AFP news

It was the hero's send-off he had hoped to defer for another four years but when it came, any lingering bitterness seemed forgotten for a cathartic hour as Joe Biden basked in the adulation of his party faithful.

Half a day's drive from India's entertainment capital Mumbai, many in the struggling textile city of Malegaon escape the thrum of dawn-till-dusk industrial weaving looms by daydreaming about Bollywood stars.

Russia's prosecutor general on Monday said it had banned a foundation started by US film star George Clooney and his human rights lawyer wife Amal.

US President Joe Biden will give a bittersweet farewell address at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday, passing the torch to Kamala Harris as the party's nominee for November's election.

The Kenyan government plans to raise about $1.2 billion by reinstating some unpopular taxes contained in a finance bill that was scrapped in the face of deadly street protests, a government minister said.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo reshuffled his cabinet on Monday just weeks before he steps down in an effort to ease the transition to his successor, Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, his office said.

Philippine ships sustained serious damage Monday in pre-dawn collisions with Chinese vessels near a disputed reef, Manila's coast guard said, as Beijing steps up efforts to push its claims in the South China Sea.

Youth unemployment in China ticked up to 17.1 percent in July, official figures showed, the highest level this year as the world's second-largest economy faces mounting headwinds.

New Zealand's population growth has come to a near halt, official statistics showed Monday, as tens of thousands of people exit a spluttering economy for pastures new.

The Kremlin on Monday ruled out entering peace talks with Ukraine over Kyiv's surprise offensive into Russian territory, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said was meeting its goals.

France on Monday paid homage to film legend Alain Delon following his death at 88, with tributes pouring in for the actor who became one of his country's biggest stars, but was also shadowed by controversy.

Equities were mixed Monday following last week's strong performance, with traders focused on a closely followed meeting of central bank chiefs where the Federal Reserve's Jerome Powell is due to deliver a key speech.

For 17 years, Edita Burgos has looked inside body bags, visited military camps, led street protests, and filed court cases in a desperate search for her missing son Jonas.

Ringed by once-free beaches and green parks, Hungary's Lake Balaton has delighted generations of holidaymakers -- but now, locals warn, private developers are fencing off the sandy bays for rich visitors, with the nationalist government's blessing.

Pro-Kremlin sites masquerading as US "news" outlets have dished out unfounded claims that Democrats plotted to assassinate Donald Trump, a prime example of how phony AI-powered portals are spewing inflammatory falsehoods in a high-stakes election year.

Kamala Harris embarked on a bus tour of the potentially election-deciding state of Pennsylvania on Sunday, as she keeps up the momentum before her star turn at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Ukraine said Sunday it had struck a second key bridge in the Kursk region, seeking to disrupt Moscow's supply routes as Kyiv's unprecedented incursion on Russian soil stretched through its second week.

French film legend Alain Delon, a divisive star known to some as a sex symbol and to others an egotistical chauvinist, has died at the age of 88, his children announced Sunday in a statement to AFP. The actor, known for his roles in classics "Purple Noon" (1960) and "Le Samurai" (1967), died in the early hours of the morning, his son Anthony told AFP. He had been suffering with lymphoma.

For months, Safaa Yassin has dressed her child in the same white bodysuit, an all-too-familiar tale in the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by 10 months of war.

Actor Alain Delon -- who has died Sunday aged 88 -- was France's greatest screen seducer.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due in Israel on Sunday as mediators seek to cement a Gaza ceasefire deal, while a senior Hamas official dismissed "American diktats" in negotiations.

Yulia's husband was different from most Ukrainians captured by the Russian army, usually prisoners of war whose fate moved crowds.

The Thai king on Sunday formally appointed Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the 37-year-old daughter of controversial billionaire ex-premier Thaksin, as Thailand's new prime minister.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday his forces were strengthening their positions in Russia's Kursk region, where Kyiv has been mounting a major ground offensive for more than 11 days.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who has mostly been in hiding since July 28 presidential polls, led a "Protest for the Truth" in Caracas Saturday against Nicolas Maduro's disputed claim of having won reelection.

Deadly Israeli strikes hit Lebanon and Gaza on Saturday as the US secretary of state headed back to Israel aiming to finalise a Gaza truce agreement, which diplomats say could help avert a wider regional conflagration.

Kyiv said Friday its incursion into Russian territory had advanced, claiming it aimed to force Russia to negotiate on "fair" terms, as Moscow's troops announced new gains in eastern Ukraine.

The WHO on Thursday warned further imported cases of the new, more dangerous mpox strain in Europe were likely, after Sweden announced the first such infection outside Africa in an outbreak that has killed hundreds in the DR Congo.

Russia is putting generative artificial intelligence to work in online deception campaigns, but its efforts have been unsuccessful, according to a Meta security report released Thursday.