AFP news

Israel on Tuesday unleashed its most intense strikes on the Gaza Strip since a January ceasefire, with rescuers reporting 220 people killed, and Hamas accusing Benjamin Netanyahu of deciding to "resume war" after a deadlock on extending the truce.

Three decades since Shizue Takahashi's husband and a dozen others were killed with a nerve agent on Tokyo's subway, she fears Japan could see a repeat of the doomsday cult attack.

Dressed in a floral shawl, Benji Dezaval carefully places hallucinogenic mushrooms on the tongues of the faithful of his Colorado "psychedelic church," as if they were communion wafers.

Washington has questioned UN agencies, nonprofits and charities that received US funds on whether they have "communist" links or support "gender ideology", and other topics targeted by US President Donald Trump, a dozen groups told AFP. A list of 36 questions was sent to small and large organisations alike as part of Washington's ongoing review of its vast foreign aid spending.

For Volodymyr Zelensky, his Oval Office clash with Donald Trump was a stark demonstration of how important personal ties with Donald Trump will be to his chances of ending the war with Russia on acceptable terms.

In a war-ravaged neighbourhood of Sudan's capital Khartoum, the stench from a gaping sewage pit is unbearable as Red Crescent workers pull a bloated body from deep underground.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Donald Trump will speak by phone on Tuesday, as one US official expressed hope the two could agree a Ukraine ceasefire within "weeks".

US officials on Sunday vowed further strikes in Yemen until the Huthi rebels decide to end their attacks on Red Sea shipping, while also threatening action against the group's backer Iran.

A pair of US astronauts stuck for more than nine months on the International Space Station will be returned to Earth on Tuesday evening, NASA said.

After more than a decade of negotiations, a new round of talks to finalize a code to regulate deep-sea mining in international waters begins Monday in Jamaica, with hopes high for adoption this year.

President Donald Trump's administration on Sunday began mass layoffs at Voice of America and other US-funded media, making clear its intent to gut outlets long seen as critical for US influence.

Markets rose on Monday as investors welcomed Chinese plans to kickstart consumption in the world's number two economy, though worries about Donald Trump's tariffs war continue to cast a shadow over trading floors.

China's economy charted an uneven trajectory in the first two months of the year, a slew of key indicators showed Monday, muddying Beijing's drive to boost flagging consumption.

With Canada's economy and even sovereignty under unprecedented threat from its southern neighbour the United States, its new leader has embarked on a trans-Atlantic trip to strengthen ties with traditional friends France and Britain.

At least 40 people were killed and dozens more injured by tornadoes and violent storms that ravaged the central and southern United States at the weekend, local authorities said.

Andrey Klimenko hiccups and shifts his weight from one leg to the other.

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels said they attacked an American aircraft carrier group twice within 24 hours as they prepared for huge rallies on Monday after US strikes left dozens dead.

The race to succeed Thomas Bach as president of the International Olympic Committee is nearing the finish with Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior, Sebastian Coe and Kirsty Coventry widely seen to be clear of the remaining quartet.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Emmanuel Macron teaming up to lead Europe's backing of Ukraine during Donald Trump's tumultuous second presidency highlights a warming British-Franco relationship, insiders and analysts say.

In the cold, lightless Pacific Ocean deep, the seabed is scattered with metal-rich rocks coveted by miners -- and huge numbers of strange and rare animals almost entirely unknown to science.

Only seven years into her marriage did Yuki Niimi first touch her husband -- at a morgue where she collected his body after he was executed and kissed him in a coffin.

Like something from the science fiction film "Dune", the "world's biggest mining dredger" has been swallowing acre after acre of the fertile coastal strip where most of Senegal's vegetables are grown.

The United States flew over 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to be imprisoned in El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele said Sunday, after US counterpart Donald Trump controversially invoked wartime legislation to expel them.

Pope Francis acknowledged being fragile and "facing a period of trial", as he thanked well-wishers Sunday for prayers in a message from hospital, where he has been slowly recovering from pneumonia.

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthis vowed to meet "escalation with escalation" after a wave of deadly US air strikes, with witnesses to the bombing saying Sunday they were taken aback by its intensity, even after years of war.

Israel and Hamas are set for more indirect talks Sunday on the Gaza ceasefire, but deep divisions persist between the two warring sides on the terms of the fragile truce.

A fire tore through a nightclub in North Macedonia early Sunday, killing 59 people, apparently after on-stage fireworks set the place ablaze, authorities said, announcing arrest warrants for four people.

The first US strikes against Yemen's Huthis since Donald Trump took office killed 31 people, the rebels said Sunday, with the US president warning "hell will rain down upon" the Iran-backed group if it did not stop attacking shipping.

Lando Norris kept his cool in a rain-hit and incident-packed season-opening Australian Grand Prix Sunday to edge world champion Max Verstappen with Lewis Hamilton 10th on his Ferrari debut.