AFP news

Executives from Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard are in Japan in a bid to overcome resistance to their $47-billion takeover of 7-Eleven's parent but are being given the cold shoulder, according to interviews published Thursday.

More than one billion people are living in acute poverty across the globe, a UN Development Program report said Thursday, with children accounting for over half of those affected.

K-pop megastar J-hope from BTS ended eighteen months of South Korean military service Thursday, and hailed the "sacrifice" of soldiers working to keep the country safe, as fans wept for joy at his return to the industry.

France's capital city may finally be about to have a second major football club, and a challenger to Paris Saint-Germain, with a takeover of Paris FC by the country's richest family along with energy drinks giant Red Bull expected to be announced in the coming days.

China has reacted more robustly to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's rhetoric defending the island's sovereignty than his predecessor's, with fiery threats and war games analysts say will likely intensify.

Raytheon, a subsidiary of major American defense contractor RTX, will pay more than $950 million to resolve fraud and bribery charges, the US Justice Department announced Wednesday.

Mexico's former top security official Genaro Garcia Luna was sentenced to more than 38 years in a US prison on Wednesday for aiding the very drug cartels he was tasked with dismantling.

British singer Liam Payne, a former member of the best-selling boy band One Direction, died Wednesday aged 31 after plunging from the third floor of a Buenos Aires hotel, police and emergency responders said.

US President Joe Biden will be in Germany on Friday on a whirlwind trip, with Western backing for Ukraine set to be high on the agenda at talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other NATO leaders.

Italian lawmakers on Wednesday extended the country's ban on surrogacy to couples who seek it abroad, despite warnings the move would damage children's rights.

Donald Trump sought to present himself as the "father of IVF" on Wednesday, as he told an all-female audience at an election campaign event he supported a fertility treatment that Democrats say he has put under threat.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday urged Israel to ensure the necessary conditions to finish the job of vaccinating Gaza's children against polio, after reaching more than 150,000 with the required second dose.

Amazon announced significant investments in nuclear energy on Wednesday, joining other tech giants in aiming to meet the high electric power demands of artificial intelligence using atomic energy.

A combative Kamala Harris pledged a clean break from Joe Biden's presidency Wednesday in an interview with right-wing Fox News aimed at reaching Republican voters wary of Donald Trump.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk's X platform will not face the EU's stringent competition rules aimed at keeping digital markets open, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

Israel conducted strikes on Wednesday targeting Hezbollah's main bastion and a city in southern Lebanon where it holds sway, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed calls for a ceasefire.

Gulf leaders including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gather with EU heads of state and government in Brussels Wednesday for a summit aimed at averting a "general conflagration" in the Middle East.

Thomas Tuchel was named England's new manager on Wednesday, with the German set to start in the role from January 1, 2025.

Myanmar and China have the world's worst internet freedom, with declines reported in a number of other countries led by Kyrgyzstan, a study said Wednesday.

Britain's annual inflation rate fell to a three-year low in September, official data showed Wednesday, fuelling speculation that the Bank of England will resume cutting interest rates next month.

Kenya's Senate on Wednesday began debating the impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua after the embattled politician lost yet another court bid to stop the process.

A wave of touching photos showing great moments in time is fascinating amateur historians online.

A record number of women are running in Japan's general election this month, although they still account for less than a quarter of candidates, local media said Wednesday.

At least two TV channels in a northern Afghan province stopped showing images of living beings during their broadcasts, journalists told AFP on Tuesday, in line with orders from morality police.

The Vatican Museums on Tuesday unveiled the restoration of the celebrated second-century "Apollo Belvedere" sculpture following five years of work.

Seeking to calm investor jitters over controversial judicial reforms, Mexico's new president said Tuesday that four foreign companies would invest around $20 billion in the Latin American nation next year.

Former US president Donald Trump's cryptocurrency platform had a faltering sales launch Tuesday, with only a fraction of its digital tokens that went on the market finding a buyer.

US consumers are expected to spend close to $1 trillion during the winter holiday season, a slight uptick from the year prior, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said Tuesday.

Kamala Harris went after her US presidential election rival Donald Trump's mental state and fitness for office Tuesday after the 78-year-old Republican's televised town hall veered into a surreal, impromptu music session.