AFP news

The outcome of the legislative elections, called by Macron three years ahead of schedule in a bid to reshape the political landscape, leaves France without any clear path to forming a new government three weeks before the Paris Olympics.

Samsung Electronics is the world's largest memory chip maker and accounts for a significant chunk of global output of the high-end chips.

The outcome from Sunday's vote is also a relief to unpopular Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which backed Koike despite her not being a member.

This week's summit in Washington will look, without saying so explicitly, to "Trump-proof" NATO by expanding the role of the alliance itself -- especially in supporting Ukraine, whose fight against Russia has drawn skepticism from the Republican candidate.

Diminutive giant-killer Yulia Putintseva will target another upset against former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, while lucky loser Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard aims to make more Wimbledon history.

The unannounced visit comes a day before NATO is due to hold a summit to mark its 75th anniversary, with setbacks in Ukraine set to dominate discussions, and follows Orban's surprise trips to Russia and Ukraine in the past week.

In France, the left was set to emerge as the biggest group in a new parliament, beating out a resurgent far right in a vote called by President Emmanuel Macron three years ahead of schedule..

Nearly 30,000 migrants have been declared dead or missing attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe in the past decade.

Last month, a Madrid court summoned Begona Gomez to testify on July 5 "as an investigated party" as part of a judicial inquiry into "the alleged offences of corruption in the private sector and influence peddling".

While the United Nations and others have long raised concerns about conditions for Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, rights groups say legal changes since the Gaza war erupted have aggravated the situation.

France is on tenterhooks ahead of Sunday's run-off vote, with centrist and left-wing forces hoping to prevent the anti-immigration far right from winning an absolute majority in the National Assembly.

Combs is the target of several civil lawsuits that characterize him as a violent sexual predator who used alcohol and drugs to subdue his victims, and his homes were raided this year by federal agents.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday ordered his spy chief to Qatar for talks with mediators on a Gaza war ceasefire that could see Hamas militants release hostages seized in the October 7 attacks, sources said.

The country's generative AI industry has shown explosive growth, with the United Nations reporting China has in recent years been the top filer of patents for AI software that creates everything from illustrations to computer code.

Keir Starmer's Labor party overturned more than a decade of SNP domination by winning a majority of Scottish seats as it rode to power in Westminster.

The firm is the flagship subsidiary of South Korean giant Samsung Group, by far the largest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

Polls opened Friday for Iran's runoff presidential election, the interior ministry said, pitting reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian against ultraconservative Saeed Jalili in the race to succeed Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a May helicopter crash.

Germany and Spain clash in Stuttgart at 1600 GMT with the host nation putting their hopes on the line against probably the best-performing side at the tournament thus far.

In the week since his debate against Donald Trump -- their first head-to-head of the 2024 election cycle -- 81-year-old Biden has failed to quell panic among his Democratic Party.

Nine members of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's top team failed to be re-elected, beating the previous high of seven who lost out in 1997, as the ruling Conservatives suffered a mauling at the hands of the main opposition Labor party.

Russia is a key supplier of cut-price oil and weapons to India, but its isolation from the West and growing friendship with China have impacted its time-honored partnership with New Delhi.

The Iran-backed militant group said its latest attack, which followed the launch of over 100 rockets the previous day, was in response to Israel's killing of a senior Hezbollah commander.

Brussels launched an investigation last year into Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers to probe whether state subsidies were unfairly undercutting European automakers.

Threads, which hit app stores on July 5 last year, is a spin-off of Instagram and is intended to be a rival to X, formerly known as Twitter, after that platform alienated many users and advertisers following Elon Musk's purchase in 2022.

The US central bank has held interest rates at a two-decade high for almost a year as it looks to bring inflation down to its long-term two percent target without doing too much damage to either the labor market or the broader economy.

On Israel's northern front, Lebanon's Hezbollah said it fired 100 rockets at Israeli targets in retaliation for a strike that killed a senior commander, heightening fears of full-scale war between the longtime foes.

Israel confirmed that it was "evaluating" Hamas "comments" on a deal to free its hostages in the Palestinian territory and would reply.

At an initial meeting, the two sides agreed on a "willingness" to work together to "improve relations," President Nicolas Maduro's top negotiator Jorge Rodriguez announced on X.

The charges come after a flurry of allegations against several men in the French filmmaking industry, which critics say has too long provided cover for abuse.