AFP news

Israel bombed southern Gaza's main city on Monday after Hamas warned no Israeli hostages would leave the territory alive unless its demands for prisoner releases were met.

Indonesia in September banned sales on social media to protect small businesses that were losing out to e-commerce giants, forcing TikTok to close its online shopping business in October.

Ten Hag's hopes that a turning point had been reached were short-lived as a 3-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth on Saturday saw a troubled campaign reach a new low.

Three pro-EU opposition parties that have promised to improve frayed relations with Brussels and introduce liberal reforms won a majority in October 15 elections.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces questions Monday over whether his "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme to help the struggling hospitality sector during the pandemic spurred the spread of Covid-19.

Donald Trump changed his mind about testifying in his own defense in his New York fraud case on Monday, he said, announcing that he will not take the stand as expected because he has "nothing more to say."

Several Israeli soldiers were wounded when Hezbollah launched a drone attack from Lebanon on Sunday, both the Israeli army and the militant group said.

Toy giant Lego and videogame leader Epic Games joined forces Thursday to launch "Lego Fortnite" in a bid to grow a platform already used by hundreds of millions of people.

When Australian politician Brian Hood noticed ChatGPT was telling people he was a convicted criminal, he took the old-fashioned route and threatened legal action against the AI chatbot's maker, OpenAI. His case raised a potentially huge problem with such AI programs: what happens when they get stuff wrong in a way that causes real-world harm?

Stock markets mostly gained and the dollar firmed Friday before the release of key US jobs data, but Tokyo was knocked by the yen's recent rally.

If the Gunners slip up, Liverpool will seize pole position with a win against Crystal Palace, while reeling Manchester City aim to get back on track at Luton.

Egypt is gearing up this month for a presidential election certain to win incumbent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi a third term in office, despite rising public discontent as the country faces its worst ever economic crisis.

The death toll in Gaza has risen 17,000, mostly women and children, the Hamas-run health ministry said, with vast areas reduced to a rubble-strewn wasteland of bombed-out and bullet-scarred buildings.

Rina Gonoi, 24, won praise but also hate when she went public last year -- after a military probe found insufficient evidence -- accusing fellow soldiers of assaulting her while others watched and laughed.

Hollywood celebrities are paying the price for taking sides in the Gaza war -- plastering their social media accounts with slogans such as "Free Palestine" or "I stand with Israel".

The 35-year-old, whose real name and country of origin have been withheld for her safety, is facing a torturous vicious cycle.

Hunter Biden was indicted late Thursday on multiple counts of tax evasion, the second time this year President Joe Biden's troubled son has been charged by a special counsel investigating his personal and business dealings.

The UN Security Council meets on Gaza Friday under acute pressure from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and will vote on urging an immediate ceasefire after weeks of ruinous war.

Zimbabwe will hold nine by-elections on Saturday with opposition candidates largely absent as President Emmerson Mnangagwa cements his control over the mineral-rich nation.

The leaders of Saudi Arabia and Russia used a rare face-to-face meeting to urge oil producers to stick to pledged supply cuts, a joint statement said Thursday.

Ukraine urged residents to save electricity Thursday after a power plant near the front line was hit by shelling, the first such warning this winter as temperatures plunge below freezing.

Climate change caused by human activity made torrential rains that have lashed East Africa since October and killed more than 300 people up to twice as intense, a scientific study said Thursday.

Sat in a soggy field and strapped into a virtual reality headset, Ukrainian soldier Igor was piloting a military drone test flight using a small control panel in his hands.

Fatah, the largest Palestinian party, has seen its popularity plunge during the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, from where the Islamists violently ousted rivals Fatah in 2007.

With a prolific musical output, a remarkably bankable tour and a name that's headline catnip, it's no surprise that Time Magazine has declared 2023 the Year of Taylor Swift.

McDonald's announced an aggressive expansion roadmap Wednesday to reach 50,000 restaurants worldwide by 2027, as the chain unveiled plans to roll out CosMc's, a new network of small-format shops focused on cold beverages.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan travels to Athens on Thursday in a keenly watched visit billed as an attempted "new chapter" between the NATO allies and historic rivals after years of tension.

EU President Ursula von der Leyen told Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday that the bloc and its biggest trading partner must address their differences, in the first in-person EU-China summit in over four years.

Agnes Chow was trapped in Hong Kong, had her passport seized and was branded a "foreign agent" after years as one of the city's most prominent democracy activists.