Haytham Ali Tabatabai is the most senior commander from the Iran-backed group to be killed by Israel since a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end more than a year of hostilities between the two sides.

Beirut, Lebanon - Haytham Ali Tabatabai, Hezbollah's top military chief whom Israel killed on Sunday, had taken the role after the group's senior leaders died in the most recent war with Israel. He is the most important Hezbollah figure to have been killed since a November 2024 ceasefire sought to...

US President Donald Trump had given Ukraine until November 27 to approve his plan to end the nearly four-year conflict, which began after Russia launched a full-scale invasion.

Muscat, Oman -- The GCC countries have seen a steady rise in foreign investment, according to data from the Statistical Center for the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC-Stat). In 2023, inbound foreign direct investment (excluding intra-GCC flows) totaled approximately US$523.4 billion, accounting for about 80...

"Too many countries are retreating into geopolitical blocs or the battlegrounds of protectionism," Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters. He added: "We are not experiencing a transition, but a rupture."

Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defense agency, Bassal said one strike hit a house in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, where AFP witnessed children being brought to the hospital in ambulances and carried inside.

The Johannesburg gathering is being attended by a host of world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"He'll have to like it, and if he doesn't like it, then you know, they should just keep fighting," Trump told reporters who asked about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's less-than-enthusiastic response to his plan.

The fresh North American investment pledge came after UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan promised in May to pump $1.4 trillion into the US economy over 10 years during a visit by President Donald Trump.

The draft text unveiled by COP30 host Brazil made no mention of "fossil fuels" or the word "roadmap" that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had himself publicly supported.

New York, United States - A self-portrait by legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo sold for $54.66 million in New York on Thursday, setting a new record for the price of a painting by a woman, the auction house Sotheby's said. The sale of Kahlo's 1940 artwork, titled "El sueno (la...

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the UN's nuclear watchdog would not be given access to Iranian nuclear sites attacked during its recent war with Israel without a concrete deal being agreed.

The new strikes came the morning after one of the deadliest days in the Gaza Strip since the truce began on October 10, and after Israel launched a series of attacks targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon despite the nearly year-long ceasefire there.

Washington, DC., US – AMD, Cisco, and HUMAIN, a PIF-backed company delivering full-stack AI solutions, have announced plans to establish a joint venture to position Saudi Arabia as a leading provider of world-class AI solutions for regional and global customers. The joint venture, which will begin operations in 2026, will...

Australians younger than 16 will be removed from Facebook and Instagram on December 4, tech giant Meta said Thursday, as Canberra prepares to enforce sweeping laws banning teens from social media.

The strikes were among the deadliest in Gaza since the truce entered into force last month, and came as Israel also announced a string of attacks targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon in spite of a nearly year-long ceasefire there.

Negotiators say the effort -- by Paraguay, Argentina, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia as well as the Holy See -- seeks to block recognition of trans and non-binary people.

Milan, Italy -- Italian defense group Leonardo said Wednesday it had agreed to launch a joint venture next year with the United Arab Emirates' state-owned defense conglomerate EDGE Group. Details of the sectors covered by the joint venture, which would be 51 percent owned by EDGE and 49 percent by...

State-owned flydubai and its long-haul partner airline, Emirates, have been the chief deal-makers at this week's Dubai Airshow, the largest in the Middle East, signposting their expansion plans.

Nvidia and Microsoft announced Tuesday investments totaling $15 billion in AI startup Anthropic, creator of the Claude chatbot, amid frenzied spending on the technology and growing fears of a bubble.

Saudi Crown Prince said that his kingdom wanted to normalize relations with Israel through US President Donald Trump's Abraham Accords, but first needed a "clear path" to Palestinian statehood.

Trump posted on social media that the vote "acknowledging and endorsing the BOARD OF PEACE, which will be chaired by me...will go down as one of the biggest approvals in the History of the United Nations, (and) will lead to further Peace all over the World."

Dubai, UAE -- Emirates, the Middle East's biggest airline, topped up its order of Boeing 777X planes on Monday despite years of delays, delivering a vote of confidence to the US manufacturer at the Dubai Airshow. The order of 65 777-9s, valued at $38 billion including engines, came despite last...

The latest visit of the Canadian PM is a part of his efforts to find new markets for his nation’s products and forge sustainable trade relations outside of North America.

The Middle East and Africa (MEA) hotel sector is experiencing a profound transformation, mirroring global trends while responding to the region’s unique dynamics. According to recent research by STR and Jones Lang LaSalle, nearly half of all branded hotels worldwide are now managed by third-party operators—a figure that continues to...

Turkey wants to host next year's UN climate change talks and is ready to organise the event alone if there is no agreement on sharing the event, a Turkish diplomatic source told AFP Sunday.

Geneva, Switzerland - A three-year campaign to bring vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV) to low-income countries has prevented 1.4 million cervical cancer deaths, the vaccine alliance Gavi said Monday. "An estimated 86 million girls are now protected against the leading cause of cervical cancer, thanks to a concerted three-year effort...

The draft, which has been revised several times as a result of high-stakes negotiations, "endorses" the plan, which allowed for a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to take hold on October 10 in the war-wracked Palestinian territory.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- Rory McIlroy was on Sunday crowned the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai champion for a seventh year, and four seasons in a row, but the world No.2 lost the $10 million Tour Championship to England’s Matt Fitzpatrick in the first playoff hole when he...

Seoul, South Korea -- South Korean conglomerate Samsung unveiled on Sunday a plan to invest $310 billion over the next five years mostly in technology powering artificial intelligence, aiming to meet growing demand driven by a global boom. The business group's flagship Samsung Electronics is already one of the world's...

Israeli authorities said on Saturday that 153 Palestinians who turned up unexpectedly in South Africa, triggering questions from its president, had received entry approval from an unnamed third country.

Google announced Friday a major $40 billion investment in Texas through 2027 to build new cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure, marking the latest in a series of massive technology investments in the US state.

Brussels, Belgium -- The European Commission on Friday greenlit the takeover of German chemical firm Covestro by UAE state oil giant ADNOC, after the Emirati firm promised steps to alleviate competition fears. Plastics maker Covestro accepted a bid from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in October, valuing the company...

Saudi Arabia is unlikely to agree to normalization with Israel at this stage, with Prince Mohammed's priority set for firmer US security guarantees after Israeli strikes in September on Qatar.

Global fossil fuel emissions are set to hit a new high in 2025, according to research published Thursday that also warns curbing warming under 1.5C would now be essentially "impossible".

US Secretary of State said the United States was speaking with different countries on ways to "balance their interests here, and how that's structured beyond just the security force."

The dotted lines illustrating the border between Western Sahara and Morocco, indicating the former's disputed territory status, have never been visible to people using Google Maps in the latter, the company told AFP on Tuesday.

He spoke as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas visited Paris one month into a fragile truce between Hamas and Israel, following two years of war triggered by the militant group's October 7, 2023 attack.

The investment is its biggest-ever in Germany.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday said next year's World Cup would be his last as he winds down one of the all-time great careers. The 40-year-old forward, with more than 950 club and international goals, also said he would retire from football in "one or...

Geneva, Switzerland -- Global demand for air conditioning could more than triple by 2050, the United Nations warned on Tuesday, calling for more sustainable cooling solutions. The UN Environment Programme said demand could surge due to increases in population and wealth around the world, combined with more extreme heat. Rising...

Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, was the first Syrian leader to visit the White House since the Middle Eastern country's independence in 1946.

New Delhi, India - A car explosion in the bustling heart of the Indian capital on Monday killed at least eight people and injured another 19, officials said. Police have not given details on the cause, but said that forensic and anti-terrorism agencies were at the site, near the landmark...

Port Sudan, Sudan -- "Sixteen killed." "Seven killed." "Thirty-one killed." "People are eating cowhide to survive." "The bombs are getting closer." "They're shooting people trying to run away." These were the grim updates shared with AFP's veteran Sudan correspondent Abdelmoneim Abu Idris Ali by people trapped in the 18-month-long siege...

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- The United Arab Emirates is not planning to join the international stabilisation force for Gaza because it lacks a clear framework, a senior official said on Monday. "The UAE does not yet see a clear framework for the stability force, and under such circumstances will probably...

Paris, France -- There is no clear link between pregnant women taking the common painkiller paracetamol and autism in their children, despite repeated claims otherwise by Donald Trump, according to the most comprehensive review of the existing evidence published Monday. In September, the US president sparked outrage among the medical...

The United States, the world's largest economy and second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, is absent for the first time in the history of these meetings.

Jerusalem, Undefined - Israel said the remains it received on Sunday from Hamas were those of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, an Israeli officer killed more than a decade ago in the 2014 Gaza war. Goldin was the 24th deceased hostage whose remains have been returned by Hamas since the start of...

Jerusalem, Undefined -- Denied contact with his lawyer for months, now freed Palestinian prisoner Shady Abu Sedo said he lost all sense of time while he was held in Israeli jails during the war in Gaza. The 35-year-old resident of the Palestinian territory was arrested in March 2024, five months...

Kyiv, Ukraine -- Ukraine was scrambling to turn lights and heating back on Sunday after Russian attacks targeting energy infrastructure reduced the country's power generating capacity to "zero". Moscow, which has escalated attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure in recent months, launched hundreds of drones at energy facilities across the country overnight...