AFP news

Iran and Sweden announced a prisoner exchange on Saturday in which a former Iranian official was released in Sweden in exchange for a European Union diplomat and a second Swede.

Israel bombed and shelled Gaza on Saturday, witnesses and first responders said, with fallout from the war bringing a resurgence of tensions to the Lebanon border and Yemen.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, on Saturday made a tentative return to public life for the first time since being diagnosed with cancer, attending a military parade in central London to mark Britain's King Charles III's official birthday.

More than 1.5 million Muslims braved extreme heat to reach Mount Arafat on Saturday for the high point of the annual hajj pilgrimage, praying for hours, especially for Palestinians in war-ravaged Gaza.

The military strongman in the east of divided Libya, Khalifa Haftar, has named one of his sons as army chief, tightening his family's grip on the oil-rich region.

Germany thrashed 10-man Scotland 5-1 as the Euro 2024 hosts kicked off the tournament in style in Munich on Friday, the start of a journey they hope culminates in a record fourth continental title.

World leaders headed to Switzerland on Saturday for a first summit on peace in Ukraine, after Vladimir Putin demanded Kyiv effectively surrender if it ultimately wants peace negotiations with Moscow.

Donald Trump, whose attempted White House return is based in part on attacking President Joe Biden as old and feeble, turned 78 Friday -- just three years younger than his election rival -- with growing questions over his own health.

Standing outside the Catholic school where he teaches in eastern France, Charles Lauvergne said he was unsurprised the far right did so well in last week's European elections.

France's snap elections have sparked reconciliation within the country's most prominent far-right family, the latest episode in the saga of the tempestuous Le Pens.

More than one million Muslim pilgrims packed a giant tented city near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Friday for a hajj pilgrimage held in sweltering heat and against the grim backdrop of the Gaza war.

France's left put up a united front on Friday, vowing a "total break" with President Emmanuel Macron's policies if it wins historic polls that could propel the far right to major gains in parliament.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Moscow would only halt its offensive on Ukraine if Kyiv effectively surrenders by pulling its troops out of the east and south and dropping its bid for NATO membership.

Hosts Germany kick off Euro 2024 on Friday in Munich against Scotland, the start of a journey the three-time continental champions hope will conclude with victory in the final in Berlin on July 14.

South Africa's newly elected parliament met Friday and was expected to re-elect President Cyril Ramaphosa to form an unprecedented coalition government after his humbled ANC cobbled together a deal.

Israeli strikes hit Gaza on Friday as truce talks with Hamas militants failed to progress and tensions surged on Israel's northern border with Lebanon.

The yen fell and Tokyo stocks rose Friday after the Bank of Japan deferred a plan to cut back its bond purchases as it cautiously moves away from its ultra-loose monetary policy.

Indonesian speed climber Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi checks her harness, her brow dripping with sweat and her breaths laboured, gripping the hold and swinging her body upwards to scale a wall in mere seconds.

G7 leaders turn their attention to China on Friday on the second day of an Italy summit, with a focus on how to protect their industries while avoiding an outright trade war with Beijing.

At weddings, football matches and other special events, some Iraqi men like to fire salvos of celebratory gunfire into the sky, worrying little about where the bullets might fall.

Rows and rows of partially inhabited high-rises sprawl into the suburbs of the northern Chinese metropolis of Tianjin, their empty balconies emblematic of a slowing economy that has not kept pace with the country's ambitions.

In the hottest year on record, with scorching conditions claiming lives from India to Mexico and Greece sweltering in its earliest-ever heatwave, experts are sounding the alarm over heat stress.

Russians on the streets of the capital shrugged off new US sanctions on dollar and euro trading Thursday, claiming they had no need for Western currencies in their heavily targeted economy.

US competitive eating legend Joey Chestnut will face off against a fierce rival in a hot dog eating contest, in the latest event to be aired live on Netflix, the streamer said Wednesday.

Russia's main stock exchange halted dollar and euro trades on Thursday after the United States hit Moscow with a new package of sanctions over its military offensive in Ukraine.

European stock markets faltered Thursday following mixed showings by Asia and on Wall Street, as traders reacted to US Federal Reserve signals that it plans only one interest-rate cut this year.

From misting systems to heat-reflective road coverings, Saudi officials are trying to aid hajj pilgrims in coping with heat, but scientists caution that climate change may outpace these efforts.

G7 leaders were set to agree on a new $50-billion loan for Ukraine as they gathered Thursday for a summit in southern Italy, using the profits from frozen Russian assets.

Argentine President Javier Milei's controversial economic reform package won Senate approval on Thursday, after police and protesters violently clashed outside Congress.