AFP news

An Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal expected to take effect on Sunday has sparked hope for life-saving aid to reach Palestinians, but aid agencies warn of obstacles from destroyed infrastructure, massive need and collapsed law and order.

Israel's security cabinet was set to meet Friday to approve a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal that should take effect this weekend.

Asian markets were mixed Friday as data showing China's economy grew slightly quicker than expected last year failed to inspire investors, with Beijing battling to revive consumption and boost the battered property sector.

Fidias Panayiotou, a Cypriot YouTuber-turned-lawmaker who snatched his 15 minutes of fame by hugging Elon Musk, is doubtless the tech titan's biggest fan in the European Parliament -- but far from the only one.

China recorded one of its slowest rates of economic growth in decades last year, data showed Friday, as leaders nervously eye a potential trade standoff with incoming US president Donald Trump.

TikTok has dramatically changed music discovery and marketing -- a reliance the looming US ban on the popular app has underscored as the music world braces for an unknown future.

For seven years, US director David Lynch drank the same chocolate milkshake each day at the same time from the same place in Los Angeles because he believed it helped his creativity.

David Lynch -- the groundbreaking director behind "Mulholland Drive" and television's "Twin Peaks," who gained a cult following for his unsettling portraits of American life -- has died.

They increasingly own everything from access to space to how we get news on Earth and now outgoing President Joe Biden warns America's new breed of Donald Trump-allied oligarchs could gobble up US democracy itself.

Global news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) and French artificial intelligence company Mistral AI have signed a deal for the start-up's chatbot to use news agency reports to respond to users' requests, executives from the two organisations said Thursday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a "landmark" 100-year partnership agreement with Ukraine during an unannounced visit to the war-torn country on Thursday, seeking to shore up support for Kyiv before Donald Trump returns to the White House.

World number one and defending champion Jannik Sinner roared back to surge into the Australian Open third round on Thursday as Iga Swiatek set up a showdown with Emma Raducanu.

Terrified residents caught in blazing neighbourhoods, influencers ignoring the ban on drones and the frightening unpredictability of the wildfires are just some of what journalists covering the fires ravaging Los Angeles for AFP have had to manage.

Millions of pilgrims hoping to cleanse their sins by ritual baths at India's Kumbh Mela festival rely on key lavatory workers to clear up behind them -- those born on the lowest rung of the Hindu caste system.

Impeached leader Yoon Suk Yeol made history this week as the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested, ending a weeks-long standoff.

For years, Auschwitz survivor Naftali Furst kept his story to himself.

Israel's cabinet was expected to meet Thursday to approve a ceasefire and hostage-release deal with Hamas, Israeli media reported, a day after mediators announced an agreement they hope will lead to a permanent end to the Gaza war.

US President Joe Biden urged Americans Wednesday to stand guard against a "dangerous" oligarchy forming under Donald Trump as he delivered a dark farewell address before stepping down next week.

Arsenal came from behind to beat Tottenham 2-1 and reignite their Premier League title challenge on Wednesday as Alexander Isak fired Newcastle into the top four.

When the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles went up in smoke, Alexander Swedelson lost his apartment, but also a bit of his identity: the flames ravaged the businesses he loved, the trails he ran, and even the place he fished.

Russia launched a wave of missiles and drones at Ukrainian energy facilities on Wednesday, intensifying a months-long bombing campaign at a precarious moment of the war for Ukraine.

Qatar and the United States announced Wednesday a ceasefire and hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas, adding they hoped it would pave the way for a permanent end to the war in Gaza.

Mediators said Israel and Hamas agreed Wednesday to a ceasefire and a deal to release hostages held in Gaza, but Israel cautioned that some final sticking points still needed to be ironed out.

In a Damascus courtyard, Syrian activists brainstormed strategies to ensure their country does not return to authoritarianism, in a scene unimaginable under president Bashar al-Assad's rule.

As Donald Trump's looming return to the White House promises to boost cryptocurrencies, a German stock exchange is on a mission to anchor them firmly in the staid world of traditional finance.

Imran Khan, Pakistan's most popular politician, is facing a 14-year prison term this month in a case his party says is being used to pressure him into silence.

South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol rose from star prosecutor to the presidency in just a few years, but after a series of scandals and a bungled martial law decree, he's become the country's first-ever sitting president to be arrested.

South Korea has endured six weeks of political turmoil since President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law and sent soldiers and helicopters to parliament.

Mediators were making a final push Wednesday to seal a Gaza truce and hostage release deal, after a Qatari official involved in the talks expressed hope an agreement could be reached "very soon".