AFP news

Sri Lanka's new leftist leader has drawn strong support from an unlikely source as he seeks to expand his three parliamentary seats to a house majority in elections on Thursday.

Arab and Muslim leaders demanded on Monday that Israel withdraw from occupied Palestinian territories as a precondition for regional peace, while denouncing "shocking" Israeli crimes in war-ravaged Gaza.

By the time most Londoners had rolled out of bed on Monday morning, Gary Marshall was already winding down for the day at New Covent Garden Market.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba kept his job in a parliamentary vote on Monday, despite having recently led the ruling coalition to its worst general election result in 15 years.

Taylor Swift led the way at the 2024 MTV Europe Music Awards in Manchester on Sunday, picking up four awards on a night dominated by female artists, including Tyla and Sabrina Carpenter.

Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli strike on Sunday killed 23 people, including seven children, in the village of Almat north of the capital Beirut.

Major stock markets diverged, the dollar gained and bitcoin extended a record run higher Monday, as traders took their lead from events in the United States and China.

US president-elect Donald Trump said late Sunday he was bringing back hardline immigration official Tom Homan to oversee the country's borders in the incoming administration.

The Kremlin on Monday denied a US media report that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US president-elect Donald Trump shared a call about the Ukraine conflict.

The White House will spend its remaining $6 billion of Ukraine funding before Donald Trump's presidential inauguration in January, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday, warning of the global risks of ending US support for Kyiv.

Air alerts wailed across Ukraine early Monday as Russian strikes killed at least six people, a day after record drone attacks by both sides and US president-elect Donald Trump reportedly urging Russia's Vladimir Putin not to escalate the conflict.

Deep in a thick forest in Italy's northwestern Piedmont region, the hunt is on for the white Alba truffle, with excited dogs zigzagging and digging into the wet earth.

The COP29 climate talks open Monday in Azerbaijan, under the long shadow cast by the re-election of Donald Trump, who has pledged to row back on the United States' carbon-cutting commitments.

Art teacher Daniil Klyuka believes the headmistress of the provincial Russian school where he worked reported him for doodling horns on pictures of officials in a newspaper.

Donald Trump's election victory paves the way for a fresh wave of misinformation, not only around politics but also on vaccines and climate, with his expected cabinet picks ready to challenge the scientific community.

The presence of North Korean soldiers alongside Russians fighting Ukraine raises many tactical and military questions, leading some analysts to wonder about their effectiveness and ultimate objectives.

Russia and Ukraine both launched record drone attacks on each other overnight, despite a phone call reported by the Washington Post from US president-elect Donald Trump urging Russian President Vladimir Putin not to escalate the conflict.

Israeli air strikes killed dozens of people in Lebanon and Gaza Sunday, rescuers and authorities said, ahead of a US deadline for improved aid delivery to the Palestinian territory.

Osama Ahmed's life took a dramatic turn one night in October when the small boat that was to carry him and his father to the English coast sank shortly after setting out from France.

Some Asian countries stand to gain if US president-elect Donald Trump pushes ahead with his promised massive tariffs on China and triggers a new wave of factory relocations to the rest of the region.

Mauritius began voting on Sunday in a close-fought election race that has been clouded by a wire-tapping scandal in a nation usually touted as one of Africa's most stable and prosperous democracies.

Donald Trump won the state of Arizona in this week's US presidential election, US TV networks projected on Saturday, completing the Republican's sweep of all seven swing states.

Traces of black soot still mark the facade of the Regina Coeli jail, a reminder of the latest riots in Rome's infamous lock-up -- now emblematic of long-standing troubles plaguing Italy's prison system.

Qatar has withdrawn as a key mediator for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal after concluding that Hamas and Israel were unwilling to negotiate "in good faith", a diplomatic source told AFP Saturday.

Germany marks 35 years since the Berlin Wall fell with festivities from Saturday under the theme "Preserve Freedom!"

Mozambique's opposition on Friday promised fresh protests, as rights groups said at least 30 people had been killed in three weeks of demonstrations over contested election results.

Beyonce and her groundbreaking "Cowboy Carter" album earned a leading 11 nominations for the Grammy Awards, the music industry's showcase gala, where she will face off against Taylor Swift and a new class of pop hitmakers.

Brenda Diaz Valencia's life was upended nearly two years ago when the bullet-riddled truck driven by her father, Mexican environmental defender Antonio Diaz Valencia, and lawyer Ricardo Lagunes was found abandoned.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, mired in crisis after his three-party coalition collapsed this week, said Friday he is open to talks on whether to move forward snap elections.