AFP news

Fans and critics alike are lavishing praise on "Cowboy Carter," Beyonce's rhinestone-studded, history-rich honky tonk of an album that's rising in the charts after Friday's hotly anticipated release.

Jeffrey Donaldson, the leader of Northern Ireland's main pro-UK Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and one of its best known politicians, resigned on Friday after police charged him with reported sex offences.

Years after false posts began circulating on social media purporting Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman, the French first lady remains the target of fake claims with the transphobic disinformation spreading to the United States.

His soldier son toured Afghanistan with insurgents in his crosshairs, but American traveller Oscar Wells has a different objective -- sight-seeing promoted by the Taliban's fledgling tourism sector.

Beyonce's "Cowboy Carter" is a full-throated ode to her southern roots, a rollicking revue of an album that also deals a vital history lesson on the Black lineage of country music.

Accused of "betraying" fans, subject to relentless online and real-world public abuse, K-pop star Karina recently issued a grovelling, handwritten apology.

The future of the Commonwealth Games has once again been plunged into doubt since Malaysia declined to host the 2026 edition last week, but according to former Olympic marketing guru Michael Payne "it would be wrong to write the event off just yet."

Disgraced cryptocurrency wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in jail on Thursday -- a stunning descent for a figure who seemed poised to lead an emerging sector less than two years ago.

China is the biggest electric vehicle market in the world, a battle royale featuring both established carmakers as well as upstarts such as Xiaomi, which launched its first EV on Thursday.

China on Thursday announced the lifting of punitive tariffs on Australian wine, in a sign that the precarious bilateral relationship could be improving despite setbacks.

Battles and bombardment pounded the Gaza Strip on Thursday, after Washington said Israel agreed to reschedule cancelled talks with tensions worsening between the allies.

The Swedish city of Malmo is preparing to host the Eurovision Song Contest in early May under high security, amid protests over Israel's participation during its ongoing war with Hamas.

Beyonce has been a showbiz fixture for nearly three decades, shapeshifting from girl group lead and pop empress to Hollywood actor and business mogul.

The United States has taken a public distance from Israel as never before over the Gaza war but the decisive test will be Rafah and whether Israel heeds US warnings against an offensive in the packed city.

Struggle to wrap your head around daylight savings? If the need for an "unprecedented" negative leap second was delayed, that would be "welcome news indeed," Patrizia Tavella, the head of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, which is responsible for UTC, commented in Nature.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Wednesday defended French secularism following the resignation of a Paris school principal who received death threats after asking a student to remove her Muslim veil on the premises.

President Emmanuel Macron and counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday celebrated the launch of Brazil's third French-designed submarine, which will help secure the country's immense coastline, dubbed the "Blue Amazon."

Forced to discard its most popular election candidate, and then a proxy, Venezuela's opposition unity is now on the verge of crumbling ahead of July presidential elections.

Diverted cargo and supply chain disruptions have left businesses rushing to avoid an economic hit following the collapse of a major bridge in Baltimore after it was hit by a cargo ship.

Israeli forces pounded besieged Gaza on Wednesday in the war sparked by the October 7 attack and fought Hamas around several hospitals despite a UN Security Council demand for a ceasefire.

Authorities in Baltimore were set to focus on expanding recovery efforts Wednesday after a cargo ship slammed into a major bridge, causing it to collapse and leaving six people presumed dead.

The southern Gaza Strip came under intense Israeli bombardment overnight, despite international pressure for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian territory where famine is looming.

French President Emmanuel Macron kicked off a visit to Brazil on Tuesday with the launch of a billion-euro Amazonian green investment plan alongside his counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers take center stage on Thursday as Major League Baseball's new season gets under way on US soil against the backdrop of a gambling scandal that has engulfed its brightest star.

"Twenty-three in Music City / With dreams and high-heeled boots / Singin' for a crowd of blue eyes / Will they want me too?"

Durga Phuyal had hoped to start anew when she landed in Croatia, but the Nepali migrant faced an uphill battle to adjust to life in the Balkan country.

China said it had issued a "strong" rebuke to the United States on Tuesday after Washington and two key allies accused Beijing of being behind a series of hacks into lawmakers and key democratic institutions.

Hunched in his market workshop in a northern Dakar suburb, Cheikh Lo recounted why he had pinned all his hopes on Senegal's anti-establishment president elect Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

A major bridge in the US city of Baltimore collapsed early Tuesday after being struck by a container ship, sending multiple vehicles and people plunging into the frigid harbor below.