AFP news

Death, detention and dissolution have decimated Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, easing the way for groups backed by Myanmar's ruling military to claim victory at elections expected next year, analysts say.

Strong state support and huge private investment have made China's solar industry a global powerhouse, but it faces new headwinds, from punitive tariffs abroad to a brutal price war at home.

Chika Ezure faced gender bias from her own family when deciding to do a master's degree at Japan's top-ranked university.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday announced meetings this week with several European leaders as he pushes for more military aid to repel Russian forces.

Mozambique began counting votes on Wednesday at the close of tense presidential and parliamentary elections expected to allow the ruling Frelimo party to extend its 49 years in power.

She loves raisin bran and exercise, and is as comfortable talking about abortion as she is about beer.

Americans David Baker and John Jumper, together with Briton Demis Hassabis, shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for work revealing the secrets of proteins through computing and artificial intelligence.

Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba dissolved parliament on Wednesday, saying that an election this month was a chance to "create a new Japan" by revitalising rural regions.

A row over the Olympics logo becoming a longterm feature of the Eiffel Tower has taken a fresh turn with a French government minister bidding to take de facto control over the monument away from the city of Paris.

After narrowly escaping Israeli air strikes, Lebanese mother Tanaz Agha shared a picture taken from her plane window as she flew out of Beirut.

Hezbollah fired projectiles into Israel on Wednesday and said it foiled ground incursions, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Lebanon could face destruction like Gaza.

Sherlock Holmes fans are being promised a most authentic depiction of the fictional detective, with the restoration of a century-old silent film series chronicling the London sleuth's adventures.

A few dozen kilometres from the Philippine capital Manila sits a coal plant that some hope could be a model for how developing countries can quit the polluting fossil fuel.

In Japan more is at stake than money in the mammoth takeover battle for 7-Eleven, the world's biggest convenience chain, by Canadian retail giant Alimentation Couche-Tard.

Southeast Asian leaders met for talks with a Myanmar junta representative at a regional summit Wednesday as they try to kickstart faltering diplomatic efforts to broker an end to the country's civil war.

A surge of drugs is engulfing the paradisal South Pacific, as cartels and triads use far-flung island nations to channel narcotics across the globe, top police and UN officials have told AFP. Pacific islands such as Fiji and Tonga sit at the crossroads of largely unpatrolled ocean-trafficking routes used to shift cocaine from Latin America and methamphetamine and opioids from Asia.

Cooling inflation, low unemployment, robust economic growth and... downbeat voters.

China said Tuesday it would impose provisional tariffs on brandy imported from the European Union, marking the latest salvo in an escalating trade row between Beijing and Brussels.

Hungary's leader Viktor Orban sent sparks flying at the European Parliament Tuesday as he told the EU to change tack or face "defeat" in Ukraine, and promised to pop the champagne if Donald Trump wins back the White House.

A billion-dollar binge which brought some of football's biggest names to Saudi Arabia's modest league has given way to a more cautious phase, with spending down dramatically this year.

Elon Musk is ramping up his public support of Donald Trump, telling Tucker Carlson in a conversation streamed Monday that he is "all in" on the Republican presidential candidate.

After years of talking up Tesla's prowess on autonomous driving, Elon Musk is set to host Thursday a much-hyped robotaxi event amid a mix of anticipation and skepticism.

Australia moved Tuesday to protect a swathe of ocean territory by expanding an Antarctic marine park that is home to penguins, seals, whales and the country's only two active volcanos.

Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will hold talks this week on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Laos, a top official said Tuesday, meeting China's premier among others according to media reports.

North Korean soldiers are likely fighting in Ukraine alongside Russian troops, with some believed already killed and more expected to be deployed, Seoul's defence minister said Tuesday.

Last month was the second-warmest September ever registered globally in an exceptional year "almost certain" to become the hottest on record, the EU climate monitor Copernicus said on Tuesday.

Andres Iniesta scored the most important goal in the history of Spanish football, winning his country the World Cup for the first time in 2010.

Israel ramped up its ground offensive against Hezbollah along Lebanon's southern coast on Tuesday, after deploying more troops in the country and urging civilians living near the Mediterranean to evacuate.

Mainland Chinese markets rallied Tuesday but were well off their morning highs, while Hong Kong tumbled as traders were left disappointed by a lack of detail on Beijing's raft of economic stimulus announced last month.