AFP news

Venezuelan authorities on Friday ratified Nicolas Maduro's election victory as the number of nations recognizing his opposition rival as the true winner mounted.

As Hezbollah's leader threatened Israel with crushing retaliation for killing their top commander, thousands in Beirut flocked to a dance extravaganza in a stark illustration of Lebanon's deep divisions.

Stock markets tumbled on Friday over concerns about the health of the US economy after data showed the US jobs market cooled much more than expected in July.

The Kremlin on Friday said that at least three Russians freed in a landmark prisoner exchange were undercover Russian agents, a rare public admission into the work of Moscow's top-secret security services.

Palestinian militant group Hamas prepares to choose a political leader after the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in a Wednesday attack in Tehran blamed on Israel.

Mourners arrived at a Qatari mosque on Friday to farewell Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh after his killing in Tehran, an attack blamed on Israel that deepened fears of wider war.

US tech giants saw their shares fluctuate this week as investors tried to gauge whether artificial intelligence will fill coffers or drain them.

Snap shares plunged more than 16 percent on Thursday when a disappointing financial outlook eclipsed a rise in users of the image-centric social network Snapchat.

Turkey on Friday blocked access to the Instagram social media network, the national communications authority said without explanation, following censorship accusations against the US company by a high-ranking Turkish official.

An Israeli strike that killed seven charity workers in a Gaza aid convoy was the result of "mistaken identification" and a raft of other serious failures, the Australian government found in a report released Friday.

As Tokyo's millions put in another day's work on the coalface of capitalism, celebrity Marxist philosopher Kohei Saito and his friends are clearing rocks from a muddy mountain stream.

Simone Biles recaptured her all-around gymnastics crown on Thursday for her sixth Olympic gold and second in Paris, as a gender eligibility row in boxing shook the Games and sparked broader debate.

Simone Biles, with two Paris Olympics gold medals and counting, has cemented her legacy as the greatest gymnast of all time -- an athlete who transcends her sport in both triumph and defeat.

Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was released from a 25-year prison sentence on Thursday in a prisoner swap, has spent years warning the world of the dangers of a revanchist President Vladimir Putin.

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif's 46-second win at the Paris Olympics on Thursday sparked a furious row about gender eligibility rules, with public figures from around the world weighing in on the controversy.

The historic prisoner swap with Russia that freed US journalist Evan Gershkovich and 15 other Westerners was the fruit of painstaking, secret talks -- and one crucial phone call from President Joe Biden an hour before he dropped his reelection bid.

Iran and armed groups backed by it are preparing coordinated action meant to deter Israel but avert all-out war, sources and analysts said, after the killings of top Hamas and Hezbollah figures.

A teenager appeared in court Thursday charged with murdering three girls in a stabbing attack, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a new "national capability" to tackle disorder that broke out after the incident.

Nigerian security forces on Thursday fired shots in the air and tear gas to break up protesters in the northern city of Kano and the capital Abuja as thousands joined rallies across the country against high costs of living.

A new play criticising Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling's views on transgender issues comes to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Thursday.

Hollywood is out in force at the Paris Olympics -- perhaps taking notes before the United States' turn to host with the next Games in 2028.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose claim to victory at the polls has been widely contested, is no friend of billionaire Elon Musk, and the feeling is clearly mutual, with their war of words escalating amid the political crisis in Caracas.

Meta on Wednesday reported profit of $13.5 billion in the recently ended quarter, beating market expectations and causing its share price to jump.

Kamala Harris will be confirmed as the Democratic US presidential nominee in an electronic vote starting Thursday that replaces the fanfare of in-person balloting that usually kicks off the party's national convention.

The European Union's landmark law on artificial intelligence came into force on Thursday, which Brussels vows will drive innovation while protecting citizens' rights.

Iraq signed an agreement with British energy giant British Petroleum on Thursday to develop four oil and gas fields in the northern province of Kirkuk.

Danish shipping giant Maersk said Thursday it expects its underlying profit in 2024 to be $2 billion higher than its previous forecast as freight rates have increased amid the crisis in the Red Sea.

US journalist Evan Gershkovich and former US marine Paul Whelan are expected to be released by Russia as part of one of the biggest East-West prisoner swaps since the Cold War, according to US media Thursday.

Most equity markets rose Thursday after the Federal Reserve flagged a possible interest rate cut next month, but Tokyo's Nikkei tumbled on a stronger yen following a hike by the Bank of Japan.