AFP news

Nepali mercenaries are fighting for Russia in Ukraine, lured to kill far from their Himalayan homeland by promises of a passport and cash, but wounded returnees warn anyone tempted to join the war: "Do not come."

West African foreign ministers hold emergency talks on Thursday confronted by a major political crisis in Senegal and weakened by disputes with military rulers in three coup-hit countries.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered troops to prepare to enter the overcrowded Gazan city of Rafah, even as a new round of talks aimed at securing a truce with Hamas were set to open Thursday in Cairo.

Millions of Pakistanis began voting Thursday in an election marred by allegations of poll rigging, with the country's most popular politician in jail and a military-favoured candidate tipped to win.

Screaming and gesturing at the TV in his San Francisco 49ers jersey and scarf, Brazilian computer programmer Carlos Marins wills his team to come from behind and make it to the Super Bowl.

Anger over rising prices and wages that don't stretch far enough brought thousands of casino workers onto the streets of Las Vegas in recent months, part of a wave of labor discontent in the United States.

Senegal's recent decision to delay presidential elections until December "taints the long tradition of democracy" in the country and should be reversed, the EU has said, after the move plunged the normally stable West African nation into crisis.

President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday described the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel as the "biggest anti-Semitic massacre of our century" as he hosted a ceremony paying tribute to the French victims.

Once regarded as a no-go zone by the NFL, Las Vegas is preparing to stage a neon-lit Super Bowl spectacular that will mark the crowning glory of the Nevada gaming haven's transformation into a global sporting hub.

Ukraine urged the West on Wednesday to speed up and increase deliveries of artillery shells after a "massive" new Russian missile attack on Kyiv and other regions killed at least five people and wounded more than 40.

With his father King Charles III undergoing cancer treatment and his wife recovering from surgery, Britain's Prince William found himself thrust back to the frontline of royal duties on Wednesday.

As dawn broke over Luang Prabang, saffron-robed monks trod the streets receiving alms -- but a cacophonous influx of camera-clutching tourists shattered the peace of the ancient Laotian town.

Rome's most majestic forum has recovered some of its former glory with a partial reconstruction of the imposing columns of Trajan's basilica -- using funds from a now-sanctioned Russian oligarch.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel on Wednesday, where he was expected to press for what he called an "essential" truce agreement as the war with Hamas entered its fifth month.

In H&M's flagship Paris store it is hard to find clothes that don't claim to be made from "recycled materials".

Black clouds loom over grapevines in northern Israel on hills that stretch to the Lebanese border, where months of violence have raised fears of a wider war.

As political and racial persecution grew worse in his native Mauritania, Barry looked for a way out.

The Senegalese opposition on Tuesday denounced a "constitutional coup" after parliament voted to delay the presidential election by 10 months, plunging the normally stable country into its worst crisis in decades.

Pakistan's politicians hit the campaign trail Tuesday for the last time ahead of a general election that pollsters say has left the nation of 240 million at its most "discouraged" in years.

Rotating cameras planted on a rooftop terrace "follow our every move", said Hebron resident Umm Nasser, protesting intensified Israeli surveillance of her occupied West Bank city since the start of the Gaza war.

Ravaged by grief, bearing torches and holding up portraits of their lost families, thousands of earthquake survivors gathered in the pre-dawn hours on Tuesday for the first anniversary of Turkey's worst disaster of modern times.

Less than two years after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos was swept to power, his family's alliance with his firebrand predecessor Rodrigo Duterte has been shattered.

As waves from the Arabian Sea crash into the shores of Pakistan's port city of Karachi, election candidate Ahmad Shabbar tells voters a list of growing but often ignored climate threats.

Doctor Maria Grazia Serra's patients have been "breathing, eating and drinking" toxins from Taranto's steelworks for decades, but a dispute over the vast Italian plant could finally see its ecological conversion.

Ancient lake systems once provided Bengaluru with critical water supplies, but the Indian tech hub's breakneck expansion left many waterways covered over or used as dumps.

Tigers in India have been photographed in high-altitude mountains rarely seen before, with experts suggesting relentless human pressure and a heating climate are driving them from traditional hunting grounds.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to fly to Egypt on Tuesday as part of a Middle East crisis tour seeking a new truce and "an enduring end" to the Israel-Hamas war.

"We know about Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. For video, the authorities have launched Belet, a YouTube alternative purged of any content -- both news and entertainment -- that could show what life is like beyond the isolated country's borders.

King Charles III has been diagnosed with cancer and has begun treatment, Buckingham Palace said on Monday, just a week after he was discharged from hospital following prostate surgery.