AFP news

Mask-wearing arsonists set a synagogue ablaze in a pre-dawn attack Friday in the Australian city of Melbourne, police said, sparking widespread condemnation.

Lawmakers camping out in parliament, hundreds of thousands of protestors expected outside, a landmark vote to impeach the president over martial law -- South Korean democracy faces its "most critical moment", opposition leader Lee Jae-myung told AFP Friday.

Key figures in South Korea's failed martial law bid share one key connection: they are all graduates of a prestigious, all-boys school in Seoul.

Rebel forces pressing a lightning offensive in Syria aim to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad's rule, their Islamist leader said in an interview published on Friday.

Indonesian fruit seller Budi was seeking better prospects when he signed up for an IT job in Cambodia.

South Korea's ruling party chief demanded Friday that President Yoon Suk Yeol be removed from office after his abortive attempt to impose martial law, warning there was a "significant risk" he could try to subvert civilian rule again.

President Emmanuel Macron on Friday was to hold talks with political factions as he seeks to name a new prime minister and find a way out of France's political crisis.

Thousands rallied across Georgia on Thursday for a second week of pro-EU protests, after the prime minister threatened to "eradicate" the country's "liberal-fascist" opposition.

Amnesty International accused Israel Thursday of "committing genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza since the start of the war last year, saying its new report was a "wake-up call" for the world.

OpenAI and military defense technology company Anduril Industries said Wednesday that they would work together to use artificial intelligence for "national security missions."

In a year set to be declared the hottest on record, natural disasters caused $310 billion in economic losses globally in 2024, as climate change increasingly takes its toll, Swiss Re said Thursday.

A new artificial intelligence-based weather model can deliver 15-day forecasts with unrivaled accuracy and speed, a Google lab said, with potentially life-saving applications as climate change ramps up.

Syrian government forces were locked in heavy fighting around the central city of Hama on Thursday, trying to halt an advance of Islamist-led rebels, a war monitor said.

The Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers attended an OSCE summit in Malta on Thursday, with Sergei Lavrov making his first visit to an EU member since his country's 2022 invasion of its neighbour.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer will unveil Thursday a "plan for change" for Britain as he attempts a de facto relaunch of his government following a bumpy first five months in power.

Bitcoin broke $100,000 for the first time Thursday as traders cheered Donald Trump's decision to pick a crypto fan to head the US securities regulator, reinforcing optimism the new president will push through measures to deregulate the sector.

President Lai Ching-te spoke Thursday to Republican US House Speaker Mike Johnson, the Taiwanese leader's office said as he visits the American territory Guam during a Pacific tour that has angered China.

The radio was playing and summer sun was streaming through the car windows when Natalya Sadykova and her husband Aydos pulled into their leafy courtyard in Kyiv where a gunman was waiting.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was still clinging to power Thursday, with his party announcing they will oppose an impeachment motion after his short-lived imposition of martial law stunned the world.

The more than five-year reconstruction of Notre Dame cathedral has featured some near-miraculous recoveries, as well as several controversies.

Bitcoin broke $100,000 for the first time Thursday as traders cheered Donald Trump's decision to pick a crypto fan to head the US securities regulator, reinforcing optimism the new president will push through measures to deregulate the sector.

Equities extended losses in Seoul on Thursday, while the won stabilised as South Korea entered a period of uncertainty with President Yoon Suk Yeol clinging to power after his brief imposition of martial law this week.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday will seek ways out of France's political crisis, after Michel Barnier became the first prime minister to be ousted by parliament in over six decades.

The head of the British Museum said Wednesday any deal with Greece to loan the prized Parthenon Marbles to Athens was "still some distance" away, as Greek authorities insist on their permanent return.

Lawyers of three men who repeatedly visited a French home to rape a woman while unconscious Wednesday pleaded for leniency, with one arguing that her "wolf" of a husband had manipulated his client.

French lawmakers on Wednesday voted to oust the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier after just three months in office, a historic move which plunged the country further into political chaos.

Iranian authorities on Wednesday freed Nobel peace prize winner Narges Mohammadi from prison for three weeks on medical grounds, a move supporters decried as "too little too late" and the UN said needed to be transformed into an unconditional freedom.

Georgian police raided the offices of opposition parties on Wednesday after the government vowed to crack down on those organising pro-EU protests, deepening a political crisis engulfing the Black Sea nation.

There are probably easier ways to set a world record, but Rudiger Koch has found his method 11 meters (36 feet) under the sea.