AFP news

Britain's government was considering Wednesday whether to appeal a court ruling blocking the housing of asylum seekers in a flashpoint hotel, as it scrambled to come up with contingency plans for the migrants.

Israel's defence minister approved a plan on Wednesday for the conquest of Gaza City and authorised the call-up of around 60,000 reservists, piling pressure on Hamas as mediators push for a ceasefire.

Non-fossil fuels now account for half of India's installed energy capacity -- years ahead of schedule -- but the third-largest greenhouse gas polluter remains deeply reliant on coal for electricity generation.

With great fanfare, a historic red wooden church considered one of Sweden's most beautiful buildings began its slow move from its home in the Arctic town of Kiruna on Tuesday to allow the expansion of Europe's biggest underground mine.

Serbian anti-government protesters accused police Tuesday of beating and threatening detained activists, fuelling fears of a spiralling crackdown after a week of violent clashes.

A senior Israeli official on Tuesday said the government stood firm on its call for the release of all hostages in any future Gaza deal, after Hamas accepted a new truce proposal.

Above the teeming shopping streets of Hong Kong's Causeway Bay district, a fight to save one of the world's most endangered species is unfolding high in the branches of a decades-old cotton tree.

Russian and Ukrainian presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky looked set for a peace summit after fast-moving talks Monday between Donald Trump and European leaders that focused on the key issue of long-term security guarantees for Kyiv.

At the Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip, hundreds of aid trucks sat unmoving in the Egyptian desert, stuck for days with only a handful allowed through by Israel to relieve the humanitarian disaster across the border.

Hamas has accepted a new ceasefire proposal for Gaza without requesting amendments, a source from the group told AFP Monday, after a fresh diplomatic push to end more than 22 months of war.

US President Donald Trump said reclaiming Crimea or entering NATO were off the table for Ukraine, as President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Washington for Monday's talks aimed at ending the war with Russia.

Laughter erupts over a board game and coffee at a rural cottage in China's eastern province of Zhejiang, one of a growing number of women-only co-living spaces far from social pressures and male judgment.

Bolivians expressed hopes of change on Sunday as they voted in elections shaped by an economic crisis, which has given the right its first shot at power in 20 years.

Pakistani rescuers dug homes out from under massive boulders on Sunday as they searched for survivors of flash floods that killed at least 344 people, with more than 150 still missing.

Demonstrators took to the streets across Israel Sunday calling for an end to the war in Gaza and a deal to release hostages still held by militants, as the military prepares a new offensive.

Over four decades of war, Afghanistan wielded limited control over five major river basins that flow across its borders into downstream neighbouring nations.

On a recent weekday, Diego Galdino was on the hunt for pickpockets in central London, patrolling tourist hotspots for familiar suspects and telltale signs of those about to commit thefts.

Next to small bundles of belongings, Maruf waited for a car to take him and his family away from their village in northern Afghanistan, where drought-ridden land had yielded nothing for years.

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank enjoyed a "dream" home debut with a 3-0 win over Burnley, while Erling Haaland inspired new-look Manchester City's 4-0 rout of Wolves on the opening weekend of the Premier League season on Saturday.

Rescuers were struggling to retrieve bodies from debris after flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains across northern Pakistan killed at least 321 people in the past 48 hours, authorities said on Saturday.

Portugal suffered its first death Friday from the fires raging there, as Spain's weather agency warned of a "very high to extreme risk" of more wildfires there during Europe's intense heatwave.

US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin meet Friday in Alaska in a high-stakes, high-risk summit that could prove decisive for the future of Ukraine.

A giant cruise ship dominates the skyline in the city of El Alto in landlocked Bolivia, a symbol of the transformation of an Indigenous bastion keenly fought over in Sunday's presidential election.

Talks aimed at striking a landmark global treaty on plastic pollution fell apart Friday without agreement, as countries failed to find consensus on how the world should tackle the ever-growing scourge.

Posing as a fortune teller on his YouTube channel, former teacher Waqar Malik tells thousands of followers that he can predict this year's exam questions.

Africa's biggest oil refinery will on Friday start direct and free shipping of fuel to retailers in Nigeria, a move expected to disrupt the oil sector in the continent's largest crude producer.

The US and Russian presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are to meet at a US air base in Alaska on Friday for talks on the Ukraine war.

Negotiators trying to secure a global agreement on tackling the scourge of plastic pollution were frantically trying to find common ground with just hours left on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday acknowledged his high-stakes summit with Vladimir Putin may fail, and said any Ukraine deal would come through a future three-way meeting with Kyiv to "divvy things up."