AFP news

Since November, the global population has officially crossed eight billion, more than three times the figure in 1950.

The OECD slightly raised its growth outlook for the world economy on Wednesday as inflation eases and China has dropped Covid restrictions, but it warned the recovery faces a "long road".

As Senegalese struggle with the aftermath of deadly protests sparked by the conviction of an opposition leader, attention is shifting to the impact on the nation's economy.

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz can set up a blockbuster French Open semi-final Tuesday as Ukraine's Elina Svitolina tackles Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in a politically-charged tussle where the only guarantee will be the absence of a handshake at the match's conclusion.

Kenyan police fired tear gas and arrested 11 protesters, AFP journalists said, during a march in Nairobi on Tuesday against a new finance bill that critics say will pile more economic hardship on ordinary people.

South Africa's economy grew slightly in the first three months of the year, shooing away fears of recession hanging over Africa's most industrialised country, official data showed Tuesday.

Pope Francis visited a Rome hospital for a medical check-up on Tuesday, according to Italian media, just over two months after he was hospitalised with bronchitis.

President Ebrahim Raisi hailed the new missile's hypersonic capability, saying it would boost Iran's "power of deterrence" and "bring peace and stability to the countries of the region".

Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC said Tuesday its production of ever-smaller microchips will remain on the island, hopeful that the critical industry will have a "stabilising effect on global geopolitical conflicts".

Standing before the remains of his apartment block in Uman weeks later, with the acrid smell of smoke still in the air, he voiced a simple demand -- that every single victim of the war be counted.

US authorities on Monday charged cryptocurrency giant Binance with securities law violations that collectively amounted to what they called "an extensive web of deception" and "calculated evasion of the law."

The United States and seven other countries are responsible for torture and illegal detention of a Saudi prisoner awaiting a death penalty trial at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, a UN watchdog has ruled.

The bad weather hit seven of the 10 departments in the country which is already plunged into a protracted humanitarian crisis fueled by gang violence, political collapse and economic stagnation.

Ukraine will go head-to-head with Russia at the UN's top court on Tuesday to accuse its bitter foe of backing pro-Moscow rebels for years before last year's full-scale invasion.

Palaeontologists in South Africa said Monday they have found the oldest known burial site in the world, containing remains of a small-brained distant relative of humans previously thought incapable of complex behaviour.

Britain has ordered two more accommodation barges to house asylum-seekers, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Monday.

Airlines will fly 4.35 billion passengers this year, close to the 2019 record as the industry bounces back from the Covid pandemic, an industry group said on Monday.

The children of the Triplets Ghetto Kids troupe have already wowed the Britain's Got Talent judges and viewers alike with their energetic dance medley, colourful costumes and beaming smiles.

Suspicions of a plot against Sonko seemed confirmed for some when the verdict against him was announced on Thursday.

Tensions remained high in Senegal Saturday after clashes brought the death toll to 15 since a court convicted opposition leader Ousmane Sonko. Sonko's ongoing legal woes have prompted rare flare-ups of violence in Senegal, typically a bastion of stability in West Africa, and foreign allies have urged a return to calm. Disturbances were reported on Saturday in the suburbs of the capital Dakar.

Shebekino, a town of 40,000 people in the western Belgorod region, has been intensely shelled for days.

The meeting of the 13-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) headed by Saudi Arabia and its 10 partners, led by Russia, saw some tough negotiations.

The veteran leader was speaking during a meeting with members of his governing National Resistance Movement party, the presidency told AFP on Sunday.

Kyiv has for months said it is preparing a major counteroffensive, hoping to reclaim territory lost since Russia launched its military operation in February 2022.

She is one of several thousand people from border homes who fled to the regional hub of Belgorod as attacks intensified on Shebekino and nearby villages.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pushed a $30 billion railway infrastructure modernisation in a bid to boost India's economy and connectivity, with trains the preferred and cheapest mode of long-distance travel for both people and goods.

Multiple ceasefires have been agreed and broken, and Washington slapped sanctions on the two warring generals last week, blaming both sides for the "appalling" bloodshed.

Novak Djokovic swept into the French Open quarter-finals for the 14th straight year on Sunday as world number one Carlos Alcaraz breezed past Lorenzo Musetti to stay on a collision course with the 22-time Grand Slam champion.

A top White House official on Friday will offer to maintain current nuclear weapons limits with Russia, while making the case for putting rising power China at the center of future arms control efforts.