AFP news

Vitaliy Asinenko watched anxiously as his colleague sat perched on a crane, hovering over power cables in a village just a few kilometres from the frontline in east Ukraine.

Five US states sent an open letter Monday to Elon Musk, urging him to fix his social media platform X's AI chatbot after it shared misinformation about the upcoming presidential election.

Tokyo's key Nikkei index closed more than 10 percent higher Tuesday, bouncing back from a record selloff the previous day on worries over the US economy and a stronger yen.

Western powers called Monday for calm in Bangladesh after long-ruling leader Sheikh Hasina fled, with the United States saluting the military for forming an interim government rather than cracking down further on protesters.

The UK government said on Tuesday that 6,000 specialist police officers were ready to deal with far-right rioting that broke out following the murder of three children, triggering a week of violence.

The United States said it was working "around the clock" to avert an all-out war in the Middle East, as Israel remained on high alert Tuesday for potential Iranian retaliation for two high-profile killings.

Wheeling herself around Doha's Thumama complex for medical evacuees from Gaza, Maryam Ahmed wears a look of determination, breaking into a smile when she sees someone she knows.

Saudi oil giant Aramco on Tuesday reported net income of $29.07 billion in the second quarter, a slight drop from the same period last year as output remained subdued.

Lim Young-woong may not have as many fans as BTS, but the trot singer is rivalling the global superstars, showing there's more to South Korean music than K-pop with his billions of streams and a sold-out stadium tour.

Bangladesh's military was in control of the country on Tuesday after mass protests forced longtime ruler Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee.

Asian equities rallied Tuesday after the previous day's global rout fuelled by US recession fears that have led to calls for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates before its next meeting.

A key Tunisian opposition figure and potential candidate for the upcoming presidential election jailed since October was sentenced to two years in prison late Monday night, according to local media.

Ukraine has received its first batch of US-made F-16 fighter jets, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday, quickly adding that more are needed to beat back Russian forces.

Kamala Harris will name her running mate as soon as Monday, as she prepares for a tour of US battleground states aimed at turning excitement over her presidential bid into durable support that can power her to victory.

North Korea has deployed 250 ballistic missile launchers to its southern border, with leader Kim Jong Un describing the weapons as a "powerful treasured sword" to defend its sovereignty, state media said Monday.

When academic Jathan Sadowski reached for an analogy last year to describe how AI programs decay, he landed on the term "Habsburg AI".

TikTok will permanently remove a feature in a spinoff app in France and Spain that rewards users for watching and liking videos, bowing to pressure from European regulators, the EU and the Chinese-owned company said Monday.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday vowed "swift criminal sanctions" following an emergency meeting on the far-right riots that broke out across England last week over the murder of three children.

Diplomatic pressure mounted Monday to avoid an escalation between Iran and Israel following high-profile killings that have sent regional tensions soaring, while numerous governments urged their citizens to leave Lebanon.

As France faces a 2035 deadline to phase out new combustion engine cars, workers in the industry worry their days might be numbered too.

Triathletes in the Olympic mixed relay plunged into the River Seine Monday, the waterway deemed clean enough to compete, as legendary gymnast Simone Biles eyes an extraordinary fourth and fifth gold in Paris.

Lynne Ingram cuts a peaceful figure as she tends to a row of humming beehives in a leafy corner of Somerset, southwest England.

Bangladeshi security forces patrolled the capital on Monday as protesters demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation said they would take to Dhaka's streets again following the deadliest day of unrest since demonstrations erupted last month.

Tokyo led a plunge across Asian equities Monday, while the yen hit a six-month high after weak US jobs data fanned fears of a recession in the world's top economy and boosted bets on several Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.

On a gloriously sunny Tuesday night training session at the Eindhoven athletics club, young hopefuls are put through their paces, dreaming of emulating their most famous member -- double Olympic champion Sifan Hassan.

A "deepfake" video parodying Kamala Harris, a manipulated expletive-laden clip of Joe Biden, and a doctored image of Donald Trump being arrested -- a tide of AI-fueled political disinformation has prompted alarm over its potential to manipulate voters as the US presidential race heats up.

Pan Zhanle and stalwart Zhang Yufei spearheaded China to 12 Olympic medals in the Paris pool, shrugging off intense scrutiny over a doping controversy that engulfed the team ahead of the Games.

UK leader Keir Starmer warned far-right protesters on Sunday they would "regret" participating in England's worst rioting in 13 years, as disturbances linked to the murder of three children earlier this week flared across the country.

US sprint king Noah Lyles powered to gold in the closest 100m in modern Olympic history Sunday, pipping his closest rival by just five thousandths of a second, while Novak Djokovic added a tennis gold medal to his glittering CV. An electric last night of swimming saw two world records tumble in the Paris pool but home favourite Leon Marchand settled for bronze to add to his astonishing four golds.