AFP news

A controversial trade deal between the EU and South America's Mercosur bloc is back in the spotlight with rekindled optimism that the two sides could conclude an agreement before the year is over.

Donald Trump's impending White House return poses questions once again about conflicts of interest related to his business empire, with new cryptocurrency and other ventures raising fresh concerns.

Donald Trump named more of his incoming team Tuesday, including seasoned figures and hard-liners, ahead of a meeting with President Joe Biden in what will be the Republican's first White House visit since exiting amid scandal four years ago.

Israel announced the opening of an additional aid crossing into Gaza Tuesday, on the eve of a US deadline to boost relief deliveries, but aid agencies said it was not enough.

Nations have begun setting carbon-cutting targets for the decade ahead, and how ambitious these pledges are could make or break global efforts to avoid dangerous levels of climate change.

One of Europe's biggest tech events, Web Summit, launched on Monday in Lisbon with pop superstar Pharrell Williams among those taking to the stage.

European and Asian stock markets slid Tuesday on worries of a possible trade war between China and the United States when Donald Trump takes over as president, analysts said.

North Korea has ratified a landmark defence pact with Russia, state media reported Tuesday, deepening security cooperation that has seen Pyongyang send thousands of troops to help Moscow fight Ukraine.

Once confined to rectangular screens, chirpy plumber Mario and pointy-eared Princess Zelda are popping up in theme parks and toy stores as Nintendo goes all out to win non-gamer fans.

Senior Russian official Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday told China's foreign minister Wang Yi their two countries' most urgent task should be countering "containment" by the United States, as they met for security talks in Beijing.

"We used to hate elephants a lot," Kenyan farmer Charity Mwangome says, pausing from her work under the shade of a baobab tree.

New Zealand's prime minister delivered a historic apology Tuesday to victims abused in state care, acknowledging the "unimaginable pain" suffered within children's homes and psychiatric hospitals.

Germany, mired in political crisis, is headed for February 23 elections, the main parties agreed Tuesday, aiming to form a stable government after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party coalition collapsed last week.

The Central African Republic (CAR) sought Tuesday to convince the regulatory body for global diamond trading to lift all restrictions against it, ending an export embargo in place for more than a decade.

The host of the UN climate summit in Azerbaijan on Tuesday defended fossil fuels and the right of countries to exploit them as dozens of world leaders arrived for the COP29 conference.

In a mask and a hazmat suit, Ermek Murataliyev drives a truck filled with Soviet-era radioactive waste along the winding mountain roads of Kyrgyzstan.

US President-elect Donald Trump announced new members of his incoming administration on Monday, and was expected to pick Florida Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state.

Aspiring South Korean writer On Ji-goo never considered herself a feminist but changed her mind after being physically attacked by a man for having short hair.

The heavyweights of the EU's new top team are to be quizzed by lawmakers in Brussels on Tuesday during confirmation hearings that are set to lay bare political dividing lines within the bloc.

Sri Lanka's new leftist leader has drawn strong support from an unlikely source as he seeks to expand his three parliamentary seats to a house majority in elections on Thursday.

Arab and Muslim leaders demanded on Monday that Israel withdraw from occupied Palestinian territories as a precondition for regional peace, while denouncing "shocking" Israeli crimes in war-ravaged Gaza.

By the time most Londoners had rolled out of bed on Monday morning, Gary Marshall was already winding down for the day at New Covent Garden Market.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba kept his job in a parliamentary vote on Monday, despite having recently led the ruling coalition to its worst general election result in 15 years.

Taylor Swift led the way at the 2024 MTV Europe Music Awards in Manchester on Sunday, picking up four awards on a night dominated by female artists, including Tyla and Sabrina Carpenter.

Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli strike on Sunday killed 23 people, including seven children, in the village of Almat north of the capital Beirut.

Major stock markets diverged, the dollar gained and bitcoin extended a record run higher Monday, as traders took their lead from events in the United States and China.

US president-elect Donald Trump said late Sunday he was bringing back hardline immigration official Tom Homan to oversee the country's borders in the incoming administration.

The Kremlin on Monday denied a US media report that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US president-elect Donald Trump shared a call about the Ukraine conflict.

The White House will spend its remaining $6 billion of Ukraine funding before Donald Trump's presidential inauguration in January, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday, warning of the global risks of ending US support for Kyiv.