Ecuador suffered a nationwide blackout for several hours Wednesday as the electrical grid failed, with metro services, road traffic and other critical services crippled.

Russia and Vietnam pledged Thursday to deepen ties as President Vladimir Putin made a state visit aimed at bolstering his alliances to counter Moscow's growing isolation over the war in Ukraine.

France boast fearsome strength in depth but remain hugely reliant on Kylian Mbappe for inspiration and are now facing the prospect of being without their injured superstar for at least their next Euro 2024 game against the Netherlands on Friday.

European stock markets rose Thursday as dealers awaited the Bank of England's latest decision on interest rates, after Switzerland cut borrowing costs and Norway kept its status quo.

The three parties in the German government are locked in a bitter dispute over the 2025 budget, with experts warning the stalemate could be the final straw for the uneasy coalition.

When invading Russian troops advanced towards Kyiv and the first explosions rang out in the suburbs, Daria Zymenko took refuge in Gavronshchyna, her parents' village near the Ukrainian capital.

Deadly heat that blanketed the United States, Mexico and Central America recently was made 35 times more likely due to global warming, an international network of climate scientists said on Thursday.

Fears of a regional war rose Thursday after Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement said none of Israel would be spared in a full-blown conflict, and Israel said it had approved plans for a Lebanon offensive.

The death toll from this year's hajj has exceeded 1,000, an AFP tally said on Thursday, more than half of them unregistered worshippers who performed the pilgrimage in extreme heat in Saudi Arabia.

The ongoing civil war in Sudan has provoked one of the world's worst humanitarian crises in decades, the international chief of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders said Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Wednesday a mutual defence agreement with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, who offered his "full support" on Ukraine.

South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in for a second full term as president in Pretoria on Wednesday, after his weakened African National Congress (ANC) struck a government coalition deal.

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said Wednesday that China was attempting to force the self-ruled island into submission but that it would not bow to pressure.

A Kansas businessman shipped banned avionics equipment to Russia through Armenia, the UAE and other third countries.

Hollywood's alleged "wokeness" is a frequent target for right-wing commentators and politicians.

China will send 11 swimmers implicated in a major doping scandal to next month's Paris Olympics, after the country named its squad for the Games.

The European Commission on Wednesday reprimanded France for breaching the EU's budget rules under President Emmanuel Macron, in the runup to snap elections marked by lavish spending promises.

British inflation slowed in May to the central bank's two-percent target, official data showed Wednesday, boosting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's struggling election campaign.

A deadly fire broke out at a huge military ammunition depot in Chad's capital N'Djamena, sending powerful explosions into the night sky and shaking buildings miles away.

Israeli air strikes and clashes between troops and Palestinian militants rocked Gaza on Wednesday, as Israel's army warned it had readied an "offensive" against the Lebanese Hezbollah movement on the country's northern front.

The Philippine military said Wednesday the Chinese coast guard rammed and boarded Filipino navy boats in a violent confrontation in the South China Sea this week in which a Filipino sailor lost a thumb.

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is expected to apologize to families of crash victims on Tuesday as he faces a Senate grilling following accusations that the plane maker put profits over safety.

Dozens of North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the heavily fortified border Tuesday but retreated after warning shots were fired, Seoul said, the second such incident in two weeks as Pyongyang reinforces its frontiers with the South.

A US envoy held talks with top Israeli leaders to press for de-escalation on the Lebanese border, as an Israeli official said Hezbollah had fired thousands of projectiles towards Israel since the start of the Gaza war.

NATO's chief called Monday for China to face consequences if it keeps up support to Russia as he trumpeted a sharp increase in allies' defense spending since the invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed North Korea on Tuesday for "firmly supporting" Moscow's war in Ukraine ahead of a visit to Pyongyang set to boost defence ties between the two nuclear-armed countries.

Kylian Mbappe will not need surgery but will wear a mask when he returns to action after the France captain suffered a broken nose in his team's 1-0 Euro 2024 win over Austria on Monday, the French Football Federation said.

Musicians around the world have described artificial intelligence as a threat to creativity, but the CEO of one popular platform told AFP he thinks critics are looking at it all wrong.

Israeli strikes on Tuesday killed at least 13 people in central Gaza, the civil defence agency in the Hamas-run territory said, although fighting has largely subsided as Muslims mark Eid al-Adha.