Netanyahu said the Islamist militants must first give up their weapons and their hold on the Palestinian territory, warning that failure to reach a deal on Israel's terms would lead to further conflict.

Paris, France - A rebooted Superman is flying into cinemas around the world this week, with critics mostly positive about the latest version of the caped hero who has been updated for the modern world. Director and screenwriter James Gunn said he set out to make the benevolent world-saver "a...

"This deal means more crossings open, aid and food trucks entering Gaza, repair of vital infrastructure and protection of aid workers. We count on Israel to implement every measure agreed," said EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas.

Paris, France -- The first-ever Birkin bag designed by French luxury brand Hermes for celebrity Jane Birkin sold for 8.58 million euros ($10 million) at a Sotheby's auction in Paris on Thursday, smashing previous price records for a handbag. The modern design classic, owned by a Paris-based handbag collector, sparked...

Robust demand for AI technology behind the surge.

In its latest annual report on the outlook for oil demand, OPEC sees global oil demand rising by 18.6 percent from 103.7 million barrels per day in 2024 to around 123 mbd in 2050.

Syria reiterated its rejection of federalism on Wednesday following a meeting with a Kurdish military official, calling on Kurdish forces to join the ranks of government forces.

The Israeli army said early Thursday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen, days after carrying out strikes on Huthi rebel targets in the country.

Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's Negev desert is the home of the Tirabin (also spelled Tarabin) Bedouin tribe, who signed a contract with an Israeli solar energy company to build the installation

The group's statement came after four days of indirect talks brokered by Qatar and as the United States signalled its belief that agreement for a 60-day truce would be struck before the end of the week.

New Delhi, India -- The Indian Premier League's business value has been estimated at $18.5 billion with reigning champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru its wealthiest franchise, according to a report by an investment bank. The world's richest cricket tournament has been a top revenue earner for the Board of Control for...

Geneva, Switzerland - The purchase of physical assets was eclipsed last year by a surge in investment in intangible items like software, data and AI, the UN said Wednesday, describing a "fundamental shift in how economies grow and compete". Investment in intellectual property-backed assets grew three times faster in 2024...

After Congress gave Trump a big win last week with his fiscal package, the Republican's aggressive trade posture has returned with a vengeance this week. On Tuesday, he added threatened levies on copper and pharmaceuticals to a laundry list of countries warned of higher tariffs.

Paris, France -- As well as being optimistic about the future of his war-ravaged country, Rami Al Ali has other reasons to be upbeat: he is about to become the first Syrian fashion designer to show his work at Paris Haute Couture Week. The invitation to appear on the world's...

Iran's nuclear programme has been "very, very delayed" by US and Israeli strikes, France's foreign intelligence chief said on Tuesday, wading into a contentious debate over just how hard it was hit.

Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu met for the second time in 24 hours Tuesday as the US president intensified the pressure on the Israeli prime minister to reach a deal to end the "tragedy" of the war in Gaza.

Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman said his country hoped the truce would contribute to regional stability, and emphasised Riyadh's position "in supporting dialogue through diplomatic means as a path to resolving disputes."

Paris, France - Europe and the Mediterranean basin has been hit by a long-lasting drought covering over 45 percent of the region since mid-March, according to AFP analysis of European Drought Observatory (EDO) data made available on Tuesday. It is the first time since data collection began in 2012 that...

Geneva, Switzerland -- UN experts decried Tuesday the US resumption of migrant deportations to third countries, including to war-torn South Sudan, stressing Washington's obligation to ensure it is not sending people into harm's way. The experts, who are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak...

While Trump imposed a sweeping 10 percent tariff on goods from almost all trading partners in April, higher rates customized to dozens of economies were unveiled, then halted until July 9. But the president this week again delayed their reimposition, pushing it back to August 1.

Paris, France -- The potential of artificial intelligence is immense -- but its equally vast energy consumption needs curbing, with asking shorter questions one way to achieve, said a UNESCO study unveiled Tuesday. A combination of shorter queries and using more specific models and could cut AI energy consumption by...

Dubai, UAE -- Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has announced the successful completion of a landmark US$1 billion syndicated term-finance facility for the Government of Pakistan, arranged in collaboration with a consortium of regional and international financial institutions. The five-year facility is an innovative transaction, partially guaranteed by a Policy-Based Guarantee...

Five Israeli soldiers were killed and 14 others injured late Monday night when a roadside bomb exploded during an ongoing ground operation in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced.

Algiers, Algeria - Algeria's state-run hydrocarbon company Sonatrach and the Italian energy company Eni on Monday signed a production sharing contract worth $1.35 billion to explore and develop hydrocarbons in southeastern Algeria, according to a statement. The 30-year contract covers the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in the Zemoul El...

US President Donald Trump said Monday the United States will send additional weapons to Ukraine, after the White House announced a halt to some arms shipments for Kyiv the previous week

Netanyahu's third visit since Trump's return to power comes at a crucial time, with the US president hoping to capitalize on the momentum from a recent truce between Israel and Iran.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- On the World Chocolate Day, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Commerce announced that the total number of existing commercial records for cocoa and chocolate manufacturing activities in Saudi Arabia reached 3,532 by the end of the second quarter of 2025. Riyadh leads the Kingdom in chocolate manufacturing,...

An armed coalition led by HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa overthrew then-Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December, ending half a century of brutal rule by the latter's family.

Rice blocks require less cement, which is responsible for approximately eight percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, according to 2023 figures from the World Economic Forum.

BRICS leaders on Sunday described Trump's stop-start tariff wars as "indiscriminate", damaging, and illegal, drawing a quick rebuke from the pugilistic US president.

Lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish DEM party were to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday for talks described by jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan as having a "historic nature".

Jerusalem, Undefined - The Israeli army announced Sunday that it would begin sending draft notices to 54,000 ultra-Orthodox Jewish men who were previously exempt from military service, a move that threatens to split the governing coalition. "The army will begin this week issuing summons to complete the enlistment process for...

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Sunday his group would not surrender or lay down its weapons in response to Israeli threats, despite pressure on the Lebanese militants to disarm

Speaking before boarding Israel's state jet bound for Washington, Netanyahu said: "We are working to achieve this deal that we have discussed, under the conditions that we have agreed to."

The BRICS also called for a "full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and all other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territories."

Smolyan, Bulgaria -- At a prison nestled deep in Bulgaria's southern Rhodope mountains, Georgi Filyanov stirs a large tank of curdling milk to make traditional feta-like cheese in the facility's dairy operation. Filyanov is the latest success story to emerge from the dairy located inside Smolyan prison, where about 15 selected...

Washington, United States -- US tariffs will kick in on August 1 if trading partners from Taiwan to the European Union do not strike deals with Washington, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday. The rates will "boomerang back" to the sometimes very high levels which President Donald Trump had announced...

"We cannot remain indifferent to the genocide carried out by Israel in Gaza, the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians and the use of hunger as a weapon of war," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told leaders from China, India, and other nations.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -- BRICS leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro from Sunday are expected to decry US President Donald Trump's "indiscriminate" trade tariffs, saying they are illegal and risk hurting the global economy. Emerging nations, which represent about half the world's population and 40 percent of global economic...

But Netanyahu, who is due to meet with President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday, said the Palestinian group's proposals for changes to a draft US-backed ceasefire deal were "unacceptable".

The world's richest person -- and Trump's biggest political donor in the 2024 election -- had a bitter falling out with the president after leading the Republican's effort to slash spending and cut federal jobs as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Los Banos, United States -- Oblivious to the punishing midday heat, a wheeled robot powered by the sun and infused with artificial intelligence carefully combs a cotton field in California, plucking out weeds. As farms across the United States face a shortage of laborers and weeds grow resistant to herbicides,...

Istanbul, Turkey - Turkey's competition authority has launched an investigation into Spotify for anti-competitive practices as a deputy minister demanded legal action over "provocative" playlists allegedly offensive to the president's wife and disrespectful of Islam. In a statement released on Friday, the competition authority said it had opened an investigation...

In 2011, Britain was among the first countries to acknowledge rebel groups as the official Syrian government after then-president Bashar al-Assad's crushing of pro-democracy protests plunged the country into civil war.

"The movement is ready to engage immediately and seriously in a cycle of negotiations on the mechanism to put in place" the US-backed truce proposal, the militant group said in a statement.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the army must draw up a plan to prevent Iran from threatening Israel again after the arch-foes fought a 12-day war last month, in comments released Friday.

Syria said on Friday it was willing to cooperate with the United States to reimplement the 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel, which created a UN-patrolled buffer zone separating the two countries' forces.

Sinjil, Palestinian Territories - Dozens of Israeli settlers and Palestinians clashed Friday in the occupied West Bank village of Sinjil, where a march against recent settler attacks on nearby farmland was due to take place. AFP journalists saw local residents and activists begin their march before locals reported that settlers...

Russia on Friday said that it sees no immediate diplomatic way out of the war in Ukraine, hours after pummelling the war-torn country with its largest ever drone and missile barrage of the invasion.

Trump pushed Republican lawmakers to get his unpopular "One Big Beautiful Bill" through a reluctant Congress in time for him to sign it into law on the US national holiday -- and they did so with a day to spare Thursday. Ever the showman, Trump will now meld a victory...