AFP news

Haiti's prime minister agreed late Monday to step aside as armed gangs plunge his country into anarchy, as he accepted a regional push for a transition that sets the stage for international intervention.

The first day of Ramadan came and went in Gaza, with residents marking a joyless iftar against a backdrop of famine, disease and displacement as the war in the besieged territory ground on more than five months after it began.

An image of a dancer balancing on the words "China Before Communism" looms over Parisian commuters catching the morning metro, signalling the annual return of Shen Yun, a controversial spectacle of traditional Chinese dance mixed with vehement criticism of Beijing and conservative rhetoric.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has been written off many times during a turbulent decade in power.

The US said Monday that emergency talks were a "critical moment" in addressing spiraling instability in Haiti, where gang violence has crippled the capital and forced foreign diplomats to evacuate.

Five passengers remained in hospital Tuesday after a technical problem on a LATAM flight from Sydney to Auckland caused the Boeing-made plane to dip violently, the airline and first responders told AFP. The five still being treated were among 12 passengers on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner initially rushed to hospital in Auckland after flight LA800 experienced an unspecified "technical event" over the Tasman Sea on Monday.

There were tears and emotional tributes Monday as Spain and the European Union paid tribute to the 192 victims of March 14, 2004, Madrid train bombings that marked the start of mass Islamist attacks in Europe.

Finnish conscript Atte Ohman readied himself aboard a US landing ship to storm a snow-swept Norwegian beach as part of a rapid response unit pushing out an invading enemy.

Catherine, Princess of Wales on Monday apologised and admitted to editing an official portrait of her released by the palace, after AFP and other agencies withdrew the image.

Gaza's deadliest war showed no signs of abating as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began Monday amid a gruelling humanitarian crisis that has pushed much of the territory to the brink of starvation.

The Cheltenham Festival is "critical" for the image and health of British racing though in "many ways the racing fan is being priced out" of this week's showpiece, William Woodhams, CEO of Fitzdares bookmakers, told AFP. The four day extravaganza which pitches the best of British jumps thoroughbreds against their Irish rivals gets underway on Tuesday.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins on Monday, Middle Eastern nations have announced, with the king of Saudi Arabia using the occasion to call for an end to the "heinous crimes" taking place in war-torn Gaza.

The Premier League's top three are separated by a single point with 10 games remaining as a thrilling battle between Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City looks set to go to the wire.

Reigning Grand Slam champions Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz turned in dominating performances on Sunday to roll into the fourth round of the ATP-WTA Indian Wells Masters.

President Vladimir Putin has no doubt he will secure another term in Russia's election.

A sensational story about the Israeli prime minister's "psychiatrist" exploded online, but it was AI-generated, originating on one of hundreds of websites researchers warn are churning out tech-enabled fiction masquerading as news.

Hollywood's biggest night got under way Sunday, with the movie world's great and good gathering for the spectacle of glitz that is the Oscars, with atomic blockbuster "Oppenheimer" poised for glory.

Ukraine on Sunday angrily rejected Pope Francis's call to negotiate with Russia two years into its invasion, vowing "never" to surrender after the pontiff said Kyiv should "have the courage to raise the white flag".

Pep Guardiola said Manchester City survived a second-half "tsunami" from Liverpool to secure a 1-1 draw that leaves three sides separated by just one point at the top of the Premier League.

Deadly fighting raged on in Gaza on Sunday, with no truce in sight on the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and a dire humanitarian crisis gripping the besieged Palestinian territory.

Students were just about to settle into their classes after singing Nigeria's national anthem when the gunshots rang out.

In the skies above Istanbul's Tophane neighbourhood, seagulls are sent scattering by a drone that's filming a policeman arresting a young woman on the streets below.

False GPS signals that deceive on-board plane systems and complicate the work of airline pilots are surging near conflict zones, industry employees and officials told AFP. A ground collision alert sounds in the cockpit, for instance, even though the plane is flying at high altitude -- a phenomenon affecting several regions and apparently of military origin.

Since his tumultuous takeover of Twitter, Elon Musk has made an unabashed turn to the right politically, defying the orthodoxy that Silicon Valley is a citadel of well-heeled liberals beholden to Democrats.

A dual referendum in Ireland on redefining family and women's roles in the constitution has been "comprehensively" defeated, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Saturday.

A shadowy political party that ruled Karachi for more than three decades, overseeing the city's descent into a swamp of organised crime, has risen from the ashes in Pakistan's tainted elections.

Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Pakistan's slain first female premier Benazir Bhutto who has had a life storied equally by tragedy and farce, is set to become president for a second time on Saturday.

With Gaza's humanitarian crisis growing more dire and his left flank in uproar, President Joe Biden is increasingly showing impatience with Israel's leader and making clear the United States will act on its own -- but few expect a dramatic break.

A jury in New York on Friday found former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez guilty of trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States, enriching himself while protecting and abetting some of the region's most infamous drug cartels.