AFP news

An international investigation office seen as a "truly historic" first step towards a possible trial of Russia's leadership opened in The Hague on Monday to probe a crime of aggression against Ukraine.

Russia on Monday granted the United States consular access to jailed Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich after a more than two-month gap, with the US ambassador reporting him in good health.

Senegal braced for a potential showdown on Monday as President Macky Sall prepared to make a long-awaited announcement on whether he plans to seek a controversial third term.

Viktor Grozdov was in a hole. "I was walking along the avenue and thought I'd quickly walk round the hole where the shell fell -- or a bomb, I don't know," recalled Grozdov, sitting in his flat near the town's former cinema.

Ukraine on Monday said its forces clawed back clutches of territory from Russia last week as part of its counteroffensive, as Russia's security service said it foiled an assassination attempt on the head of Moscow-annexed Crimea.

The European Union could raise three billion euros a year for Ukraine's reconstruction by taxing the interest earned by Russian central bank assets frozen in the bloc, Belgium's prime minister said Friday.

Kenya announced Friday a hike in fuel prices in defiance of a court order blocking implementation of a raft of new taxes.

Young rioters went on a daylight looting spree Friday in the French city of Strasbourg, targeting an Apple Store and other shops following the fatal shooting of a teen by a policeman near Paris.

The death toll from a horrific road crash in western Kenya rose to 52 on Saturday, officials said, as rescuers worked to clear the wreckage from one of the deadliest traffic accidents in the country in recent years.

Outspoken Rwandan government critic Paul Rusesabagina, who became internationally renowned for his efforts to save people during the 1994 genocide, said Saturday that Rwandans were "prisoners in their own country".

US President Joe Biden will host Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson next week to talk about transatlantic security cooperation and the war in Ukraine, the White House said Saturday.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Saturday that his visit to Kyiv on the first day of Spain's EU presidency showed the bloc's "unequivocal" commitment to Ukraine's bid to join the 27-nation bloc.

Russia's war in Ukraine has had a "corrosive" effect on Russian President Vladimir Putin, CIA Director William Burns said Saturday, with discontent over the conflict creating a "once-in-a generation opportunity" for the spy agency.

Nestle is stepping up its project to combat deforestation in Ivory Coast caused by the growth of cocoa farming, bringing cocoa trading companies directly on board.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked French leader Emmanuel Macron for sending light combat tanks to Kyiv, and Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov was filmed riding in one.

Fierce fighting between the forces of rival generals shook the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Sunday as disease and malnutrition threatened the rising number of displaced.

Kenyan President William Ruto announced Sunday the lifting of a near six-year ban on logging, despite the concerns of environmental campaigners.

Popular Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko called on the public to "come out en masse" on the eve of a speech in which President Macky Sall is expected to announce on Monday whether he will seek a controversial third term.

Ukraine said on Sunday that Russian troops were advancing in four areas in the east of the country amid "fierce fighting" but reported its forces moving forward in the south.

Misuzulu Zulu, 48, ascended the throne last year after the death of his father, Goodwill Zwelithini, amid a bitter feud over the royal succession.

South Africa's corruption watchdog on Friday absolved President Cyril Ramaphosa of allegations that he breached executive ethics in a farm cash scandal that spawned into one of the biggest storms of his career.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Friday that the government was considering "all options" to restore order, including declaring a state of emergency, after a third night of rioting over a police officer's killing of a youth.

Some 64 flights were cancelled at Geneva's international airport on Friday, it said, after operations were halted for four hours because of a strike by workers at the start of the busy summer travel season.

The US Supreme Court on Thursday banned the use of race and ethnicity in university admissions, dealing a major blow to a decades-old practice that boosted educational opportunities for African-Americans and other minorities.

The Kremlin said Thursday that footage, which could not be verified, apparently showing President Vladimir Putin greeting adoring supporters proved that he has "astounding" support after quelling an armed insurrection.

The UK on Thursday announced its backing for an expanded UN Security Council, including a permanent spot for Africa, to reflect the current and future state of the world.

Mykyta lay in a hospital bed with cuts from shrapnel on his face and body after a Russian missile hit the restaurant where he was having dinner in Ukraine's eastern city of Kramatorsk.

The European Union warned Thursday that Russia has become more dangerous after a brief mutiny by its Wagner mercenaries that the bloc said exposed President Vladimir Putin as weaker than previously thought.

A burned district office, another pelted with stones, "lots of looting": in Lille, in the north of France, a game of cat and mouse played out into the wee hours of Friday morning between authorities and protesters.