AFP news

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday sought to advance a deal to free Gaza hostages in talks with Israeli moderates as he closed a Middle East tour without securing a pause in fighting.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered troops to prepare to enter Gaza's crowded southern city of Rafah, even as new talks aimed at securing a truce with Hamas were set to open Thursday in Cairo.

The medals awarded at this year's Paris Olympics and Paralympics will feature a hexagon-shaped piece of iron taken from the original Eiffel Tower in their centre, organisers said as they unveiled their design on Thursday.

Large numbers of Russian forces are storming the frontline Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, its Ukrainian mayor said Thursday, escalating a months-long effort to capture the industrial hub.

Russia's election commission on Thursday blocked pro-peace politician Boris Nadezhdin from running in next month's presidential election, the candidate said in a post on social media.

British consumer goods giant Unilever on Thursday said its net profit dropped 15 percent last year to 6.5 billion euros ($7 billion) as sales flattened as the group hiked prices.

Former Manchester United and England midfielder Jesse Lingard said he wanted to "enjoy playing football again" after signing for South Korea's FC Seoul on Thursday.

Pakistan suspended mobile phone and data services nationwide on Thursday for election day, in a move a digital rights group said was "inherently undemocratic".

Chinese consumer prices fell in January at their quickest rate in more than 14 years, data showed Thursday, piling pressure on the government for more aggressive moves to revive the country's battered economy.

Earth has endured 12 months of temperatures 1.5C hotter than the pre-industrial era for the first time on record, Europe's climate monitor said Thursday, in what scientists called a "warning to humanity".

The strategically-placed Indian Ocean nation of the Maldives, which has borrowed heavily from China and shifted allegiance from India, is at high risk of "debt distress," the IMF warned Wednesday.

Russia fired dozens of missiles and drones at Ukraine on Wednesday in a "massive" early morning attack that killed at least five people and injured more than 30, officials in Kyiv said.

At least 22 people were killed Wednesday in two separate bomb blasts outside the offices of election candidates in southwestern Pakistan, on the eve of a national vote marred by violence and allegations of poll-rigging.

French group TotalEnergies reported on Wednesday the highest profit of its history for 2023, underpinned by performances in its liquefied natural gas and electricity divisions as it continues to invest heavily in fossil fuel production.

Azerbaijanis were voting in snap presidential elections on Wednesday, with a fifth term for Ilham Aliyev seen as a foregone conclusion after Baku's historic victory over Armenian separatists.

US military action has so far failed to halt attacks by Iran-backed groups on Washington's forces in the Middle East and shipping in the Red Sea, with the threats persisting despite recent heavy air strikes.

Taylor Swift will celebrate making Grammys history with a run of concerts in Tokyo starting Wednesday, kicking off a month of sell-out shows in Asia that will include a quick run home to see her boyfriend contest the US Super Bowl.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday to push for a ceasefire as the Gaza war enters its fifth month.

With his father King Charles III undergoing treatment for cancer and his wife recovering from surgery, Britain's Prince William will return to royal frontline duties on Wednesday.

As political and racial persecution grew worse in his native Mauritania, Barry looked for a way out.

A "Star Wars" actor backed by Elon Musk's X is suing Disney for firing her over inflammatory social media posts about the Holocaust, the pandemic and trans rights.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expressed concern Tuesday about the commercial real estate sector in the current environment of higher interest rates -- but added that the overall situation should be "manageable."

Chile's former president Sebastian Pinera, a billionaire tycoon who twice held the South American nation's top job, died Tuesday in a helicopter crash, his office said in a statement.

At least eight people died and 80 were injured Tuesday in a giant explosion at a firework factory in India that saw balls of flames soar into the sky, officials said.

Less than two years after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos was swept to power, his family's alliance with his firebrand predecessor Rodrigo Duterte has been shattered.

Ravaged by grief, bearing torches and holding up portraits of their lost families, thousands of earthquake survivors gathered in the pre-dawn hours on Tuesday for the first anniversary of Turkey's worst disaster of modern times.

The Thai government will urgently move a bill to ban the recreational use of cannabis, the health minister said on Tuesday, after the kingdom decriminalised the drug in 2022.

Swiss banking giant UBS said Tuesday it would hand shareholders up to $1 billion in share buybacks as it posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss stemming from the costs of absorbing fallen rival Credit Suisse.

The Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group on Tuesday announced a six-month extension to a ceasefire in effect since August, with the ELN agreeing to suspend kidnappings for ransom.