AFP news

An attack on the major Russian-held dam in southern Ukraine unleashed a torrent of water that flooded a small city, inundated two dozen villages and sparked the evacuation of 17,000 people.

US Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday renewed calls for Israel to ensure independence of its judiciary, after major protests against changes pushed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Most markets crawled higher Wednesday on speculation that China will unveil measures to support its struggling economy, while investors held out hope the Federal Reserve will skip an interest rate hike this month.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised concerns over human rights in Saudi Arabia during a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday, a US official said. "They had an open, candid discussion that covered the full range of regional and bilateral issues," the official said on condition of anonymity. "The secretary raised human rights both generally and with regards to specific issues." The meeting, which lasted about an hour and 40 minutes, touched on topics including Saudi Arabia's support for US evacuations from Sudan, the need for political dialogue in Yemen and the potential for the normalisation of relations with Israel.

A leading international NGO's Afghan women staff have resumed their work in some provinces, months after the Taliban government banned them from working.

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".

Noor Bibi lost her mother, her daughter and the roof over her head in the catastrophic floods that drowned Pakistan last summer.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Monday for the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel on the eve of his visit to the Arab power. "The United States has a real national security interest in promoting normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia," Blinken said in a speech to the powerful pro-Israel lobby AIPAC. He said the administration of President Joe Biden has "no illusions" that bringing about full Saudi-Israel diplomatic relations can be done quickly or easily.

At least 42 people were dead and 11 missing in Haiti after heavy rains at the weekend triggered flooding and landslides, civil protection officials said Monday.

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.

Asian and Pacific nations, which according to a regional rotation had dibs this year on selecting the president of the two-week International Labour Conference, had proposed Ali Bin Samikh Al-Marri.

Kyiv and Moscow will give their arguments to judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, in a case that was originally started by Ukraine back in 2017.

Asian markets wobbled Tuesday after a two-day rally as profit-takers stepped in and traders weighed the chances of the Federal Reserve skipping an interest rate hike this month.

India's deadliest train disaster in decades killed at least 275 people and injured hundreds more, a tragedy officials have said was linked to an electronic signal system.

A Citroen 2CV made of wood, thought to be the only one of its kind, has sold for 210,000 euros ($225,000) at auction in France -- a new price record for the iconic vehicle.

The association added that its 2022 losses were half as bad as previously estimated at $3.6 billion.

Swiss banking giant UBS is expected to complete its takeover of crisis-hit domestic rival Credit Suisse as early as June 12, the two lenders said on Monday.

Asian equities on Monday built on a global rally after a mixed US jobs report lifted hopes the Federal Reserve will hold off hiking interest rates this month.

Since the start of Moscow's offensive in Ukraine, Russian pensioner Antonina Zaikina had a bag prepared in case she had to flee her town of Shebekino on the border with Ukraine.

Riyadh on Sunday announced a fresh oil output cut following a meeting of major producers aiming to prop up prices despite fears of a recession.

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.

Soap, wet wipes and children's toys: Irina Burlakova, a 30-year-old Russian woman, picks up humanitarian aid after having fled Shebekino, a border town heavily shelled by Ukraine this week.

Railway teams worked non-stop Sunday restoring tracks after India's deadliest train crash in decades, a tragedy that has reignited safety concerns about one of the largest networks in the world.

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.

In a suburb of Tel Aviv, a group of choristers were getting ready for the moment they will rejoice at the reconstruction of the Jewish temple some 2,000 years after its destruction, which they believe will accelerate the arrival of the messiah.

The United States and Saudi Arabia on Sunday made a renewed push for truce talks between Sudan's warring generals as deadly fighting has raged into its eighth week. 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. Envoys of Sudan's regular army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have remained in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah despite the earlier collapse of ceasefire talks, the kingdom's foreign ministry said.

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.

The Ukrainian capital has seen almost nightly air raids in May after being relatively spared in the beginning of the year.