AFP news

Catholic zealots in the Philippines re-enacting the last moments of Jesus Christ were nailed to wooden crosses while others whipped themselves bloody in extreme displays of religious devotion on Good Friday.

Japanese star Shohei Ohtani made a triumphant Los Angeles Dodgers home debut on Thursday, getting help from fellow Most Valuable Player teammates in a 7-1 rout of St. Louis.

Oscars best picture winner "Oppenheimer" was finally released on Friday in Japan, where its subject -- the man who masterminded the creation of the atomic bomb -- is a highly sensitive and emotional topic.

Accused of "betraying" fans, subject to relentless online and real-world public abuse, K-pop star Karina recently issued a grovelling, handwritten apology.

Cranes began arriving Thursday at the scene of the catastrophic bridge collapse over Baltimore harbor, as authorities shifted to a clean-up phase of the recovery and warned of extensive work before the major US port can reopen.

The world's top court on Thursday ordered Israel to "ensure urgent humanitarian assistance" in Gaza without delay, saying "famine has set in".

Pope Francis, who often pleads for compassion to prisoners, washed the feet of 12 incarcerated women in Rome on Thursday in a rite marking Holy Thursday before Easter.

South Africa's electoral officials said Thursday that they had excluded former president Jacob Zuma from May elections, further stoking tensions in the run-up to the polls.

President Ferdinand Marcos said Thursday the Philippines will not be "cowed into silence" by Beijing after confrontations in the South China Sea that injured Filipino troops and damaged vessels.

Swedish video game group Embracer said Thursday it was selling Gearbox Entertainment, the developer of the popular first-person shooter franchise "Borderlands", to US company Take-Two for $460 million.

Battles and bombardment pounded the Gaza Strip on Thursday, after Washington said Israel agreed to reschedule cancelled talks with tensions worsening between the allies.

Chinese consumer tech giant Xiaomi will launch its first-ever EV at a press conference in Beijing Thursday, injecting itself into a fiercely competitive sector in the world's largest car market.

The Bidens' dogs grabbed headlines with their bad behavior, but "First Feline" Willow is getting a book all to herself.

Beyonce has been a showbiz fixture for nearly three decades, shapeshifting from girl group lead and pop empress to Hollywood actor and business mogul.

Disgraced cryptocurrency wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried is set to be sentenced Thursday following his conviction in one of the biggest financial fraud cases in history.

A leading American university was sued Wednesday over a disinformation campaign allegedly financed by the United Arab Emirates, accused of seeding false narratives that linked academics to a radical group in the Middle East.

Chelsea reached the semi-finals of the Women's Champions League on Wednesday despite a 1-1 draw at home to Ajax, while Lyon also progressed after brushing aside Benfica in France.

Venezuela's main opposition coalition said Tuesday it had managed to register a proxy candidate to face off against President Nicolas Maduro in the country's July elections -- but not the one it wanted.

The southern Gaza Strip came under intense Israeli bombardment overnight, despite international pressure for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian territory where famine is looming.

Hyundai on Wednesday revealed plans to invest more than $50 billion in South Korea by 2026, with a huge chunk dedicated to boosting the development and production of electric vehicles.

Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers take center stage on Thursday as Major League Baseball's new season gets under way on US soil against the backdrop of a gambling scandal that has engulfed its brightest star.

"Twenty-three in Music City / With dreams and high-heeled boots / Singin' for a crowd of blue eyes / Will they want me too?"

Spain's government has acquired a three-percent stake in telecoms giant Telefonica following concerns over a Saudi firm taking a piece of a company that Madrid considers strategically important.

The EU on Monday hit Apple, Google parent Alphabet and Meta with the first ever probes under a mammoth digital law, which could lead to big fines against the US giants.

The Kremlin refused to comment Monday on the Islamic State group's claims that it was behind the deadliest attack in Russia in two decades, as rescuers searched for bodies amid the rubble of the burnt-out Moscow concert hall.

Nine people including a teenage girl were wounded Monday after Ukrainian air defence systems downed two Russian missiles over the capital, sending metal debris crashing to the ground.

Donald Trump faces twin legal crises on Monday in New York, where he could see the possible seizure of his storied properties over a massive fine as he separately fights to delay a criminal trial even further.

European and Asian stock markets mostly rose and the dollar fell Tuesday ahead of US consumer data that could make clearer the outlook for interest rates in the world's top economy.

Debt-ridden French IT group Atos, the cybersecurity and data provider for the Paris Olympics, posted a huge annual loss Tuesday but vowed that its troubles would not disrupt the Games.