AFP news

With the Labour party widely expected to win next month's UK general election, speculation has turned to who leader Keir Starmer could appoint as senior ministers.

Bolivia's army chief was arrested Wednesday after sending soldiers and tanks to take up position in front of government buildings in what President Luis Arce called an attempted coup.

Simone Biles looks all but unstoppable as she vies to punch her ticket to Paris at the US Olympic gymnastics trials this week, where competition to fill out the five-woman roster promises to be fierce.

Patients in Gaza's few standing hospitals are dying in droves from infections resulting from a lack of protective gear and soap, even when they survive their horrific blast injuries.

The Paris Olympics have been designed to showcase the City of Light in all its splendour, with many events set to take place at some of its most iconic locations.

The two men bidding to be British prime minister faced off late on Wednesday in a bad-tempered, last head-to-head TV debate before the country's general election next week.

The yen, weakened by the Japanese government's easy monetary policy, hit a 38-year low against the dollar on Wednesday, sparking speculation about a new intervention by authorities.

A city council in South Korea said Wednesday their first administrative officer robot was defunct after throwing itself down some stairs, with local media mourning the country's first robot suicide.

A consortium led by the top shareholder of troubled French tech giant Atos, an IT partner for the Paris Olympics and French military, has withdrawn a rescue offer for the group, the companies said on Wednesday.

NATO's 32 nations on Wednesday appointed outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as the alliance's next head, handing him the job at a crucial moment with Russia on the march in Ukraine and US elections looming.

Fighting raged Wednesday between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, witnesses said, as fears grow of a wider regional war drawing in Lebanese Hamas ally Hezbollah.

Tom Maiani was behind the wheel of his car every night, all night, for two weeks in July 2023, as youths in French housing estates rioted over the police killing of an unarmed teenager of North African descent near Paris.

Iranians vote on Friday to elect a new president from six candidates, including a lone reformist who hopes he can challenge the dominance of conservatives in the Islamic republic.

Once dismissed as an "empty suit", perennial Indian premier-in-waiting Rahul Gandhi emerged from his third consecutive election defeat with his reputation enhanced and his party back from the political wilderness.

Kenya was in a state of shock Wednesday following unprecedented scenes that left parts of parliament ablaze and gutted, as protests over proposed tax hikes turned deadly, prompting President William Ruto's government to deploy the military.

Austria's highly controversial former foreign minister Karin Kneissl -- who now lives in Russia -- told AFP she feels slandered as Vienna reels from an unfolding Russian spying scandal.

David is a psychologist and has been taking part in drug-fuelled gay orgies for the past 15 years.

US journalist Evan Gershkovich will face the start of a closed-door trial on espionage charges in Russia on Wednesday, more than a year after he became the first Western journalist since the Soviet era to be detained on such accusations.

Ahead of their first presidential debate, Joe Biden and Donald Trump are offering sharply different visions of the US role in the world, both in style and substance.

Mass expulsions? The 78-year-old, known for his unfinished border wall project, has said he would be happy to "use the military" as part of the effort and would open detention camps to process targets for expulsion.

Israel's top court ruled unanimously on Tuesday that the state must draft ultra-Orthodox Jewish men into military service, potentially destabilising Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition.

France blew the chance to finish first in their group despite Kylian Mbappe scoring his maiden European Championship goal in a 1-1 draw with Poland on Tuesday, as Austria won a thriller against the Netherlands to snatch top spot.

Serbia's new government is prepared to make "compromises" over Kosovo, Prime Minister Milos Vucevic told AFP during a wide-ranging interview on Tuesday.

A Chinese probe carrying samples from the far side of the Moon returned to Earth on Tuesday, capping a technically complex 53-day mission heralded as a world first.

European stock markets slid Tuesday as jitters resurfaced over impending French elections but US tech shares bounced following a selloff led by investor darling Nvidia.

Microsoft violated EU antitrust rules by bundling its Teams communications app with its popular Office suite, Brussels said on Tuesday, as the US tech giant vowed to do what it takes to address competition concerns.

The International Criminal Court on Tuesday said it had issued arrest warrants for Russia's top army chief and ex defence minister over strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure that constituted alleged war crimes.

Russia said Tuesday it was blocking access to dozens of European media outlets, including AFP websites, in response to the EU slapping broadcasting bans on several Russian outlets last month.

The European Union on Tuesday kicked off accession negotiations with Ukraine, setting the war-torn country on a long path towards membership that Russia has tried to block.