As Middle Eastern countries again accept Bashar Assad's control over Syria, India is beginning to renew its ties with Damascus in order to build strategic influence in the region.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is urging Russia to return to a deal allowing Ukraine to export grain, easing a global food crisis. However, Moscow is seeking concessions that only the West can offer.

At least seven people have died after torrential rains caused flash flooding in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria. The deluge comes on the heels of extreme heat over summer.

More than a dozen people died in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria as heavy rains hit parts of those countries. Record rainfall hit the central region of Magnesia in Greece.

Residents of Marrakech, the nearest major city to the epicentre, said some buildings had collapsed in the old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and local television showed pictures of a fallen mosque minaret with rubble lying on smashed cars.

The psychological impact of the destruction starts to weigh heavily on Moroccans as the death toll from the country’s devastating earthquake tops 2,800. Also, Libya calls for international help after authorities say that extreme flooding around the city of Derna has cost at least 2000 lives. And the African Union kicks off the week as the newest member of the G20.

Search and rescue operations are underway after a deadly earthquake tore through western Morocco killing more than 1000 people. It was the strongest to hit the region in more than a century.

While rescue teams continue to look for missing people in the aftermath of Morocco's devastating earthquake, many survivors face an uncertain future.

Aid workers and officials have said that the death toll is likely to rise, as bodies continue to wash up ashore. The UN migration agency said that at least 30,000 people in eastern Libya have been displaced.

Did strange flying objects or a mysterious laser weapon trigger the devastating earthquake in Morocco? This absurd theory is circulating through social networks — and is, of course, wrong.

Quakes kill relatively few, but the resulting building collapse kills many more. How do we keep people safe in their own homes?

It's been one week since an earthquake struck Morocco, killing nearly 3000 people...The hardest-hit areas were those south of Marrakesh, where many mountain villages were completely destroyed. Morocco is rolling out a new aid program to re-house survivors... Around 50,000 buildings are damaged and some experts say it will take "weeks, months, years to be able to rebuild hundreds of villages.