AFP news

Gaza militants are due to release three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for 369 Palestinians in Israeli custody, the sixth swap of a truce that came close to collapse this week.

An intense Israeli military raid had already sent Qusay Farahat fleeing his home in the occupied West Bank, but the offensive has since expanded, threatening a relative's house where he sought shelter.

M23 fighters on Friday pushed on towards another regional capital in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, prompting shops and businesses to close and frightened civilians to flee, as African leaders urged an immediate ceasefire in the escalating conflict.

US Vice President JD Vance launched a withering attack Friday against European policies on immigration, populist parties and free speech, echoing President Donald Trump whom he called Washington's "new sheriff in town".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that a Russian drone had struck a cover built to contain radiation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, adding that radiation levels were normal.

A run of new-release flops and the delay of the latest "Assassin's Creed" instalment sent revenue at French games giant Ubisoft plunging in its third quarter, the company reported Thursday as it continues to weigh its future.

The US State Department backtracked Thursday on a document saying it would award $400 million for electric armored cars by Tesla, whose chief Elon Musk has been aggressively slashing government spending on behalf of President Donald Trump.

Mexico on Thursday threatened to sue Google over its changing the Gulf of Mexico's name to "Gulf of America" for Maps users in the United States to comply with President Donald Trump's executive order.

Donald Trump unveiled an extraordinary vision of a shake-up to the world order Thursday, eyeing a three-way summit with the Russian and Chinese leaders just a day after saying he had agreed with Vladimir Putin to start Ukraine peace talks.

The United States has released Russian cryptocurrency kingpin Alexander Vinnik, as part of an exchange deal that saw Moscow free US teacher Marc Fogel, a senior US official said Thursday.

Stock markets diverged and the dollar dipped Friday as traders tracked US President Donald Trump's latest tariff announcement, economic data and earnings.

Taiwan will boost investment in the United States and on its own defences, President Lai Ching-te said Friday, as Taipei seeks to head off US President Donald Trump's threats of tariffs on its semiconductor chips.

Cold weather, disease and capacity cuts pushed wine production in France's Bordeaux region last year to a low not seen in three-and-a-half decades, the local industry body said Friday.

Alibaba shares soared by more than 6% on Friday following reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping was poised to meet with the tech juggernaut's co-founder Jack Ma.

In a desolate area of Syria where Lebanese militant group Hezbollah once held sway, security forces shot open the gates to an abandoned building and found a defunct drug factory.

At a scam compound in Myanmar, Filipina worker Pieta had just days to romance strangers online and trick them into investing in a fake business -- failing which she would be beaten or tortured with electric shocks.

Bangladeshi high schooler Laiba is being educated for the future, but what she learns has been determined by the latest chapter in her country's battle over its past.

Cambodian scientist Yeang Chheang has spent six decades fighting malaria -- even in the Khmer Rouge labour camp where his wife and baby died -- and stands tantalisingly close to fulfilling his life's work.

Hamas was expected Friday to name three hostages it will release this weekend as part of a planned exchange for Palestinian prisoners, local media said, after days of uncertainty in which Israel threatened to scrap a nearly month-old Gaza ceasefire deal.

President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to meet US Vice President JD Vance in Germany on Friday with a warning against trusting Russia's Vladimir Putin, as concerns mount in Kyiv and among its European allies that the Ukraine war will be settled over their heads.

One victim was visiting Rio de Janeiro's iconic Christ the Redeemer statue.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday offered to sell state-of-the-art fighter jets to India as he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to ramp up trade, rekindling a bond that defies the new US administration's punitive approach to much of the world.

On Ecuador's lawless southwest coast, drug gangs operate with impunity and terrified residents ask if their president's "iron fist" security policies are just words.

Police arrested an Afghan asylum seeker at the scene of what German leaders labelled a car ramming "attack" that injured 28 people, some seriously, in the southern city of Munich Thursday.

US President Donald Trump committed Wednesday to announcing "reciprocal tariffs" on other countries, saying he could sign an order for them within a day, a move that could open new fronts in a trade war.

Major stock markets mostly rallied, while the dollar and oil prices retreated Thursday on hopes for an end to the war in Ukraine.

The Republican-controlled US Senate was expected Thursday to approve vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, despite major concerns from both political parties and many in the medical and scientific communities.

Donald Trump's defence chief denied Thursday the US president was betraying Ukraine by opening talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin, as blindsided European powers insisted they and Kyiv must have a seat at the table.

Swiss food giant Nestle reported better-than-expected annual sales on Thursday, boosting its shares after the maker of Nescafe coffee, KitKat chocolate and Purina dog food hiked prices to offset inflation.