AFP news

One morning last October as the dawn light touched the cold hills of northern Myanmar a barrage of rockets and drones streaked through the sky and slammed into dugouts and bases housing military troops.

Retired nurse Nga put her life savings into a bond at Vietnam's SCB bank, but now cannot access her money after being caught up with tens of thousands in a multibillion-dollar scam that has shocked the nation.

The US Federal Reserve is almost certain to hold its key lending rate steady for a fourth consecutive meeting Wednesday, as inflation continues to inch closer towards its long-term target of two percent.

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday he had decided on a response to a drone strike that killed three American troops in Jordan, while insisting he did not want a wider war in the Middle East.

Polling as the most popular leader in Latin America -- possibly even the world -- El Salvador's Nayib Bukele has inspired calls for hard-handed tactics across a region tired of violence and losing faith in democracy.

Chita Rivera -- a singer, dancer and actress who lit up Broadway stages over six decades in such shows as "West Side Story" and "Chicago" as one of the foremost entertainers of her generation -- died Tuesday, her publicist said.

Protests by angry farmers spread across Europe on Tuesday as the French government scrambled to placate agriculture workers who have blocked motorways and launched convoys of tractors toward Paris.

US immigration reform has become the focus of a high-stakes political battle, with President Joe Biden and Donald Trump locking horns over one of the hottest issues of the 2024 election.

After a drone attack killed three American soldiers in Jordan on Sunday near the Syrian and Iraq borders, Washington immediately accused "radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq".

Iranian commentators warned Tuesday of a US military retaliation after Washington pledged a "very consequential" response to troop deaths, but largely agreed full-blown war was not in the offing.

Vultures soar above the mining town of Tocopilla, where Chile's dizzying transition away from coal-fueled energy has left dozens of workers idle and unsure of their future.

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison, less than two weeks before the country votes in an election his party has been hamstrung from contesting.

Northern Ireland's main pro-UK party, the DUP, said on Tuesday it endorses a deal with the UK government allowing it to end a long-running boycott of the province's devolved administration.

Hong Kong's leader announced on Tuesday the city would urgently create a new security law to crush pro-independence threats, nearly four years after authorities extinguished a huge democracy movement.

The Israeli army was preparing to shift some of its forces from the Gaza Strip to the restive Lebanese border, as international mediators pushed for a new deal to halt its war with Hamas.

Joko Widodo has led Indonesia for a nearly a decade pledging to do things differently, but he stands accused of manoeuvring to build his own political dynasty in next month's presidential vote in a country long known for its nepotistic politics.

The killing of three US troops is dragging the United States further into a proxy war with Iran that President Joe Biden had hoped to avoid and that he still hopes can be contained.

For Indigenous communities in the Brazilian Amazon, getting online is a challenge.

The UK will finally roll out post-Brexit border checks Wednesday on food, plant and animal products imported from the European Union, fanning fears of more price hikes, empty shelves and even Valentine's Day flower shortages.

Italy hosted a summit of African leaders Monday where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called for a "new page" in relations with the continent, focused on energy and stopping migration across the Mediterranean.

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva received a four-year ban from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday for failing a doping test prior to the 2022 Winter Olympics.

A message on X asked a major French channel to verify what seemed to be a Deutsche Welle report about a Ukrainian artist who "sawed down the Eiffel Tower."

Deadly fighting again rocked Gaza on Monday as a bitter row flared around the UN aid agency for Palestinians over Israeli claims that some of its staff joined the October 7 attack.

Run-DMC member Jam Master Jay was slain in "an ambush" fueled "by greed and revenge," US prosecutors told jurors Monday, as defense lawyers cast doubt on available evidence in the trial over the alleged murder carried out 20 years ago.

Forest fires which have engulfed Bogota in smoke over the past week have been fueled by highly flammable foreign plant species that have invaded Colombia's capital, experts say.

French farmers choked off major motorways around Paris on Monday, threatening to blockade the capital in an intensifying standoff with the government over working conditions.

European and US stocks were mostly flat Monday at the start of a week packed with major earnings and data in addition to central bank decisions on interest rates.

Indian Ocean naval forces said Monday they had freed two fishing vessels hijacked separately by Somali pirates, with Indian sailors rescuing an Iranian boat and commandos from the Seychelles releasing a Sri Lankan trawler.

Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, has left hospital after undergoing abdominal surgery, her Kensington Palace office said on Monday, adding that she was making "good progress" at home.