AFP news

NATO allies announced Wednesday they had started the long-promised transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine as leaders meet for a summit in Washington clouded by political uncertainties in the United States.

The Israeli army dropped thousands of leaflets over Gaza City on Wednesday urging all residents to flee a heavy offensive that has rocked the main city of the besieged Palestinian territory.

The leaders of Russia, India and China often wax poetic about establishing a "multipolar" world -- though it is far from clear what such a system would entail.

In the central Kosovo town of Gracanica, posters advertising "10 euro return tickets" to Serbia flutter on the walls as ethnic Serbs wearily organise trips across the border to collect their pensions.

NATO leaders meet Wednesday for their 75th anniversary, seeking ways to ramp up support for Ukraine as deadly Russian strikes and political uncertainties in the West stir new concerns.

At a bare-bones gym in the central Philippines, children from poor families in torn shoes put on frayed head guards and get to work in pursuit of their Olympic boxing dream -- and a way out of poverty.

Hungary is raising the hackles of its EU partners with a go-it-alone diplomatic initiative on Ukraine by its prime minister, Viktor Orban, slammed by Brussels as rogue troublemaking.

With the pomp and pageantry of his official nomination just days away, Donald Trump's search for a running mate on the Republican presidential ticket is in the home stretch, with a trio of frontrunners jockeying to be first across the finish line.

Cyprus marks a half-century of division this month, with the unresolved conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots branded on the landscape in a UN-patrolled buffer zone that cuts across the island.

Alex de Minaur is the latest man standing in the way of the Novak Djokovic juggernaut on Wednesday as the Serbian superstar eyes a 13th Wimbledon semi-final.

In front of a small mosque in central Tunisia, women queue at one of their village's last water sources, a pipe meant for crop irrigation, but now a lifeline in the parched area.

Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket successfully blasted off for the first time on Tuesday, releasing satellites into orbit and restoring the continent's independent access to space.

Argentine authorities were on Tuesday mulling charges against two members of the French national rugby team who were arrested following an allegation of sexual assault on their tour of South America.

Fernando Dayan Jorge Enriquez, a champion sprint canoeist who fled his native Cuba two years ago, feels sick but still wakes up early to train for the Paris Olympics, where he will compete for a refugee team.

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will attempt to set up a blockbuster Wimbledon semi-final on Tuesday, confirming their status as the pathfinders of tennis's next generation.

NATO leaders gather Tuesday in Washington for a summit aimed at showing resolve against Russia and support for Ukraine -- but the meeting is set to be overshadowed by US President Joe Biden's fight for political survival.

Keir Starmer has made a flurry of ministerial appointments since becoming UK prime minister last week but one name has stood out: new prisons minister James Timpson.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was set to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, a day after the Indian leader arrived in Moscow amid global outcry over Russian strikes in Ukraine.

French parties sought to project strength and gather allies on Tuesday, with the government adrift following an election in which no one political force claimed a clear majority.

Israel pushed on with a major military offensive in war-ravaged Gaza City on Tuesday that the UN said has once again displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians.

In a studio near Los Angeles, a group of filmmakers practice framing a close-up of a rubber gun held by an actor, when they are suddenly interrupted.

Athletes at the Paris Olympics later this month will be tested for performance-enhancing drugs, but at a competition plotting to rival the Games, doping will be the point.

US President Joe Biden insisted Monday he would not quit the election race, as the White House denied he had Parkinson's disease following a disastrous debate performance.

The creation of a Sahel confederation on Saturday plunged West Africa into an unprecedented crisis that could threaten the free movement of people and goods in the region.

Novak Djokovic faces a stiff challenge in his quest for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam on Monday after Taylor Fritz powered back from two sets down to end Alexander Zverev's Wimbledon campaign.

A Swiss appeals court confirmed Monday the acquittal of six police officers charged over the death of a Nigerian man following a heavy-handed arrest, in a case that drew comparisons to George Floyd.

Some 3,000-4,000 Rwandan soldiers fought alongside M23 rebels in east DR Congo, said a UN expert report seen by AFP Monday, which noted that Kigali had "de facto control" of the group's operations.

Palestinians on Monday fled heavy battles in Gaza City as the Israeli military expanded an evacuation order nine months into its war with Hamas militants.

Russia struck cities across Ukraine on Monday with a missile barrage that killed 31 people and heavily damaged a Kyiv children's hospital in an assault condemned as a ruthless attack on civilians.