North Korea's foreign minister has delivered a scornful response to US President Donald Trump's threat to destroy the hermit kingdom, likening it to the sound of "a dog barking."

Ri Yong Ho, who is in the US for the United Nations General Assembly, said he "felt sorry" for Trump's advisers after the speech on Tuesday.

Hurricane Maria has knocked out power across the island of Puerto Rico, home to 3.5m people, officials have said.

The US National Hurricane Center said "catastrophic" flooding was sweeping parts of the island.

Meanwhile more pictures are emerging of widespread destruction on the small island of Dominica, hit on Monday.

A report of the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace has been launched in Geneva, Switzerland, the green city of Europe.

The report, titled: “A Matter of Survival”, tries to generate extensive international awareness of water resources and their proper management.

A strong earthquake has struck central Mexico, killing more than 200 people and toppling dozens of buildings in the capital, Mexico City.

President Enrique Peña Nieto said more than 20 children had died and 30 were missing after a school collapsed.

The 7.1 magnitude quake also caused major damage in neighbouring states.

Donald Trump's first major speech at the United Nations has been denounced by some of the member nations he singled out for criticism.

The US president included Iran among "a small group of rogue regimes", and said the US would "totally destroy" North Korea if forced to do so.

A huge earthquake has killed at least 138 people in central Mexico, according to the BBC, with at least 64 deaths occurring in Morelos state.

South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, a leading contender to become head of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in December, has stepped up his criticism of the government saying state-owned companies had been “captured” and funds looted from them.

Mr Ramaphosa’s remarks during a speech yesterday to an ANC meeting in the old diamond-mining town of Kimberley were tougher than others he have made on government graft, signaling the issue would be a main theme of his campaign.

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered the tomb of a royal goldsmith containing the mummies of a woman and her two children, authorities have said.

The tomb, dating back to the New Kingdom (16th to 11th Centuries BC), was found near the Nile city of Luxor, 400 miles (700km) south of Cairo.

The security forces in Togo fired tear gas in the early hours of this morning to disperse hundreds of anti-government protestors taking part in a late-night sit in in the capital, Lomé.

News agencies have been filing photographs of demonstrators bedding down for the all-night vigil:

The UN Security Council has set up a sanctions system allowing the UN to penalise anyone who violates Mali's 2015 peace deal, obstructs the delivery of aid, commits human rights abuses or recruits child soldiers.

Anyone who violates the terms will face a travel ban or asset freeze, according to the resolution which was initiated by France and unanimously adopted by the 15-member Security Council.

Canada and Ghana have had a very important and long-standing partnership and the two countries continue to work towards further strengthening the relationship for their mutual benefit.

“Our diplomatic relations date back to Ghana’s independence and Ghana was Canada’s first international development partner,” the Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, Madam Heather Cameron, has stated.

Emergency officials in Niger say torrential rains have destroyed hundreds of houses outside the capital, Niamey.

Colonel Aboubacar Bako, director general of civil protection and disasters, was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying on Tuesday that residents were forced to evacuate after several days of heavy downpours.