone which could have belonged to Mona Lisa. (ITALY MONA)
