AFP news

Panama votes Sunday in a presidential election with the frontrunner's participation confirmed after a last-minute court decision validated his run against seven other contenders.

Police on Friday entered the Sciences Po university in Paris to remove dozens of students staging a pro-Gaza sit-in in the entrance hall, AFP journalists saw, as protests fired political debate about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday visited the country's south where floods and mudslides caused by torrential rains have killed 29 people, with the toll expected to rise.

Donald Trump was facing a backlash Thursday after declining to pledge he will accept the results of the 2024 presidential election if he loses, as he repeated his false claims that he was cheated in the 2020 vote.

A US judge on Thursday pushed against the central pleas of both US government and Google lawyers as he heard their closing arguments at a landmark antitrust trial in Washington.

Turkey said Thursday it was suspending all trade with Israel until it allows aid to enter Gaza unhindered during its offensive against Hamas militants in the territory.

China launched a probe on Friday to collect samples from the far side of the Moon, a world first as Beijing pushes ahead with an ambitious programme that aims to send a crewed lunar mission by 2030.

Global stock markets rose Friday before vital US payrolls data, with London hitting another record high as investors tracked speculation of a bidding war for mining giant Anglo American.

Zay Yar Tun fills his truck with water for delivery to refugees in the parched hills of war-ravaged eastern Myanmar, where a heatwave is adding to the misery of life in displacement camps.

Arsenal resume their quest for Premier League glory against Bournemouth this weekend knowing they have no margin for error with Manchester City hot on their heels.

The death toll from flood-related incidents in Kenya has crossed 200 since March, the interior ministry said Friday, as a cyclone barrelled towards the Tanzanian coast.

Apple on Thursday said its quarterly profit ebbed but topped market forecasts as it announced an unprecedented $110 billion share buyback.

Joe Biden broke his silence Thursday on the student protests against Israel's war with Hamas but the US president faces a difficult balancing act to avoid hurting his reelection chances against Donald Trump.

Hamas says it is considering in a "positive spirit" a Gaza truce deal, while the UN warned rebuilding the devastated Palestinian territory would require efforts not seen since World War II. After months of stop-start negotiations, Hamas has sounded an optimistic tone about the latest hostages-for-ceasefire proposal, raising hopes an agreement may soon be reached -- even as medics in the besieged strip reported fresh strikes on Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah on Friday.

Xi Jinping heads to Europe on Sunday to defend China's "no limits" alliance with Russia, first to key Ukraine backer France, then to Serbia and Hungary, which have close ties to the Kremlin.

Sipping champagne and nibbling fried dumplings, Shanghai's rich and influential posed by Louis Vuitton signs at a runway afterparty -- a lavish affair designed to win customers in China's crucial market.

Israel's Iron Dome defence system has long shielded it from incoming rockets.

Illegal immigration on the US southern border is a top talking point among Republican politicians, but some are taking it a step further by promoting disinformation about non-citizens voting in the presidential election.

Dozens of overturned tents, "Free Palestine" signs strewn on the lawn, keffiyehs and flashlights discarded in haste: not much of the pro-Palestinian protest encampment was left Thursday morning at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Switzerland has invited more than 160 delegations to next month's Ukraine peace conference, the foreign ministry said Thursday, though Russia is not among them "at this stage".

A Ukrainian man was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison in Texas on Wednesday for his role in ransomware attacks by the notorious Russia-based REvil hacking group, the US Justice Department said.

Disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein faced one of his accusers in New York court Wednesday as he was told he would be retried for rape and sexual assault convictions that were overturned in the state.

European stock markets diverged Thursday as investors digested the Federal Reserve interest rate outlook and awaited Apple's latest results on eve of critical US payroll data.

Microsoft pledged a $2.2 billion investment in artificial intelligence and cloud computing in Malaysia on Thursday to help develop the country's AI infrastructure.

The judge overseeing Donald Trump's trial for covering up payments to suppress details of an alleged affair will hear Thursday that the former president has again breached a gag order intended to protect trial participants.

France will "fight" to keep oil and gas giant TotalEnergies from shifting its main stock market listing to New York, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Thursday.

Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk reported more soaring profits on Thursday thanks to the popularity of anti-diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, which have made it Europe's most valuable company.

Danish shipping giant Maersk posted a huge drop in net profit for the first quarter on Thursday as Yemeni rebel attacks force it to avoid the vital Red Sea route.

Scotland's former deputy first minister, John Swinney, announced on Thursday he would stand to succeed Humza Yousaf as leader of the country's governing Scottish National Party (SNP).