AFP news

Japanese stocks eked out another record Tuesday following the weekend election of a pro-stimulus advocate to lead the country's ruling party, while gold also hit a new high amid the US government shutdown and French political upheaval.

Oct 07, 2025

Swiss postmodernist novelist Christian Kracht and Australia's Gerald Murnane and Alexis Wright are among the favourites for the Nobel literature prize, experts told AFP ahead of the Swedish Academy's much-anticipated announcement on Thursday.

Oct 07, 2025

With tears rolling down his cheeks, detained Chinese political exile Zhou Junyi struggles to make his voice heard over dozens of families visiting Bangkok's main immigration detention centre.

Oct 07, 2025

Israel marks the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attack on Tuesday, as Hamas and Israeli negotiators hold indirect talks to end the two-year war in Gaza under a US proposed peace plan.

Oct 07, 2025

Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot, whose ex-husband recruited dozens of strangers online to sexually assault and rape her while drugged, arrived in court Monday for an appeal trial triggered by the bid of one man to overturn his conviction.

Oct 06, 2025

Delegations from Hamas, Israel and the United States are due to convene in Egypt for talks on Monday, with President Donald Trump urging negotiators to "move fast" to end the nearly two-year war in Gaza.

Oct 06, 2025

Tokyo stocks surged more than four percent to a record high Monday and the yen sank on bets that the new leader of Japan's ruling party will embark on a new era of loose monetary policy to kickstart the country's economy.

Oct 06, 2025

Gisele Pelicot, 72, who became an icon for women in a mass rape trial last year that resonated around the world, is to reluctantly break months of silence to face in court the one man in the case who still denies he raped her.

Oct 06, 2025

After a series of interviews, Nicole Becker was ecstatic to receive a job offer from a sportswear brand.

Oct 06, 2025

French President Emmanuel Macron named a new government on Sunday, putting together a team of largely familiar faces under Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu as he struggles to pull the country out of a political crisis.

Oct 06, 2025

Members of local committees in Syria began on Sunday selecting members of a transitional parliament, in a process criticised as undemocratic, with a third of the members appointed directly by interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Oct 05, 2025

Negotiators were converging on Cairo on Sunday ahead of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of war in Gaza, with Israel's leader expressing hope that the hostages still being held there would be released in a matter of days.

Oct 05, 2025

Georgia's ruling party won local elections Saturday and police fired tear gas and water cannons at anti-government protesters who tried to enter the presidential palace, as tens of thousands of people rallied to the opposition's call to save democracy.

Oct 05, 2025

The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza on Saturday said it was "essential" to end the Gaza war immediately, as Israel bombarded the territory even after US President Donald Trump called on it to stop.

Oct 04, 2025

From Venezuela, Maria travelled halfway around the world in search of a better life.

Oct 04, 2025

Sean Combs, once a music world powerhouse, took a deep breath. An outsider viewing the clip might have thought Combs was running for mayor.

Oct 04, 2025

A man who launched a car-ramming and stabbing attack on a British synagogue on Yom Kippur may have been inspired by Islamist extremism, police said on Friday, as emotions ran high after the atrocity.

Oct 04, 2025

Hundreds of thousands of people protested across Italy on Friday during a large-scale strike over the treatment of the Gaza aid flotilla and far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's cautious stance on the conflict.

Oct 04, 2025

Years of criticism of an EU-backed migration pact between Italy and Libya are coming to a head as migrant rescuers say the Libyan coastguard has begun firing directly at them.

Oct 04, 2025

The Carrefour name has disappeared from storefronts in some Arab countries, with pro-Palestinian shoppers and activists hailing the shift as a victory for their boycott of brands perceived as being linked to Israel.

Oct 03, 2025

A Hamas official told AFP on Friday that the group still needed time to study a plan put forward by US President Donald Trump to end nearly two years of devastating war in Gaza.

Oct 03, 2025

Some Nobel laureates were straight-A students from the get-go. According to the Nobel Foundation, other laureates had to overcome major academic challenges before going on to win the prestigious Nobel.

Oct 03, 2025

Sean "Diddy" Combs will be sentenced Friday for his conviction on two prostitution-related counts, crimes prosecutors say deserve more than a decade behind bars as the music mogul seeks "mercy" and a swift release.

Oct 03, 2025

Taylor Swift is in a sparkling new era. In the title track featuring pop princess Sabrina Carpenter, who opened for Swift at some Eras Tour stops, Swift tells the story of a showgirl named Kitty, and how that life became her own.

Oct 03, 2025

Indonesian families whose children were offered free school meals are joining non-profit groups calling for the flagship government programme to be suspended after thousands of students fell ill from the food.

Oct 03, 2025

Artificial intelligence, the technology upending nearly every corner of society, is creeping into religion, serving up virtual Jesus and automated sermons -- a change drawing mixed reviews from the faithful.

Oct 03, 2025

Protesters around the world Thursday railed at Israel's interception of a flotilla carrying aid for Gaza's besieged Palestinians, urging greater sanctions in response.

Oct 03, 2025

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday condemned France's detention of a Russian-linked ship as "piracy", vowing a "significant" response to what he called European threats as tension flared.

Oct 03, 2025

Two people were killed on Thursday and four wounded when a man ploughed a car into a crowd outside a packed Manchester synagogue on a sombre Jewish holiday and then embarked on a stabbing spree, UK police said.

Oct 03, 2025