AFP news

Shelling and missile strikes rocked the length of the Gaza Strip overnight into Tuesday, after Israel's army warned its war against the territory's Hamas rulers will last through 2024.

Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty Tuesday to "sedition" and "collusion" charges in a high-profile national security trial that could see him jailed for life.

South Korean opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck with a knife on Tuesday by a man who pushed through a crowd pretending to be his supporter, police said.

Fantasy musical "Wonka" bounced back to the top of the North American box office this New Year's weekend as an otherwise pallid film year came to an end, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

The future of Kylian Mbappe and his protracted courtship by Real Madrid is expected to be the key theme of the transfer window that opens in Europe on Monday.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen expressed hopes on Monday for Taipei and Beijing to seek "long-term peaceful coexistence" and said future relations should be decided by Taiwan's "democratic procedures".

Israel warned its war against Hamas will continue throughout 2024 as unrelenting strikes killed two dozen people in Gaza and the Palestinian militant group fired a rocket barrage at the stroke of midnight.

Tsunami waves over a metre high hit central Japan on Monday after a series of powerful earthquakes that damaged homes, closed highways and prompted authorities to urge people to run to higher ground.

Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus was convicted on Monday of violating Bangladesh's labour laws in a case decried by his supporters as politically motivated.

Ugandan athlete Benjamin Kiplagat has been found dead in Kenya, police said Sunday, with local media reporting he had been stabbed to death.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for unity in the country in his New Year's Eve address Sunday as it prepares for the 2024 Olympic Games, after a difficult year for his government.

A rebellious teen turned "woke" family man, Denmark's future king Crown Prince Frederik is the embodiment of the country's relaxed, liberal monarchy.

Denmark's popular Queen Margrethe II, Europe's longest-serving monarch, said Sunday that she would abdicate on January 14 and pass the baton to her son Crown Prince Frederik.

Mexico's Zapatista demobilized guerrilla group prepared Sunday to mark the 30th anniversary of its pro-Indigenous, anti-capitalist uprising in an impoverished southern region where today drug traffickers are a greater foe than the military.

President Xi Jinping said Sunday the Chinese economy had grown "more resilient and dynamic" in 2023, despite financial figures continuing to disappoint as the post-Covid recovery stalls.

The UK government tried to help Greece secure the Parthenon Marbles on loan two decades ago in a bid to drum up support for London's 2012 Olympics' bid, according to files released Friday.

Britain on Thursday lifted some costly obstacles placed on school trips post Brexit -- but only for students from France as campaigners called for all EU countries to benefit.

Players at January's Australian Open will be competing for a record prize pool with organisers Friday announcing a 13 percent boost in the total purse to Aus$86.5 million (US$59.0 million).

Russia launched drone and missile strikes across Ukraine on Friday, killing at least 12 people and wounding over 70 in one of the biggest air attacks of the war.

Israel pounded south and central Gaza on Friday as Egypt was to host a high-level Hamas delegation for talks to try and end the nearly 12-week war that has devastated the besieged Palestinian territory.

Pakistan has banned New Year's Eve celebrations to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, the government said late Thursday, urging people to instead "observe simplicity".

Hong Kong democracy activist Tony Chung said Friday he had fled to Britain because he could no longer endure supervision from authorities, who had pressured him to become an informant and limited his work options.

Venezuela's state oil company said Thursday that an oil spill at a refinery on the country's western coastline was no longer "active" and that more than 80 percent of the affected area had been cleaned up.

Chinese tech giant Huawei said Friday it "weathered the storm" of US sanctions as it announced a rise of almost nine percent in revenues in 2023, a year that saw it shock Washington with the release of a high-end smartphone.

The US state of Maine on Thursday blocked former president Donald Trump from its Republican presidential primary ballot, the second state to disqualify him over his role in the January 2021 assault on the US Capitol.

Few players of the online video game Free Fire would know that one of their most ferocious opponents -- a lithe, gun-wielding warrior in a short kimono and fang mask -- is in reality an 81-year-old grandmother from rural Chile.

Almost a century after his big-screen debut, Mickey Mouse enters the public domain Monday, opening the floodgates to potential remakes, spin-offs, adaptations... and legal battles with Disney.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets of New York on Thursday, staging a mock funeral in a demonstration against Israel's continued heavy bombardement of the besieged Gaza strip.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday ordered more than 5,600 military personnel to participate in a "defensive" exercise near the border with Guyana, in response to Britain sending a warship to the area.