AFP news

While China's leaders use their economic and political might to fight Donald Trump's trade war "to the end", its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online.

Mongolian influencer Anudari Daarya looks effortlessly glamorous and carefree in her social media posts -- but the classically trained pianist's road to acceptance as a transgender artist has been anything but easy.

In central India's dry forests, community trackers hunt for signs of elephants to feed into an alert system that is helping prevent some of the hundreds of fatal tramplings each year.

Hamas late Thursday signalled rejection of Israel's latest truce proposal and called for a "comprehensive" deal to end the 18-month-long war.

France on Thursday hailed talks on the Ukraine war between top US and European officials during which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed a US peace plan.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday hailed rare talks involving top US, European and Ukrainian officials as a "very important occasion for convergence" as Kyiv's allies seek to rekindle stalled ceasefire efforts amid transatlantic tensions.

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Thursday that Iran and the United States were running out of time to secure a deal as they prepare to hold fresh nuclear talks this weekend.

Astronomers raised hopes that humanity might not be alone in the universe by announcing on Thursday they have detected the most promising hints yet of life on a distant planet.

As President Donald Trump's tariffs threaten the US economy, questions are being asked about how long the dollar can maintain its status as the world's key trading and reserve currency.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Thursday that a series of Israeli air strikes killed at least 37 people, most of them in encampments for displaced civilians, as Israel pressed its unrelenting military offensive in the Palestinian territory.

The spectre of a transatlantic trade war is also fuelling hopes of a silver lining in Europe: that a commerce deal with four South American countries could get a final green light despite longstanding French opposition.

US President Donald Trump called Harvard a "joke" Wednesday and said it should lose its government research contracts after the prestigious university refused demands that it accept outside political supervision.

When the news came through of yet another massacre in the countryside in Nigeria's volatile Plateau state, local Christian Jamaima Haruna was terrified for her Muslim husband.

Uncertainty over Donald Trump's tariff blitz mounted Thursday after the Fed chief warned of rising prices and "volatility" while "progress" flagged by the US president in talks with Japan lifted markets slightly.

Rights groups are increasingly worried that El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison is becoming a "black hole" for the United States to rid itself of expelled migrants or other unwanted people with no legal consequences.

Astronomers announced Thursday that they had detected the most promising "hints" of potential life on a planet beyond our solar system, though other scientists expressed scepticism.

One of the architects of US President Donald Trump's tariff blitz has advocated a shake-up of the global trade and financial systems, centred on a radical strategy to weaken the dollar.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi warned Wednesday that Iran was "not far" from possessing a nuclear bomb, shortly before he arrived in Tehran for talks.

Assailants targeted cars and a building lobby linked to prison staff in France overnight, the authorities said Wednesday, the latest in a series of coordinated attacks that have put the government on edge.

As Margriet Mantingh gazes at flowers stretching as far as the eye can see at the world's biggest flower market near Amsterdam, all she sees is a huge bouquet of pesticides.

US President Donald Trump's aggressive but fast-changing trade policy has foisted difficult questions on carmakers that they have not yet been forced to answer.

China told Washington on Wednesday to "stop threatening and blackmailing" after US President Donald Trump said it was up to Beijing to come to the negotiating table to discuss ending their trade war.

Israel said Wednesday it would keep blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, where a relentless military offensive has turned the Palestinian territory into a "mass grave", a medical charity reported.

Britain's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the legal definition of a "woman" is based on a person's sex at birth, a landmark decision with far-reaching implications for the bitter debate over trans rights.

Ailing Red Bull arrive on the Red Sea for this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah desperate to prevent their 2025 season sinking into mediocrity.

Asian stocks swung Wednesday after Nvidia's announcement of new US licensing rules on shipments of its new chip to China rattled investor confidence already shot by Donald Trump's sweeping trade war.

Cod and herring are normally more likely to be on the dinner menu than the negotiating table at European security talks.

Years of negotiations culminated early Wednesday with countries agreeing the text of a landmark accord on how to tackle future pandemics, aimed at avoiding the mistakes made during the Covid-19 crisis.

Like thousands of senior citizens in Ukraine, Zinaida Gyrenko was spending the sunset years of her life in a shelter, her retirement upended by Russia's invasion.