AFP News

Ghana's Supreme Court on Wednesday paved the way for a contested bill severely curtailing LGBTQ rights to become law after rejecting two bids to overturn it.

The haggard faces in the wreckage-and-water-strewn corridors betrayed the nerves and exhaustion of those soldiering on at the main hospital on the French archipelago of Mayotte, ravaged by a deadly cyclone last weekend.

Squirrels might look like adorable, nut-hoarding furballs, but some are ruthless predators that hunt, tear apart, and devour voles.

An elderly patient in Louisiana is in a "critical condition" with severe avian influenza, US authorities announced Wednesday, the first serious human case in the country as fears grow of a possible bird flu pandemic.

A stone tablet carrying engravings of the Ten Commandments sold for $5 million at auction on Wednesday, Sotheby's announced.

The US Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to hear TikTok's appeal of a law that would force its Chinese owner to sell the online video-sharing platform or shut it down.

Italian bank UniCredit said Wednesday it had boosted its stake in Germany's Commerzbank, intensifying takeover speculation and sparking condemnation from Berlin of an "unfriendly" move at a time the country is in political limbo.

France's highest appeals court ordered former president Nicolas Sarkozy to wear an electronic tag for a year Wednesday -- a first for a former head of state -- after confirming his convictions for corruption and influence peddling.

A Saudi human rights activist appeared via a video link Wednesday at a UN forum in the kingdom to denounce the "silencing" of dissent under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

France's trial of a man who drugged his wife so dozens of strangers could rape her while unconscious has been both ordinary and extraordinary, AFP journalists who have been covering it say.

National Grid unveiled Wednesday a massive plan to nearly double the transmission capacity of the UK's electricity grid, boosting the British government's net zero ambitions.

France's highest appeals court on Wednesday confirmed a verdict against former president Nicolas Sarkozy for corruption and influence peddling, ordering him to wear an electronic tag for a year, a first for a former head of state.

Human societies need a radical overhaul to stop the destruction of the planet, according to the UN biodiversity expert panel's "transformative change" report released Wednesday.

France's flagship nuclear reactor at Flamanville in Normandy will finally enter service on Friday after a dozen years of delay, operator EDF said Wednesday.

After losing hope of finding his two brothers among those freed from Syrian jails, Ziad Alaywi was filled with dread, knowing there was only one place they were likely to be: a mass grave.

UK annual inflation climbed further above the Bank of England's target rate in November, official data showed Wednesday, firming expectations that it will avoid cutting interest rates this week.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk is in talks with UK anti-immigration firebrand Nigel Farage about donating to his hard-right party, the British lawmaker has said.

With over 60 million downloads and an estimated $180 million in revenue since late October, a new Pokemon mobile game app is enjoying worldwide success as the latest incarnation of the hit Nintendo-owned franchise.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's wife Begona Gomez testified in court on Wednesday in a probe into misappropriation allegations, one of several sensitive legal cases undermining the minority left-wing government.

The first commercial flight since the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad took off from Damascus airport on Wednesday, offering Syrians a glimmer of hope after years of war and decades of oppression.

The district of La Vigie on the French overseas territory of Mayotte was until last week a bustling hub of life.

When a US warship docked in Cambodia this week, it moored just a few kilometres from a base where China has built an extended new pier and two of Beijing's own vessels have been berthed for about a year.

Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed Macau's "world-recognised success" as he arrived in the city on Wednesday, kickstarting a three-day trip as the casino hub prepares to celebrate 25 years of Beijing rule.

Stubborn inflation, exorbitant borrowing costs, bankruptcy risks and a growth slowdown: the Russian economy is facing a slew of negative headlines, as the costs of the Ukraine war and Western sanctions mount.

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates by a quarter point on Wednesday and signal a slower pace of cuts ahead.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets Wednesday with NATO chief Mark Rutte and key European leaders in Brussels to discuss "next steps" on Russia's war as Donald Trump prepares to take office in the United States.

Japan's government voiced dismay on Wednesday over the release of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson after Danish authorities refused Tokyo's extradition request.

Djafaruddin says he has recovered from the trauma of collecting bodies when the world's deadliest tsunami devastated Indonesia's western coast two decades ago, but he still breaks down when thinking about the orphaned children.

Call it an antidote to fast fashion: Japanese jeans hand-dyed with natural indigo and weaved on a clackety vintage loom, then sold at a premium to global denim connoisseurs.