AFP news

Day-to-day life in the city of some 12 million people has changed little since the Kremlin launched large-scale hostilities in Ukraine last February, upending the lives of millions of Ukrainians.

As UBS prepares to post earnings this week, investors and employees are eagerly awaiting clues as to how Switzerland's largest bank is faring after swallowing up its fallen rival Credit Suisse.

Russian masterpieces are hidden away in a Ukrainian museum, writers like Pushkin and Dostoyevsky are shunned and the Russian language is eschewed.

Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan departed Tuesday on a flight to Egypt for his first trip abroad since fighting began with paramilitaries in April, the country's ruling Sovereign Council said.

Air pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on planet Earth than smoking or alcohol, with the threat worsening in its global epicenter South Asia even as China fast improves, a study showed Tuesday.

US and Chinese officials will hold a fresh round of talks on contentious trade issues Tuesday, the third day of a visit to Beijing by US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

Toyota said Tuesday it halted operations at 12 of its 14 factories in Japan due to a system glitch, but that it did not appear to be a cyberattack.

Ugandan prosecutors have charged a man with "aggravated homosexuality", potentially a capital offence under controversial anti-gay legislation introduced by the country this year, an official said Monday.

Iga Swiatek launched the defence of her US Open crown with an emphatic opening victory on Monday as Novak Djokovic eyed a return to the top of the men's world rankings on his long-awaited return to the tournament.

OpenAI on Monday said it was launching a business version of ChatGPT as its artificial intelligence sensation grapples with declining usership nine months after its historic debut.

BYD, China's leading electric carmaker, said on Monday its half-year net profit had tripled based on record demand.

A Swedish-Russian man arrested last year in a spectacular helicopter raid on his suburban Stockholm home was charged in Sweden on Monday with providing Western technology to Russia's military industry.

Ukraine announced Monday it had recaptured a village on the southern frontline where its forces are hoping for a breakthrough in their grinding offensive against entrenched Russian positions.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi inaugurated on Monday the last phase of the South Pars gas field, one of the world's largest natural gas condensate field and the country's biggest.

Libya's internationally recognised prime minister has sacked his top diplomat after she met her Israeli counterpart, with news of the encounter triggering protests in a country that does not recognise Israel.

Japan's prime minister hit out at Beijing on Monday over what he said were instances of stones being thrown at diplomatic missions and schools in China, following the release of wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Japan summoned China's ambassador on Monday to protest against a flood of nuisance calls from China to local businesses following the release of water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Eight US Marines were in hospital on Monday -- one of them in intensive care -- following a military aircraft crash in northern Australia that killed three of their comrades, authorities said.

Foxconn's billionaire founder Terry Gou announced Monday that he will run for president of Taiwan as an independent candidate.

Shares in troubled Chinese property giant Evergrande plummeted more than 80 percent in Hong Kong on Monday morning after the lifting of a 17-month trading suspension.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with her Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Monday, as Washington works to cool trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.

From generating story lines to coding entire games to turning ideas into animation, artificial intelligence is front and centre at Gamescom, one of the video game industry's biggest fairs.

Gabon cut internet access and announced a nightly curfew as voting drew to a close Saturday, and opposition leader Albert Ondo Ossa denounced "fraud" in his battle for the presidency against incumbent Ali Bongo Ondimba.

French authorities are to ban the wearing in school of abaya dresses worn by some Muslim women, the education minister said Sunday, arguing the garment violated France's strict secular laws in education.

North Korea has allowed citizens stranded abroad by its strict Covid curbs to return home, state media reported Sunday, as the country moves towards a full reopening after three years of pandemic isolation.

Amid a crowd gathered in support of Niger's military rulers stands star-of-the-moment Sergeant Maman Sani Maigochi.

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Nelson Chamisa on Sunday contested the official re-election of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and claimed victory in an election which international observers said fell short of democratic standards.

Thousands of people demonstrated Sunday in Niger in support of last month's coup, a few hours before the deadline given to France's ambassador in an ultimatum to leave the country.

Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was formally confirmed dead on Sunday following genetic analysis, investigators said, as anger and questions continued to mount over what caused his plane to crash earlier in the week.