AFP news

Marathon rehearsals, informal consultations, campaign rallies: Joe Biden and Donald Trump are each preparing in their own unique way for their televised debate next Thursday, the first in the 2024 race for the White House between the bitter rivals.

Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who on Thursday sealed the race to be the next head of NATO, will take the reins of the Western military alliance at a perilous moment.

Best-known for riding his bike to work, often crunching an apple, Dutchman Mark Rutte will need all his sense of balance to steer NATO through one of its toughest-ever periods.

A Stockholm court on Thursday acquitted a Syrian former general of war crimes charges, saying prosecutors had not proved his involvement in the attacks carried out during the country's civil war.

Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Thursday clinched the race to become the next head of NATO at a pivotal time for the alliance, after sole challenger Romanian President Klaus Iohannis pulled out.

France likes to honour its late pioneers and visionaries, but the aristocratic Frenchman who founded the modern Olympics is proving to be a troublesome figure for organisers of the Paris 2024 Games.

The death toll from this year's hajj has exceeded 1,000, an AFP tally said on Thursday, more than half of them unregistered worshippers who performed the pilgrimage in extreme heat in Saudi Arabia.

Russian attacks overnight damaged a Ukrainian power plant and several energy facilities, Kyiv said on Thursday, the latest in a series of bombardments that have pushed its power grid to the brink.

In the sizzling Baghdad heat, Mussa Abdallah takes to the Tigris river during the day to cool off, while others opt for ice skating to escape the relentless temperatures.

Fears of a regional war rose Thursday after Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement said none of Israel would be spared in a full-blown conflict, and Israel said it had approved plans for a Lebanon offensive.

Chinese coast guard sailors brandished knives, an axe and other weapons in a clash with Philippine naval vessels near a strategic reef in the South China Sea, dramatic new footage released by Manila showed.

When invading Russian troops advanced towards Kyiv and the first explosions rang out in the suburbs, Daria Zymenko took refuge in Gavronshchyna, her parents' village near the Ukrainian capital.

Saudi taekwondo standout Donia Abu Taleb had an unusual introduction to the sport: for years she trained at a boys' club because there were no girls to compete with.

France boast fearsome strength in depth but remain hugely reliant on Kylian Mbappe for inspiration and are now facing the prospect of being without their injured superstar for at least their next Euro 2024 game against the Netherlands on Friday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin begins a state visit to Vietnam on Thursday, a day after signing a mutual defence pact with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, who offered his "full support" on Ukraine.

Hosts Germany became the first team to qualify for the knockout phase of Euro 2024 on Wednesday thanks to a 2-0 win over Hungary, while Scotland drew with Switzerland and Croatia's hopes of progressing were left hanging in the balance after they were held by Albania.

French President Emmanuel Macron faced accusations of transphobia on Wednesday after criticising an election manifesto while the far-right RN party's leader pledged to honour France's international commitments including on NATO. With less than two weeks to go before the first round in the snap elections called by Macron in response to the far right drubbing his party in European polls, the president's party is trailing badly.

Britain's inflation rate has slowed to a near three-year low, official data showed Wednesday, but the boost for embattled Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was unlikely to prevent his Conservatives from losing the upcoming general election to Labour, analysts said.

Frank McCourt, a US real estate billionaire, aims to buy TikTok to rescue the internet from the clutches of major platforms that he firmly believes are destroying society and endangering children.

An escalating cross-border tit-for-tat between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah raised fears Wednesday of a full-blown war, but experts are divided on the prospect of a wider conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a mutual defence agreement on Wednesday with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, who offered his "full support" on Ukraine.

Friends and family of missing hajj pilgrims searched hospitals and pleaded online for news on Wednesday, fearing the worst after hundreds died during the annual rites in Saudi Arabia.

South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa hailed "the beginning of a new era" on Wednesday as he was sworn in for a second full term as president after his weakened African National Congress (ANC) struck a hard-won government coalition deal to remain in power.

Israeli air strikes and clashes between troops and Palestinian militants rocked Gaza on Wednesday, as Israel's army warned it had readied an "offensive" against the Lebanese Hezbollah movement on the country's northern front.

Heavily armed police officers wearing face masks entered a luxury home at daybreak last week in Spain's southern Costa del Sol to arrest a 40-year-old suspected drug trafficker.

As night falls in central Scotland, beavers appear in a pond under the fascinated gaze of a group of nature enthusiasts.

A Kansas businessman shipped banned avionics equipment to Russia through Armenia, the UAE and other third countries.

In 2023, a newborn Javan rhino in Indonesia raised hopes for the highly endangered species.

Republicans are flooding the internet with out-of-context videos of US President Joe Biden, using what the White House has characterized as deceptive editing tactics to cast the 81-year-old as infirm less than five months from November's election.