AFP news

The Olympic torch relay began in Marseille on Thursday with football legend Basile Boli taking the flame in front of the iconic basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde, a day after it made a spectacular entrance by sea.

Concord, a rival to Hipgnosis, said in a statement that it would not hike its $1.5-billion bid after Blackstone agreed a $1.6-billion offer.

The demand is part of the EU's probe into US tech billionaire Elon Musk's X, the former Twitter, that was launched in December under a law clamping down on illegal content online.

Some 400 municipalities have been affected by the worst natural calamity ever to hit the state of Rio Grande do Sul, with hundreds of people injured and more than 160,000 forced from their homes.

Interior minister James Cleverly told parliament the UK would also remove the diplomatic status of several Russian-owned properties, including one in Sussex, southern England, and another in London "which we believe have been used for intelligence purposes".

The aim is to further hit Russia's revenues from fossil fuels as there have been growing concerns that previous sanctions have not hurt as much as the EU wishes.

The government's latest statements have created confusion among undocumented migrants and the associations that support them, after years of regularization talks with officials.

In an interview with CNN Biden also deplored the fact that civilians had been killed by the dropping of US bombs on the Palestinian territory.

Earlier this week, the Chinese leader kicked off his trip in France, a visit that was cordial but also highlighted tensions between Beijing and the EU over the war in Ukraine and global trade.

The May 9 parade marks the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II and has become one of Russia's most important public holidays under Putin.

The BoE is widely expected to maintain borrowing costs at 5.25 percent for a sixth meeting in a row, mirroring a wait-and-see approach by the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank.

Thousands of fans were already visiting the La Defense Arena 24 hours before the show just to get their hands on the merchandise as soon as possible.

Israel has defied international objections by sending in tanks and conducting "targeted raids" in the border city, which it says is home to Hamas's last remaining battalions -- but is also crowded with displaced Palestinian civilians.

Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor FC said they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) citing "a series of criminal incidents and recent threats".

US singer Katy Perry said even her own mother was fooled by AI-generated fake images she posted Tuesday of herself pretending to attend the Met Gala in New York.

Trump, 77, is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels on the eve of his 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, when the lurid story of marital infidelity could have sunk his campaign.

Two Ukrainian security officials were arrested for their links to the group, which had aimed to carry out high-profile killings ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's inauguration on Tuesday.

The suit, filed at a federal court in Washington, argued that the move violates the First Amendment, charging that "Congress has made a law curtailing massive amounts of protected speech."

The new note, which will allow people to carry around fewer bills, will be available at banks and ATMs from Tuesday, the South American country's central bank said in a statement.

According to the company, OpenAI's image detection classifier, which is currently under test, can assess the likelihood that a given image originated from one of the company's generative AI models like DALL-E 3.

Students at various European universities, inspired by ongoing demonstrations at US campuses, have been occupying halls and facilities, demanding an end to partnerships with Israeli institutions because of Israel's punishing assault on Gaza.

Blinken led the US delegation at a meeting in the Guatemalan capital of the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, a cooperation framework agreed to at a summit in California in 2022.

The former president had been scheduled to go on trial on May 20 but District Judge Aileen Cannon said that was not possible because of the number of pre-trial motions before the court.

China has poured billions into Serbia and neighboring Balkan countries, particularly into mining and manufacturing, and last year Beijing and Belgrade signed a free trade agreement.

Kim Ki Nam died on Tuesday due to old age and "multiple organ dysfunction", having been treated at a hospital since 2022, the country's official Korean Central News Agency said. He was 94.

Struggling foreign automakers in China are looking for help from local tech giants to try to stay competitive in the world's biggest electric car market, where shiny smart screens, assisted driving and sophisticated map technology are in high demand.

Washington halted the load of 1,800 2,000-lb (907 kg) bombs and 1,700 500-lb (226 kg) bombs after Israel had not "fully addressed" US concerns about a major ground operation, a senior administration official said.

The results for 2023-24 were helped by foreign currency effects, in particular the weak yen, as well as brisk sales, notably of hybrid vehicles.

After weeks of vowing to launch a ground incursion into the border city of Rafah despite international objections, Israeli tanks moved in Tuesday, capturing the crossing that has served as the main conduit for aid into the besieged Palestinian territory.