AFP news

Actors, crew, writers and producers have lost their homes; film and television productions have been temporarily halted; and calls are mounting for Hollywood's award season to be canceled.

Nine people died in the city of Ipatinga, where 80 millimeters (3.1 inches) of rain fell in the space of one hour on Saturday night, the mayor's office said.

Kylian Mbappe put Madrid ahead but a dominant Barcelona hit five in response before their goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent off in the second half.

New Lebanese President Joseph Aoun began parliamentary consultations Monday to designate a prime minister tasked with forming a government desperately needed to tackle major challenges in the crisis-hit country.

The equity sell-off tracked hefty losses on Wall Street, where all three main indexes finished more than one percent lower as the new trading year continued to falter.

Overseas shipments represented a rare bright spot for Beijing last year as sluggish domestic consumption and a prolonged crisis in the property sector dragged on growth.

A divide has emerged among South Korea's youth since Yoon Suk Yeol declared a bungled martial law decree last month and hunkered down at his residence resisting arrest.

The pods are positioned in two corners on each of the major courts with up to four people allowed, similar to the set-up at team events like the Davis Cup and United Cup.

The comments came in a three-way call with the president of the Philippines that according to the White House also touched on China's "dangerous and unlawful" behavior in the region.

Seoul has previously claimed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent more than 10,000 soldiers as "cannon fodder" to help Moscow fight Kyiv, in return for Russian technical assistance for Pyongyang's heavily sanctioned weapons and satellite programs.

The complaint, filed in May 2021, accuses Apple of breaching European and UK competition laws by "its exclusion of any other app stores from iOS devices" like iPhones and iPads.

Crowds wearing white shirts and carrying banners calling for unity flocked to Manila's Quirino Grandstand for the "national rally for peace", organized by the conservative Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ).

Takeshi Iwaya met counterpart Cho Tae-yul for discussions in the capital Seoul, the South Korean foreign ministry said, with the two later holding a news conference.

The allegation -- which Kyiv has not commented on -- comes amid an escalating energy row between the two countries, almost three years after Russia launched its full-scale military offensive.

Everton avoided FA Cup embarrassment with a 2-0 victory against third tier Peterborough just hours after Sean Dyche was sacked by the struggling Premier League club on Thursday.

He is expected to meet Syria's de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa and his counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani at the presidential palace later in the morning.

The top court is holding oral arguments in the case nine days before TikTok faces a ban unless ByteDance divests from the popular app.

Yoon has refused questioning and last week resisted arrest in a stand-off between his guards and investigators after his short-lived power grab on December 3 plunged South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.

At this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), companies unveiled a next-generation garbage truck designed to detect these highly flammable batteries.

The UN Human Rights Committee published decisions in two cases involving 25 refugees and asylum seekers who endured years of arbitrary detention in the island nation.

The former world number one had his visa cancelled and was eventually kicked out of the country over his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid.

The number of dead in Gaza has become a matter of bitter debate since Israel launched its military campaign against Hamas in response to the Palestinian militant group's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack.

The charismatic opposition leader brought tens of thousands onto the streets to protest against President Vladimir Putin, while his investigations into the hidden wealth of Putin's inner circle racked up millions of views online -- drawing scorn and retribution from the Kremlin.

The outspoken Milanovic won more than 49 percent of the vote in the first round of the election in late December, narrowly missing an outright victory in the contest by less than one percent.

Markets have started the year cautiously, with the optimism that characterized most of the past three months dented by concerns about Donald Trump's presidency and the US central bank's hawkish pivot on monetary policy.

Pilgrims will come from across India and beyond to take part in elaborate rituals, prayers and religious processions with elephants, as well as horse-back parades and chariots.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) gadget extravaganza closing Friday was rife with PCs and other devices touting AI chips, making them more capable than ever and untethering them from the cloud.

The judge has indicated, however, that Trump will not face prison -- even though the 34 counts of falsifying business records on which he was convicted in May 2024 carry potential prison time.

Tran Dinh Trien, former deputy head of the Hanoi Bar Association, is the latest high-profile lawyer to be targeted by authorities for what they have written online.