AFP news

As the Cannes film festival hands out its prizes, AFP looks back at some of the highlights of a politically charged fortnight of screenings and celebrity sightings.

Stripped naked, beaten until she could no longer walk, sexually assaulted and covered in excrement: award-winning Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire told AFP of the torture she suffered at the hands of security forces in Tanzania this week.

The United Nations chief said Friday that Palestinians were enduring "the cruelest phase" of the war in Gaza, where more than a dozen food trucks were looted following the partial easing of a lengthy Israeli blockade.

A French court on Friday convicted a gang of robbers who stole $10 million in jewellery from reality TV star Kim Kardashian in a Paris hotel in 2016, although they will not return to jail and the verdicts were more lenient than requested by the prosecution.

Iran's foreign minister described nuclear talks with the United States as "complicated", following the conclusion of a fifth round of discussions in Rome on Friday.

President Donald Trump rekindled the US trade war on Friday, threatening to impose a 50 percent tariff on the European Union ahead of planned trade talks -- and drawing a strong response from European politicians.

A French prosecutor on Friday requested the maximum 20-year sentence for a former surgeon who admitted to sexually abusing almost 300 patients, mostly children.

Ukraine and Russia began a major prisoner exchange Friday, which if completed would be the biggest swap since Moscow invaded more than three years ago.

The banning of fugitive ex-leader Sheikh Hasina's party offers a sliver of justice for Bangladeshis demanding she face trial for crimes against humanity but also raises concerns about the inclusivity of elections.

Donald Trump's administration on Thursday revoked Harvard's ability to enroll foreign nationals, putting the future of thousands of students at risk and threatening the prestigious university with a huge financial blow.

An Australian firm's production of a heavy rare earth, a first outside of China, is a "major milestone" in diversifying a critical supply chain dominated by Beijing, experts say.

Plumes of smoke rose Thursday over the northern Gaza Strip where Israel's military urged civilians to evacuate, as rescuers said Israeli strikes across the territory killed more than 50 people.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned Thursday that Russia threatened security in Europe as he visited Lithuania to mark the official formation of Germany's first permanent overseas military unit since World War II, aimed at bolstering NATO's eastern flank.

Lyudmila Vasilyeva, 84, survived the Siege of Leningrad in World War II as a child.

Director Joachim Trier found himself crying behind the camera as he shot "Sentimental Value", his moving new tale about a quietly fractured family that got an extraordinary 19-minute standing ovation Thursday at the end of its premiere at the Cannes film festival.

Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot dead late Wednesday outside a Jewish museum in Washington by a gunman who shouted "free Palestine," authorities said, with US, Israeli and other world leaders expressing outrage over the killings.

Equities sank and Treasuries remained under pressure following sharp losses on Wall Street fuelled by US economy fears as Donald Trump tries to push through fresh tax cuts that could balloon the already huge deficit.

A major accident occurred at the launch ceremony for a new North Korean naval destroyer, state media reported Thursday, with leader Kim Jong Un calling the mishap a "criminal act".

When foreign leaders meet with Donald Trump, they are walking a tightrope: They can be welcomed with open arms or be publicly belittled.

For world leaders an invitation to the Oval Office used to be a coveted prize.

President Donald Trump ambushed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday by playing him a video that he claimed proved genocide is being committed against white people, driving farmers to flee to the United States.

Gazans waited desperately for vital supplies on Wednesday after Israel said it let in dozens of UN trucks but faced mounting international pressure to increase the aid flow and abandon its intensified military campaign.

Crude prices rallied Wednesday following a report that US intelligence suggested Israel was planning a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, which would send geopolitical tensions into overdrive and fuel regional conflict fears.

A British team of veteran ex-special forces soldiers summited Everest on Wednesday, expedition organisers said, in a bid to fly from London, climb the highest peak and return home within seven days.

As construction crews using heavy excavators demolished a major highway bridge in Berlin, pensioner Guido, like many Germans, greeted the dusty spectacle with grim satisfaction.

Top finance leaders from the G7 nations gather in Canada starting Tuesday, with concerns including war in Ukraine at the fore while the advanced economies grapple with fallout from US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs.

A day after Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump spoke by phone on Ukraine, showering each other with compliments, Russian home-maker Anastasia had one wish: for Moscow to finish what it started in 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia on Tuesday of delaying peace talks in a bid to pursue its three-year invasion, even as US President Donald Trump pushes for an immediate ceasefire.

Dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi makes his first appearance at an international film festival in 15 years at Cannes on Tuesday, with a story about political prisoners trying to get back at their jailers.