AFP news

Israel pressed its blistering assault in the Gaza Strip on Saturday as fears grew of a push into Rafah, the southern city teeming with civilians uprooted by the nearly four-month war.

As Hindus began prayers at a mosque in one of India's holiest cities, the building's elderly custodian Syed Mohammad Yaseen wondered how much longer he would be permitted to worship there.

Deadly strikes were reported early Saturday in the overcrowded Gaza border town of Rafah -- dubbed a "pressure cooker of despair" by the UN -- as international mediators readied a new push to seal a tentative truce deal between Israel and Hamas.

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The US military launched retaliatory air strikes against Iranian forces and Tehran-backed militia groups in Iraq and Syria on Friday, killing at least 18 fighters, following a deadly drone attack on an American base in Jordan.

Arriving on a rickety boat in western Indonesia from squalid Bangladesh camps after weeks at sea late last year, hundreds of Rohingya refugees came to shore only to be turned around and pushed back.

Turkey's central bank chief Hafize Gaye Erkan said Friday she was resigning after less than a year in office over a media scandal involving her family.

Some grassroots loyalists in a unionist area of Northern Ireland have been left dismayed by this week's deal struck between the main pro-UK party and the British government, venting their anger at a recent gathering.

French authorities said Friday the worst of a crisis that saw farmers block roads for days was over, as protesters began lifting barricades, but demonstrations persisted elsewhere in Europe including Spain, Italy and Greece.

Tens of thousands of people crammed into a street in Rafah, the southern Gaza city where vast numbers have sought refuge from advancing Israeli ground troops.

A truck laden with gas canisters exploded in a densely populated area of the Kenyan capital, setting off a huge blaze that killed three people and injured 280, the government said Friday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is engaged in intense political manoeuvring as pressure grows at home and abroad to release hostages held in Gaza and bring fighting to a halt.

If the main opposition Labour party wins the next UK general election as opinion polls indicate, then a familiar sight will appear outside the prime minister's official residence the next day: removal vans.

Fighting in Gaza dragged on into Friday with scores reported killed overnight, after mediator Qatar said Hamas had given its "initial" approval to a hostage-prisoner exchange deal that would pause its war with Israel.

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele is all but guaranteed a resounding victory in elections Sunday, with his no-holds-barred war on gangs having earned him approval ratings hovering around 90 percent.

Lewis Hamilton, who rose from modest circumstances to win a record-equalling seven Formula One driver's titles, is hedging his bets as he plans to continue his career into his 40s.

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France's leading farming unions called Thursday to end nationwide roadblocks over pay, tax and regulation after securing promises of financial assistance and other help from the government.

The holding in detention by Thai authorities of an anti-war Russian rock band has exposed how criticising President Vladimir Putin can be fraught with danger even outside the country.

Mediators pushed on with efforts for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire as fighting raged on in the besieged Gaza Strip on Thursday, deepening a dire humanitarian crisis.

EU leaders on Thursday piled pressure on Viktor Orban to drop his veto on 50 billion euros in aid for Ukraine, as the unpredictable Hungarian leader once more took centre stage at a crunch summit in Brussels.

Brandishing an oversized arrow and rallying support in Pakistan's northern tribal region, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari claims he is the only candidate pointing a way out of polarised politics ahead of next Thursday's election.

Myanmar on Thursday entered its fourth year since a coup ended a short-lived dance with democracy, with the embattled junta warning it will do "whatever it takes" to crush opposition to its rule.

The leader of Hamas was expected in Cairo on Thursday for talks on a proposed truce in Gaza, as Israel kept up its offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Sudan's nine-month-old war has so far largely spared the country's east.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele's war on gangs is credited with slashing homicide rates and restoring security and dignity to citizens of what was once one of the world's most dangerous countries.

Musicians and critics alike have long accused Grammy voters of ignoring the work of female artists -- but this year, it's highly probable that women will take home the night's top prizes.

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