AFP news

At a factory in Finland, the "farmers of the future" are making a new food protein by feeding a microbe air and electricity, proving that protein can be produced without traditional agriculture.

France's president made a long-haul trip to the restive Pacific territory of New Caledonia on Thursday, urging a "return to peace" after deadly rioting, and vowing thousands of military reinforcements will be deployed for "as long as necessary".

South Korea began 2024 vowing to win the Asian Cup but they have endured a year of turmoil and are still without a coach three months after the sacking of Jurgen Klinsmann.

G7 finance ministers gather in Italy on Thursday for a three-day meeting dominated by plans to use Russian assets to help Ukraine, as well as new sanctions on Moscow and the commercial threat posed by China.

China on Thursday launched two days of military drills to surround self-ruled Taiwan in what it said was "strong punishment" for the island's "separatist acts".

Delicate pink buds sway in the desert breeze, pregnant with yellow pompoms whose explosion will carpet the dusty corner of Nevada that is the only place on Earth where they exist.

Thousands of Mexicans are fleeing their homes to seek asylum in the United States, fearing their children might be kidnapped by ultra-violent drug cartels to become hitmen or sex slaves.

Norway, Ireland and Spain on Wednesday announced they will recognise a Palestinian state from next week, highlighting the European Union's deep split over the issue as the Israel-Hamas war rages.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday set a general election date for July 4, ending months of speculation but not the doom-laden forecasts about the size of the government's expected defeat.

More than a dozen countries and some of the world's biggest tech firms pledged on Wednesday to cooperate against the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, including its ability to dodge human control, as they wrapped up a global summit in Seoul.

Europe's far-right figureheads Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni are hinting they could join forces following this summer's EU elections, after Le Pen's French party announced a break with its radical German ally AfD. The overtures presage a possible reconfiguration of nationalist parties' alliances after voters decide the next European Parliament in June 6-9 elections.

Twenty people were in intensive care in Bangkok hospitals on Wednesday after a terrifying high-altitude plunge on a flight from London during which an elderly passenger died and more than 100 were injured.

A well-known Italian paparazzi photographer accused French film star Gerard Depardieu of punching him in Rome on Tuesday, media reported, with the actor's lawyer saying he had been defending a companion.

Russia has launched a likely space weapon and deployed it in the same orbit as a US government satellite, the Pentagon said.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman defended his company's AI technology as safe for widespread use, as concerns mount over potential risks and lack of proper safeguards for ChatGPT-style AI systems.

More than seven months of deadly fighting between Israel and Hamas have highlighted the gulf between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, testing the credibility of a long-sought two-state solution to the conflict.

Israel's more than seven-month war in Gaza since the October 7 attack has revived a global push for Palestinians to be given a state of their own.

At least three European countries were expected to announce steps towards recognising a Palestinian state on Wednesday, after more than seven months of devastating fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

When he was a 20-week-old embryo -- before he even had a real name -- Choi Hee-woo became one of the world's youngest-ever plaintiffs by joining a groundbreaking climate lawsuit against South Korea.

They never thought they would end up in Europe by leaving their native Bangladesh.

Mexico appears almost certain to elect its first woman president on June 2 -- a prospect that divides opinion among women's rights activists in a country with a long history of macho culture.

A 73-year-old British man died and more than 70 people were injured Tuesday in what passengers described as a terrifying scene aboard a Singapore Airlines flight that hit severe turbulence, triggering an emergency landing in Bangkok.

When Karim Khan was sworn in as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, he said the court should be judged by its acts -- "the proof of the pudding should be in the eating."

Ukraine said Tuesday that its allies could shoot down Russian missiles from their own territory, an apparent appeal stemming from the war-torn country's critical lack of air defence systems.

The death in a helicopter crash of president Ebrahim Raisi, seen as a possible successor to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has reshuffled the cards in the succession process and increased the spotlight on the Iranian number one's son Mojtaba as a contender.

Tens of thousands mourned Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday after his death in a helicopter crash, amid political uncertainty ahead of an election for his successor next month.

The self-styled prince at the heart of an alleged conspiracy-fuelled plot to attack Germany's parliament and topple the government rejected the accusations made against him as his trial opened Tuesday.

Israeli forces battled Hamas in Gaza on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angrily dismissed a bid for an international arrest warrant against him on war crimes charges in the Palestinian territory.

The prime suspects from a group of conspiracy theorists accused of plotting to overthrow the German government went on trial in Frankfurt on Tuesday.