AFP news

The man accused of gunning down a US insurance executive in Manhattan -- a killing that tapped into widespread anger with the American health care system -- appeared in a New York court Thursday to face federal charges including murder.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday he needed both Europe and the United States on board to secure a durable peace, as he huddled with EU leaders at their final summit before Donald Trump's inauguration.

In the villages above the Syrian port city of Tartus they once hailed the sons who died fighting in Bashar al-Assad's service as martyrs.

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels said Israeli air strikes on Thursday killed nine people, after the group fired a missile toward Israel, badly damaging a school.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he was ready for talks at "any time" with US President-elect Donald Trump, who has touted his ability to strike a Ukraine peace deal within hours of coming to office.

In his first post-election news conference, President-elect Donald Trump vowed to "straighten out" the "corrupt" US press.

At least 100 North Koreans deployed to support Russia's war effort in Ukraine have been killed since entering combat in December, South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun told reporters Thursday.

The Bank of England on Thursday kept its key interest rate at 4.75 percent, deciding against a cut in line with the US Federal Reserve, as UK inflation rises again.

Concerns are growing in the UK as tech billionaire Elon Musk takes an increasingly close interest in Britain's political scene, appearing to cosy up to hard-right firebrand lawmaker Nigel Farage.

Seated in the audience at Macau's Dom Pedro V Theatre in the 1970s, 16-year-old Miguel de Senna Fernandes understood not a word of the "strange language" spoken on stage -- but right away he was mesmerised.

US President-elect Donald Trump urged Republican lawmakers Wednesday to scupper a cross-party deal to avert a fast-looming US government shutdown, as the White House accused him of "playing politics."

The haggard faces in the wreckage-and-water-strewn corridors betrayed the nerves and exhaustion of those soldiering on at the main hospital on the French archipelago of Mayotte, ravaged by a deadly cyclone last weekend.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's wife Begona Gomez denied wrongdoing in court testimony Wednesday to an investigation into alleged corruption, one of several legal cases connected to the minority left-wing government.

France's trial of a man who drugged his wife so dozens of strangers could rape her while unconscious has been both ordinary and extraordinary, AFP journalists who have been covering it say.

Preschoolers and parents hooked on heartwarming animated series "Bluey" might want to take a "tactical wee" to avoid any excited accidents: there's going to be a film.

Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed Macau's "world-recognised success" as he arrived in the city on Wednesday, kickstarting a three-day trip as the casino hub prepares to celebrate 25 years of Beijing rule.

After losing hope of finding his two brothers among those freed from Syrian jails, Ziad Alaywi was filled with dread, knowing there was only one place they were likely to be: a mass grave.

Dutch authorities fined video streaming giant Netflix 4.75 million euros ($4.98 million) Wednesday over its handling of subscribers' personal data, which it said was unclear or incomplete in several respects.

With over 60 million downloads and an estimated $180 million in revenue since late October, a new Pokemon mobile game app is enjoying worldwide success as the latest incarnation of the hit Nintendo-owned franchise.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was to meet NATO chief Mark Rutte and key European leaders in Brussels Wednesday to discuss "next steps" on Russia's war as Donald Trump prepares to take office as US president.

Stock markets mostly climbed and the dollar steadied against main rivals Wednesday with the US Federal Reserve set to cut interest rates.

Famed Australian broadcaster and former Wallabies coach Alan Jones said Wednesday he is "certainly not guilty" of alleged historical sex crimes, after his first court appearance.

When a US warship docked in Cambodia this week, it moored just a few kilometres from a base where China has built an extended new pier and two of Beijing's own vessels have been berthed for about a year.

The first commercial flight since the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad took off from Damascus airport on Wednesday, offering Syrians a glimmer of hope after years of war and decades of oppression.

The district of La Vigie on the French overseas territory of Mayotte was until last week a bustling hub of life.

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates by a quarter point on Wednesday and signal a slower pace of cuts ahead, brushing off uncertainty about inflation's downward path and the possible impact of some of President-elect Donald Trump's economic proposals.

Japan's government voiced dismay on Wednesday over the release of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson after Danish authorities refused Tokyo's extradition request.

Djafaruddin says he has recovered from the trauma of collecting bodies when the world's deadliest tsunami devastated Indonesia's western coast two decades ago, but he still breaks down when thinking about the orphaned children.

Call it an antidote to fast fashion: Japanese jeans hand-dyed with natural indigo and weaved on a clackety vintage loom, then sold at a premium to global denim connoisseurs.