AFP news

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez refused on Tuesday to answer question from a judge investigating alleged influence-peddling by his wife, a case that has put pressure on his fragile minority government.

The liberal and left-wing warping of reality -- a trend some call "BlueAnon," a play on the QAnon conspiracy cult -- is fueling information chaos on social media platforms that are already a cesspool of right-wing falsehoods.

Long in the authorities' sights, the 57-year-old former lawyer has already spent time in jail for supporting the jihadist Islamic State group.

The southern coastal state of Kerala has been battered by torrential downpours, with blocked roads into the disaster area at Wayanad district complicating relief efforts.

Spain's competition watchdog said Tuesday it had slapped online travel agency Booking.com with a record 413-million-euro fine for "abusing its dominant position" during the past five years.

China has in recent years stepped up military and political pressures on democratic Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory.

The French economy -- the eurozone's second biggest after Germany -- expanded by 0.3 percent in the second quarter, outperforming the INSEE statistics institute's earlier estimate of 0.1 percent

Beijing is racing to achieve its goal of five percent annual growth in 2024, a target considered ambitious by many experts as the world's second-largest economy faces headwinds including an indebted real-estate market, flagging consumption and high youth unemployment.

The United States will provide $500 million in military funding to the Philippines, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, as Washington boosts ties with Manila in the face of China's growing assertiveness.

BP said increased volume and lower exploration write-offs were "partly offset by increased depreciation charges and higher costs".

Flowers, teddy bears and tributes were left near the scene of Monday's stabbing spree at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, near Liverpool, that also saw two adults and six children critically injured and three more children hurt.

Ukraine on Monday urged the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to investigate an attack on a prison in Russian-occupied Ukraine that killed dozens two years ago.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hailed China as an "important interlocutor" in managing global tensions Monday as she met President Xi Jinping.

French authorities have arrested an activist belonging to an ultra-left movement at a site belonging to national rail operator SNCF, days after sabotage attacks paralysed the network at the start of the Olympic Games, a police source said Monday.

Ethiopia said Monday it is easing foreign exchange curbs as part of a broader economic reform package, as the deeply-indebted nation awaits a multi-billion dollar bailout from international lenders.

An Indian soldier died fighting with Russian forces in Ukraine, one of his relatives said Monday, the fifth confirmed death so far of an Indian citizen in the conflict.

The foreign ministers of the United States, Japan, Australia and India on Monday expressed "serious concern" over the situation in the South China Sea in a veiled rebuke to Beijing.

Leon Marchand said he had goosebumps after romping to France's first Olympic swimming gold since 2012 in front of a packed and raucous Paris crowd on Sunday.

Finance minister Rachel Reeves will on Monday claim Britain is "broke and broken" when she reveals the findings of an assessment into the country's public finances ahead of a forthcoming budget.

A naturalized US citizen, Nicaraguan-born Linda Fornos believes uncontrolled immigration is harming her family's ability to care for itself, and says she will be casting her ballot for Donald Trump in November -- having voted Democrat in 2020.

Bangladeshi students called new street protests for Monday after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government ignored an ultimatum to release their leaders and apologise for those killed in deadly unrest.

UN member states meet Monday seeking to finalize an international treaty on the fight against cybercrime, a text strongly opposed by an unlikely alliance of human rights groups and big technology companies.

Crews continued to fight a massive fire in northern California on Sunday, as authorities in the western US state warned of increasing winds and rising daytime temperatures.

Tributes poured in on Sunday for Edna O'Brien, the radical Irish writer whose groundbreaking first novel "The Country Girls" was burned and banned in her native country, after her death at 93.

The disciplinary committee of South Africa's ruling ANC has decided to expel former president Jacob Zuma for leading a rival group into elections in May, several media reported Sunday, citing a leaked document.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday threatened to relaunch production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons if the United States confirmed its intention to deploy missiles to Germany or elsewhere in Europe.

A migrant on an overcrowded boat died on Sunday trying to cross the Channel from France to Britain but authorities said dozens on the crammed vessel refused to be rescued and carried on with the hazardous journey.

Israel vowed on Sunday to "hit the enemy hard" after rocket fire from Lebanon killed 12 young people in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and fanned fears that the war in Gaza will spread.

The 100-day sprint to the US election began Sunday, the final act of a campaign transformed by an assassination attempt and the stunning exit of President Joe Biden.