AFP news

Visitors queued up at a southern French basilica Sunday to see a rediscovered painting by Italian renaissance painter Raphael.

Global military expenditure saw its steepest increase in over a decade in 2023, reaching an all-time high of $2.4 trillion as wars and rising tensions fuelled spending across the world, researchers said Monday.

Thousands of Filipino and American troops kicked off joint military exercises in the Philippines on Monday, as Beijing's growing assertiveness in the region raises fears of a conflict.

The decision by the US House of Representatives to earmark $61 billion in long-delayed aid for Ukraine shows the country will not become "a second Afghanistan," President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday.

Jude Bellingham snatched Real Madrid a dramatic 3-2 Clasico win over champions Barcelona on Sunday with a "fundamental" goal to take them 11 points clear at the top of La Liga.

Standing on the shores of a lake with a remote control, a Ukrainian soldier trained his eyes on a small and seemingly innocuous grey vessel as he guided it over the water's surface.

Malaysia's leader on Monday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation's role in the global chip industry.

North Korea has fired several short-range ballistic missiles, Seoul's military said on Monday, the latest in a volley of tests by Pyongyang this year.

Papua New Guinea's leader has dismissed Joe Biden's unlikely suggestion that his uncle was eaten by cannibals there as "loose" talk that does not reflect the US president's feelings for the country.

Eleven people are missing following storms that battered southern China, state media said Monday, with tens of thousands evacuated away from the torrential downpours.

Asian markets rose Monday, clawing back some of last week's losses, as Middle East worries subsided and traders looked ahead to the release of key US inflation data and corporate earnings.

Europe endured a record number of "extreme heat stress" days in 2023, two leading climate monitors said Monday, underscoring the threat of increasingly deadly summers across the continent.

The judge in Donald Trump's criminal trial will look to wrap up jury selection Friday before opening arguments start next week in a historic case being heard as the former president campaigns to win back the White House.

Taylor Swift released her highly anticipated record "The Tortured Poets Department" on Friday -- the 11th studio album from the megastar who is already having a blockbuster year.

The US House of Representatives on Saturday will vote on a major aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and on a possible ban of TikTok.

Arsenal have no time to dwell on their Champions League exit as they return to Premier League action this weekend with the chance to reclaim top spot.

Iran's state media reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan Friday, as US media quoted officials saying Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes on its arch-rival.

Around 60 doctors in Japan have accused Google Maps of ignoring vitriolic reviews of their clinics in a class-action lawsuit touted as the first of its kind.

Ukraine said Friday that, for the first time since Russia's invasion, it had downed a Russian long-range bomber used to fire cruise missiles at cities across the war-battered country.

Kenya began three days of mourning on Friday after its defense chief and nine other senior military officers were killed in a helicopter crash, the latest accident to blight the nation's military.

Joe Biden raised eyebrows when he hinted that cannibals on the island of New Guinea may have eaten his uncle's body after he was shot down during World War II. And the White House and official records indicated Thursday that -- as with many a family legend -- the facts may indeed be a bit different.

A man suspected of aiding a plot by Russian intelligence services to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been arrested in Poland, Polish and Ukrainian prosecutors said Thursday.

The corruption investigation that sparked ex-Portuguese premier Antonio Costa's resignation last year risks collapsing after a court said there had been no indication of a crime being committed.

Meta on Thursday introduced an improved AI assistant built on new versions of its open-source Llama large language model.

Attack violent crime at its roots or go to war with powerful drug cartels?

The United States on Thursday deported more than 50 Haitian migrants, US and Haitian officials said, sending them back to a country which has been beset by spiraling gang violence in recent weeks.

Economies in the Middle East and North Africa face a "shadow of uncertainty" from ongoing tensions in the region, a senior IMF official told AFP on Thursday.

Three workers from the Philippines have died in heavy flooding in the United Arab Emirates, Filipino officials announced, as the desert country struggled on Friday to recover from record rains.

Dubai airport, one of the world's busiest, witnessed major disruption for a third straight day Thursday after the heaviest rains on record drenched the desert United Arab Emirates.