AFP news

The Olympic flame is set to arrive in the French port of Marseille on Wednesday in front of a crowd of up to 150,000 people in a first major test of the hugely ambitious plans for the Paris Games.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday was to host Chinese leader Xi Jinping at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees mountains, seeking to press a message to Beijing not to support Russia's war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade.

Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast his ballot Tuesday in India's ongoing general election after giving several inflammatory campaign speeches accused of targeting minority Muslims.

The killing of the brilliant young AFP journalist Arman Soldin on the front lines in Ukraine one year ago remains a uniquely traumatic event for all of us.

In the eight years since Chinese company HBIS bought a steel mill near the eastern Serbian city of Smederevo, locals say they have been plagued by heavy air pollution and thick red dust.

War veterans, soldiers and dignitaries gathered in Vietnam's Dien Bien Phu on Tuesday to mark the 70th anniversary of the battle that ultimately brought an end to the French empire in Indochina.

Israel carried out strikes on the Gazan city of Rafah overnight as it sought to put "pressure" on Hamas ahead of talks in Egypt on Tuesday aimed at sealing a truce proposal endorsed by the militants.

A wave of crimes against South American footballers has underscored the risks faced by players loath to return home from overseas clubs to a region where they, or their loved ones, risk being kidnapped, blackmailed or targeted by gangs with a message to send.

Columbia University, the epicenter of US student protests against the war in Gaza, on Monday canceled its main graduation ceremony, as colleges seek to contain the demonstrations that have rocked campuses for weeks.

Aimee Dupre had always kept silent about the rape of her mother by two American soldiers after the Normandy landings in June 1944.

Palestinian civilians in the southern Gazan city of Rafah voiced despair on Monday as Israel dropped fliers urging them to evacuate for their own "safety" ahead of a long-threatened ground invasion.

Chadians voted Monday in an election aimed at ending three years of military rule but dismissed by opponents of junta leader Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno as a fix following violent repression.

Israel's military on Monday called for the evacuation of Palestinians from eastern Rafah, ahead of a long-threatened ground invasion of the southern Gaza city, the prospect of which has triggered widespread global alarm.

Surveys predict Europe's far right will surge in EU elections next month, giving it more influence in Brussels politics even if mainstream players will still have greater weight.

French President Emmanuel Macron was on Monday set to warn Chinese leader Xi Jinping against backing Russia in the conflict over Ukraine but also seek to enlist his help in finding an end to the war.

Russian dissident historian Tamara Eidelman was on vacation in Greece when Moscow's tanks rolled into Ukraine in February 2022 and she realized that she would not be going back to her home country.

A fabricated audio clip of a US high school principal prompted a torrent of outrage, leaving him battling allegations of racism and anti-Semitism in a case that has sparked new alarm about AI manipulation.

Panamanians voted Sunday in presidential elections featuring a crowded field of eight candidates led by the protege of a former head of state convicted of corruption.

Pounding the campaign trail ahead of European elections, emerging Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar drew tens of thousands on Sunday in a stronghold of nationalist leader Viktor Orban.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday arrived in France on a state visit hosted by Emmanuel Macron where the French leader will seek to push his counterpart on issues ranging from Ukraine to trade.

Authorities were racing against time on Sunday to rescue people from raging floods and mudslides that have killed more than 50 and forced nearly 70,000 to flee their homes in southern Brazil.

Talks to strike a Gaza truce were expected to resume Sunday after Hamas rejected any deal that failed to end the war in the Palestinian territory and accused Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu of "personally hindering" an agreement.

Student protests against the Israeli military assault on Gaza following the unprecedented October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel have spread to several countries.

In a cave in Mexico's Riviera Maya, where nature has sculpted a subterranean landscape of stunning beauty, thick steel columns supporting a controversial new tourist railway intrude into a delicate ecosystem.

All is finally in readiness in a Rio de Janeiro brimming with nerves and excitement over Saturday night's highly anticipated free concert by pop queen Madonna on the city's mythical Copacabana beach.

London's Labour mayor Sadiq Khan on Saturday secured a record third term, dealing the Conservatives another damaging defeat in their worst local election results in recent memory months before an expected general election.

Sadiq Khan, who was Saturday re-elected for a record third term as London mayor, rose from humble roots to spar with world leaders and bring consequential change to the British capital.

Hamas said its delegation was heading to Cairo on Saturday to resume Gaza truce talks, as the United Nations warned that Israel's threatened assault on the city of Rafah could produce a "bloodbath".

Britain's Labour party on Friday urged beleaguered Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to call a general election, after making huge gains in English polls that included a seat in parliament.