AFP news

Tens of thousands of protesters converged in Serbia's capital Belgrade Saturday during the latest in a series of anti-corruption demonstrations to upend the Balkan country in recent months.

UK premier Keir Starmer said the "ball was in Russia's court" and that President Vladimir Putin would "sooner or later" have to "come to the table," after a virtual summit on Saturday to drum up support for a coalition willing to protect any eventual ceasefire in Ukraine.

Despite the risks from deadly armed groups roaming the countryside, Judith Kahindo walks alone every day to her isolated cocoa plantation in the war-torn North Kivu region of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

President Vladimir Putin on Friday called on beleaguered Ukrainian troops in the Russian region of Kursk to "surrender" after US President Donald Trump pleaded for their lives.

A grisly discovery of charred bones, shoes and clothing at a suspected drug cartel training ground has prompted demands for answers and justice from relatives of the more than 100,000 people missing in Mexico.

Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada's prime minister on Friday, taking charge of a country rattled by a breakdown in US relations since President Donald Trump's return to power.

Hamas said on Friday it was ready to free an Israeli-American hostage and the remains of four others, after the Palestinian militants and Israel resumed indirect Gaza ceasefire negotiations.

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte failed to show in person at the International Criminal Court on Friday at the opening of his crimes against humanity hearing over his deadly crackdown on narcotics.

Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's deadly war on drugs has always faced strong opposition on the home front.

Mine shafts snake under the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's mountains, but instead of the Congolese government their rich veins are making a mint for the Rwanda-backed M23.

Canada called Thursday on the Group of Seven powers to back Ukraine against Russia's "aggression" as US President Donald Trump's more conciliatory approach toward Moscow split the club of wealthy democracies.

It's late morning and steam is rising from water tanks atop the colourful but opaque-windowed "soapland" sex parlours in a historic Tokyo red-light district.

Nepali police officer Jiwan Subba still feels pangs of regret decades after he bludgeoned a strange creature he found wandering in his barn, not realising it was an endangered red panda.

Asian investors fought Friday to grind out gains at the end of a painful week for markets as they welcomed signs US lawmakers will avert a government shutdown but remained fearful over Donald Trump's trade war.

Minutes after former Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte was bundled onto a plane bound for The Hague to face a charge of crimes against humanity, President Ferdinand Marcos said of the arrest: "Politics doesn't enter into it."

More than a million people have fled Myanmar's brutal civil war to seek shelter and work in neighbouring Thailand, where experts say nationalists are using disinformation to fuel prejudice against them.

Rules for the emerging deep-sea mining sector should take a "precautionary approach" that protects the environment, the head of the body drafting regulations for the practice told AFP Friday.

A new graft scandal rocked the European Parliament after police carried out raids Thursday in Belgium and Portugal, detaining multiple suspects in a probe into suspicions of corruption under the guise of lobbying for the benefit of Chinese tech giant Huawei.

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa hailed the start of a "new history" for his country on Thursday, signing into force a constitutional declaration regulating its five-year transitional period and laying out rights for women and freedom of expression.

The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group cautiously welcomed Thursday the prospect of direct negotiations with the Congolese government to end the conflict in the volatile eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Pope Francis marked 12 years as head of the Catholic Church on Thursday, celebrating with cake and slowly recovering after a month in hospital, but with his health casting a shadow over his future.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to impose 200 percent tariffs on wine, champagne and other alcoholic beverages from European Union countries, in retaliation against the bloc's planned levies on US-produced whiskey.

The high-profile case of former Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court comes at a welcome time for the institution, which faces unprecedented attacks from all sides and even US sanctions, experts say.

The father of a British-Pakistani girl jailed for 40 years for her murder should have been given a whole life sentence from which he would never be released, a top government lawyer argued in a court appeal hearing Thursday.

A United Nations investigation concluded Thursday that Israel carried out "genocidal acts" in Gaza through the destruction of its main IVF clinic, maternity facilities and other reproductive healthcare facilities.

Germany's likely next leader Friedrich Merz said Thursday urgent action was needed to boost the country's under-resourced military and ailing economy, as he defended plans for a spending bonanza during a fiery parliamentary debate.

US negotiators travelled to Russia on Thursday to present their plan for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but Moscow warned in advance it would refuse any temporary deal that gave Kyiv a "breather".

Five years on from a first wave of harassment scandals that rocked the world of gaming, multiple women working in the industry tell AFP they have seen or experienced sexism in the workplace, fearing economic hardship in the sector will lead to backsliding.

At a funeral in rural Taiwan, musicians wearing pleated mini-skirts and go-go boots march around a coffin to the beat of the 1980s hit "I Hate Myself for Loving You".