AFP news

Ursula von der Leyen has navigated back-to-back crises from Covid to the Ukraine war as head of the European Commission, and stands on the verge of a no-less tumultuous second term, provided she can lock in support from EU lawmakers.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Thursday urged investors to get behind cutting-edge climate technologies he says would drive a "green industrial revolution" and a next wave of global prosperity.

Nearly 26 million people in war-torn Sudan are facing high levels of "acute food insecurity", said a report cited by the United Nations on Thursday.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said the "resilient" military alliance can ride out any political changes in major powers ahead of crunch elections in the United States and France.

Bolivian President Luis Arce was facing a deep political crisis on Thursday after a botched bid by military chiefs to overthrow his government deepened turmoil in a country facing severe economic decline.

The Los Angeles home where Marilyn Monroe died was declared a historic landmark on Wednesday, thwarting plans by its current owners to demolish the property.

Shares in H&M slid Thursday after the world's second biggest fashion retailer warned that the conditions to meet its profitability target for this year have become "more challenging".

A key political meeting that is watched for signals on China's economic direction will be held in mid-July, state media said Thursday, as policymakers seek to shore up a stuttering recovery.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump square off Thursday in a crucial US presidential debate that carries enormous stakes for both candidates as they battle for the approval of undecided voters and any slim advantage in their neck-and-neck race for the White House.

Kenyan police fired tear gas at small groups of demonstrators in the capital Nairobi on Thursday, AFP journalists saw, a day after President William Ruto agreed to scrap contentious tax hikes and called for dialogue following deadly protests.

France's political future was up in the air on Thursday with the far right surging in polls but other forces fighting to the end three days before a high-stakes parliamentary vote.

Fully autonomous cars are still years away from hitting the streets, but internationally-agreed rules on their use could be ready by mid-2026, the United Nations has said.

Compared to others in war-scarred east Ukraine, Galyna Poroshyna had been lucky to live in Toretsk, a mining town nestled in a relatively sleepy sector of the front line.

Israel said it does not want war in Lebanon but could send its neighbour "back to the Stone Age", as the UN's humanitarian chief warned such a conflict would be "potentially apocalyptic".

A diver glides over an expanse of bone-white coral branches, recording the fish that dart between the ghostly arms extending from the sea floor off the Thai island of Koh Tao.

Women candidates are pushing for greater representation in Mongolia's male-dominated politics, raising their voices for change and inspiring girls to follow in their footsteps.

On Everest's sacred slopes, climate change is thinning snow and ice, increasingly exposing the bodies of hundreds of mountaineers who died chasing their dream to summit the world's highest mountain.

Fatme Ibryanova, 36, will travel from Britain to Turkey next month, not to holiday but for a medical appointment about surgery she is struggling to get on the UK's "broken" state-run health service.

The UK Conservatives scored a thumping win in 2019 by promising to "level-up" struggling regions, but for voters in towns like Keighley, the flagship policy has been eclipsed by spiralling costs.

Lines on a map once meant little to India's Tibetan herders of the high Himalayas, expertly guiding their goats through even the harshest winters to pastures on age-old seasonal routes.

Britain goes to the polls next week in a general election that looks set to end 14 years of Conservative rule marked by economic turbulence, Brexit, political scandal and upheaval.

With the Labour party widely expected to win next month's UK general election, speculation has turned to who leader Keir Starmer could appoint as senior ministers.

Bolivia's army chief was arrested Wednesday after sending soldiers and tanks to take up position in front of government buildings in what President Luis Arce called an attempted coup.

Simone Biles looks all but unstoppable as she vies to punch her ticket to Paris at the US Olympic gymnastics trials this week, where competition to fill out the five-woman roster promises to be fierce.

Patients in Gaza's few standing hospitals are dying in droves from infections resulting from a lack of protective gear and soap, even when they survive their horrific blast injuries.

The Paris Olympics have been designed to showcase the City of Light in all its splendour, with many events set to take place at some of its most iconic locations.

The two men bidding to be British prime minister faced off late on Wednesday in a bad-tempered, last head-to-head TV debate before the country's general election next week.

The yen, weakened by the Japanese government's easy monetary policy, hit a 38-year low against the dollar on Wednesday, sparking speculation about a new intervention by authorities.

A city council in South Korea said Wednesday their first administrative officer robot was defunct after throwing itself down some stairs, with local media mourning the country's first robot suicide.