AFP news

Britain is preparing to emulate the United States by appointing an envoy tasked with freeing citizens arbitrarily detained abroad, as it faces calls to do more to bring them home.

When Moscow invaded Ukraine, Pavel Talankin, a staff member at a secondary school in Russia's Ural Mountains, was ordered to film patriotic lessons, songs and morning drills.

Around 140,000 protesters rallied in Belgrade, the largest turnout in recent months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government to call early elections.

Southern Europeans braced Saturday for their first heatwave of the northern hemisphere summer, as climate change pushes thermometers on the world's fastest-warming continent increasingly into the red.

Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a peace agreement Friday in Washington to end fighting that has killed thousands, with the two countries pledging to pull back support for guerrillas -- and President Donald Trump boasting of securing mineral wealth.

Iran will hold a state funeral service Saturday for around 60 people, including its military commanders, killed in its war with Israel, after Tehran's top diplomat condemned Donald Trump's comments on supreme leader Ali Khamenei as "unacceptable".

Sean "Diddy" Combs's lawyer aimed Friday to skewer the credibility of the music mogul's accusers, saying in closing arguments they were out for money while rejecting any notion he led a criminal ring.

US President Donald Trump hailed a "giant win" Friday after the Supreme Court curbed lone judges from blocking the Republican's raft of controversial policies.

Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez tied the knot Friday at a sumptuous ceremony with the rich and famous on an island in Venice's lagoon, out of the sight and sound of protesters.

US President Donald Trump said Friday he had saved Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei from assassination and lashed out at the supreme leader for ingratitude, declaring he would order more bombing if the country tried to pursue nuclear weapons.

President Donald Trump said Friday he is calling off trade negotiations with Canada in retaliation for taxes impacting US tech firms, adding that Ottawa will learn of their new tariff rate within a week.

United Nations officials on Friday said a US- and Israeli-backed distribution system in Gaza was leading to mass killings of people seeking aid and urged Israel to let UN humanitarian supplies to the war-stricken territory resume.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has re-emerged after the war with Israel but faces a struggle to maintain the authority he has wielded over the Islamic republic in over three-and-a-half decades of rule, analysts say.

The dollar held around three-year lows Friday as traders ramp up bets on US interest rate cuts, while most stock markets rose on hopes Donald Trump will further delay imposing tough tariffs.

"Belem is ready," Brazilian officials have insisted ahead of the COP30 gathering in November -- but eye-watering lodging costs in the northern city have panicked many would-be attendees.

Jailed pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong shrugged and shook his head after a Hong Kong court this month announced a fresh charge of breaching the city's national security law.

Tibetans in exile celebrate the 90th birthday of spiritual leader the Dalai Lama next week, an occasion overshadowed by uncertainty about the future of the role and what it means for their movement.

Sean "Diddy" Combs used "power, violence, and fear" as the head of a decades-long criminal enterprise, prosecutors told jurors Thursday as they presented closing arguments in the final stages of the high-profile trial.

After satisfying Donald Trump's calls for Europe to ramp up defence spending in NATO, EU leaders were meeting in Brussels Thursday on the next big challenge ahead: how to seal a trade deal with the US leader.

In a Finnish town a stone's throw from Russia, Moscow's reported military build-up on its side of the border is raising concerns about the Nordic country's security, locals told AFP. Finland, which dropped decades of military non-alignment to join NATO in 2023, shares a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border with Russia.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday became the most prominent European leader to describe the situation in Gaza as a "genocide", as rescuers in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory said Israeli forces killed 35 people.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday said US President Donald Trump "exaggerated" the impact of US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, in his first appearance since a ceasefire in the war with Israel took hold.

While looking for jobs on Facebook, Jett thought he had found a well-paying opportunity working in online customer service in his home country of Thailand.

Esports is helping Ukrainian war veterans, who "often feel out of place" when they return from the front line, to reintegrate into society, the head of Ukraine's Esport Commission has told AFP. Denys Davydov, 43, speaks with authority as he also leads a commission on the development of rehabilitation programs for veterans through esports.

At a church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, hundreds of people gathered recently for a weeknight charity fundraiser hosted by a celebrity guest.

In a remote town in southern Kyrgyzstan, teacher Nur Akhmatov watched workers building a library, conference hall and women's sports centre -- construction mostly funded by Kyrgyz emigrants sending money home from Russia.

Wimbledon head gardener Martyn Falconer is the only man at the All England Club who welcomes a drop of rain.

At a minimalist Los Angeles matcha bar, powdered Japanese tea is prepared with precision, despite a global shortage driven by the bright green drink's social media stardom.

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that "great progress" was being made to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza as a new ceasefire push began more than 20 months since the start of the conflict.