AFP news

The pack of stray dogs -- thin and rain-soaked -- yelped in fear at the roar of incoming Russian artillery fire that echoed off abandoned Soviet-era buildings and an Orthodox church in frontline Pokrovsk.

European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde said Monday eurozone policymakers would keep cutting interest rates and warned that higher US tariffs under President-elect Donald Trump could hit growth in the bloc.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday hailed his army's accelerating advance in Ukraine and praised 2024 as a "landmark" year in the course of Moscow's military offensive on its Western-backed neighbour.

Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who heads the caretaker government installed after an August revolution, said Monday that general elections would be held late next year or in early 2026.

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce a quarter point cut to its key lending rate on Wednesday despite a recent uptick in inflation, in the central bank's last meeting of Joe Biden's presidency.

Germany's embattled centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz traded angry blows with his top rival ahead of a parliament vote Monday that was expected to trigger the process towards February 23 elections.

The five remaining members of the Australian "Bali Nine" drug ring flew home Sunday after 19 years in jail in Indonesia, ending a saga that had frayed relations between the two countries.

The EU's envoy to Syria headed to Damascus Monday to hold talks with the country's new Islamist rulers, just over a week after president Bashar al-Assad's ouster ended decades of brutal rule and civil war.

Most markets fell on Monday after an unexpected slowdown in retail sales reinforced worries about China's economy, with the latest batch of weak data compounding the disappointment of Beijing's latest stimulus pledges.

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol resisted investigators' calls on Monday for him to answer questions over his failed bid to declare martial law this month.

Drug lords like Sean McGovern, a top lieutenant of the Kinahan cartel, and Faissal Taghi -- son of the infamous head of the Dutch-Moroccan Mocro Maffia -- used to hang out and party in Dubai's glitzy hotels and restaurants without a care in the world.

Three years ago, Andrea Vanek was studying to be an arts and crafts teacher when spells of dizziness and heart palpitations suddenly started to make it impossible for her to even take short walks.

Manchester United scored two late goals on Sunday to deepen the pain for beleaguered Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola as Chelsea moved just two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes across the Palestinian territory on Sunday killed at least 40 people, including several children, an Al Jazeera TV cameraman and three rescuers.

Pope Francis celebrated mass Sunday before a congregation of thousands in Corsica, a stronghold of the Catholic faith, the first-ever trip by a pontiff to the French Mediterranean island.

The Syrian military intelligence officers who detained Ghazi Mohammed al-Mohammed told him to forget his name and who he was.

A week after a lightning offensive toppled longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, Syrians are only beginning to scratch the surface of the atrocities committed under his rule, as the country's new rulers seek to reassure the international community.

At least 14 people were killed in Mayotte when a fierce cyclone battered the French Indian Ocean territory, authorities said Sunday, with officials warning it will take days to know the full toll.

South Korea's swift rebuke of martial law and removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office have been hailed in the country as evidence of the strength of its young democratic institutions.

South Korean lawmakers have voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his shock decision to declare martial law last week, which plunged the country into some of its worst political turmoil in decades.

Dominant in the electric car sector, Chinese companies have been quietly consolidating their position in the lesser-watched trucking scene -- but foreign tariffs and a perceived quality gap could signal roadblocks ahead, experts warn.

Negotiators failed to produce an agreement on how to respond to drought at Saudi-hosted UN talks, participants said on Saturday, falling short of a hoped-for binding protocol addressing the scourge.

The citizens of Damascus largely celebrated the fall of Bashar al-Assad's hated regime with joy, after 13 long years of brutal civil war.

Hours before rebel forces seized Damascus and toppled his government on Sunday, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was already out of the country, telling hardly anyone, five former officials told AFP. The night before, Assad had even asked his close adviser Buthaina Shaaban to prepare a speech -- which the ousted leader never gave -- before flying from Damascus airport to Russia's Hmeimim air base in Syria, and from there out of the country.

South Korean lawmakers on Saturday impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law bid, with the opposition declaring a "victory of the people".

Crowds of visitors wander brilliantly lit shopping aisles, stunned by the abundance of goods on offer in the heart of the former rebel stronghold in northwest Syria.

Georgia's ruling party is set to appoint a far-right loyalist as president on Saturday in a controversial election process, amid a deepening constitutional crisis and weeks of mass pro-EU protests.

Jordan will host US, EU, Turkish and Arab diplomats on Saturday for high-level talks on Syria, a day after celebrations in Damascus and nationwide rejoicing at the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad.

Few in the Jahan family's remote Bangladeshi village had seen a jackal up close before the morning one stalked Musqan through the paddy fields, pounced on her, and maimed the four-year-old for life.