AFP news

The spur to build Toronto's billion-dollar-plus flood prevention project dates back to a devastating hurricane in 1954, but planners say its urgency was reinforced by the recent tragic flooding in Texas.

Japan is waging war on "host clubs" -- where men entertain women willing to pay for romance, but authorities and industry insiders say customers have long been scammed and saddled with debt.

One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia's sparsely populated Far East early Wednesday, causing tsunamis of up to four metres (12 feet) across the Pacific and sparking evacuations from Hawaii to Japan.

Beyond dancing robots and eager-to-help digital avatars, Shanghai's World AI Conference saw China stake its claim to global artificial intelligence leadership and frame itself as a clear alternative to the United States.

An uneasy ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia appeared to hold on Tuesday, as military commanders met despite Bangkok's allegations the truce had been breached with sporadic skirmishes.

England's victorious Lionesses celebrated their dramatic Women's Euro 2025 triumph along with tens of thousands of ecstatic fans outside Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

Russia said on Tuesday that it wanted peace in Ukraine, hours after mounting attacks that killed at least 25 people, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman and more than a dozen prison inmates.

Gaza is slipping into famine, UN-backed experts warned Tuesday, as the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said the death toll in the nearly 22-month war had surpassed 60,000.

One 14-year-old was allegedly planning to blow up an Israeli embassy, while a 16-year-old was convicted of having plotted to attack far-right bars incensed by "injustice".

Hong Kong's LGBTQ community has reluctantly rallied behind a government plan to expand rights for some same-sex couples, with activists ditching their idealism in hope of a rare legislative win.

A menacing buzz reverberates through the night sky in eastern Ukraine.

Behind a car repair business on a nondescript Thai street are the cherished pets of a rising TikTok animal influencer: two lions and a 200-kilogram lion-tiger hybrid called "Big George."

Dexter Barsigan has spent the past 13 years making a living with his bare hands and a pair of pliers, stripping scrapped laptops and air conditioners for metal he can sell to junk shops in the Philippines.

A nearly 200-year-old pub, the Radnor Arms in rural Wales stood abandoned a few years ago.

Palantir, an American data analysis and artificial intelligence company, has emerged as Silicon Valley's latest tech darling -- one that makes no secret of its macho, America-first ethos now ascendant in Trump-era tech culture.

On a sweltering Monday morning at Cairo's main railway station, hundreds of Sudanese families stood waiting, with bags piled at their feet and children in tow, to board a train bound for a homeland shattered by two years of war.

The European Union on Monday defended its trade deal with President Donald Trump, with EU capitals and businesses sharply divided on an outcome some branded a "capitulation".

Firefighters battled blazes across Turkey on Monday as the country sweltered in a summer heatwave across much of the Mediterranean, with wildfires leading to at least 14 deaths in the country in the past week.

The dollar jumped Monday on the back of the US-EU trade deal struck on the weekend, but European stock markets dipped, reflecting unease at terms viewed as lopsided.

Chinese and US economic officials met for talks in Stockholm on Monday, with Beijing saying it wanted to see "reciprocity" in its trade with the United States.

Thailand and Cambodia's leaders agreed to an "unconditional" ceasefire Monday, after five days of combat along their jungle-clad frontier that has killed at least 36 people.

Truckloads of food reached hungry Gazans on Monday after Israel promised to open secure aid routes, but humanitarian agencies warned vast amounts more were needed to stave off starvation.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will press Donald Trump on ending "the unspeakable suffering" in Gaza, and also talk trade, when they meet Monday at the US president's golf resort in Scotland, Downing Street said.

Chloe Kelly converted the decisive kick as England beat Spain 3-1 on penalties to lift the Women's Euro 2025 trophy after Sunday's game had finished 1-1 at the end of extra time, allowing the Lionesses to avenge their defeat in the World Cup final two years ago and retain their continental crown.

Tadej Pogacar completed a supreme performance to win the Tour de France in a rainy Paris on Sunday, crushing his rivals to collect a fourth title.

US President Donald Trump and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen prepared to meet Sunday in Scotland in a push to resolve a months-long transatlantic trade standoff that is going down to the wire.

On a summer's day in the city of Suzhou, about 40,000 people crowded into a stadium while thousands more gathered by public screens to watch China's hottest sport -- amateur football.

At a strip mall in Maryland, a miniature landscape extends across a table between Dash Krempel and his friend as a war game unfolds.

New Zealand sheep farmers are fighting to stop the loss of pasture to fast-spreading pine plantations, which earn government subsidies to soak up carbon emissions.