Top news and features from AFP's reporters around the world. Official account.
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Iran offered a plan to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Tehran said Friday, but within hours reports indicated that US President Donald Trump rejected the proposal.
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Zidane notches win in first outing as France coach but Mbappe injures knee, likely to miss remaining UEFA Nations League matches u.afp.com/S9Nw
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Rockers U2 marked their 50th anniversary with surprise gigs back where it all started in central Dublin u.afp.com/S9No
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Writer E. Jean Carroll, the only person to successfully sue Donald Trump for sexual assault, tells AFP she is finally free to spend the damages awarded to her from the US president. But she won't be splurging on herself u.afp.com/S9N4
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Break out the rhinestones and heels: California is celebrating Dolly Parton Day today. Get it? "9 to 5"... u.afp.com/S9Gv
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For much of his life, India's "Tree Father" Swami Prem Parivartan has been on a mission to restore the country's vanishing green cover. His 'Give Me Trees' trust estimates it has planted or preserved 26 million trees
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#BREAKING Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Tehran has offered Washington a plan that would see the Strait of Hormuz reopened to maritime navigation within seven days
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Pope Leo XIV greets worshippers from his popemobile at the Stade de France stadium on Friday during his four-day visit to the country
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US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have confirmed that they will meet two more times before the end of the year. There were no major policy announcements to come out of Xi's state visit to Washington that ended Friday u.afp.com/S9Gx
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Six people, including three tourists, are missing after an explosion in Athens' historic Plaka district located just below the Acropolis u.afp.com/S9Gq
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England captain Harry Kane says this season represents his "best chance so far" of winning the prestigious Ballon d'Or award
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Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan board their plane to depart Washington. US President Donald Trump hosted a visit full of pomp and pageantry but there were few concrete results from the meeting between the leaders of the world's two biggest economies
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🇫🇷 🇻🇦 Pope warns against losing humanity in 'paradise of machines'
Pope Leo XIV, speaking at the French presidential palace in Paris, warned against "losing our humanity" in a "paradise of machines" as he made his first papal trip to France with concerns high worldwide about artificial intelligence
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⚽ 🏴 📜 Manchester City have been found guilty of all but one of 115 Premier League charges they face for breaching financial regulations, the Athletic reported on Friday ➡️ u.afp.com/S9pF
ALT File photo shows an empty Etihad Stadium, home of Manchester City, ahead of the Premier League game in Manchester, north west England, on April 1, 2023
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🇦🇿 🏎️ Mercedes' George Russell produced a superb performance in qualifying on Friday to take pole position for this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix but his teammate in world championship leader Kimi Antonelli, crashed and will start down in 16th ➡️ u.afp.com/S9p6
ALT Mercedes' British driver George Russell steers his car during the qualifying session of the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit in Baku on September 25, 2026
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🇫🇷 🤖 AI companions tested in Alzheimer's care across France
From robots designed to stimulate conversation among older people, to a therapeutic robotic seal, hospitals and care homes across France are trialling a range of new AI technologies aimed at supporting people living with Alzheimer's disease. While researchers and caregivers say such tools can encourage engagement, they stress that technology is intended to complement, not replace, human care
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🇫🇷 🇻🇦 Pope Leo XIV arrives in France on Vatican's first official visit in 18 years
The 71-year-old pope arrived on Friday for the Vatican's first official visit to France in 18 years, with artificial intelligence, young believers and the continent's future near the top of his agenda. A million people are expected at events across Paris during the first two days of his four-day trip
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🇺🇦 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday said US President Donald Trump told him he would allow Ukraine to produce advanced Patriot air defence missiles, after a series of reversals on the issue.
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ALT Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stands beside a Patriot missile system during a 2024 visit to a military training area in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, north-eastern Germany.
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🚢 Iran has submitted a proposal to the United States to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, its foreign minister told media outlets in New York.
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ALT File image shows a person in front of a large screen displaying vessel movements in the Strait of Hormuz.
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🎾 World No.1 Jannik Sinner has delayed his return to the courts when he withdrew from next week's China Open in Beijing, having been out of action since his Wimbledon title in July due to a right knee injury.
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🇺🇳 At UN, tech chiefs urge caution in AI development
Leaders of major AI firms told the UN Security Council that the technology calls for heightened vigilance, with Anthropic's CEO pledging to slow down where needed to ensure the safety of new releases.
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🇫🇷 The organisers of France's top literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, on Friday said they had removed a widely praised novel by Canadian-Haitian writer Thelyson Orelien from its longlist following online claims that artificial intelligence was used to write it.
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🇮🇹 Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's cabinet adopted a decree law Thursday banning burqas and niqabs in schools and capping the number of students with a poor command of Italian per class.
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🇧🇹 🎯 Bhutan's traditional archers lose ground to development
Traditional archery is Bhutan's national sport and has a storied history, but some fans fear for its future as development and safety concerns eat away at space for archery ranges.
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🇨🇱 Chile's Atacama Desert blossoms with life after El Nino rains
A resplendent display of flowers has bloomed across Chile's Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth, after the El Nino climate phenomenon brought heavy rain to the region.
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⚽ The four main European football leagues -- the English Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A and Germany's Bundesliga -- called on Friday for a reform of FIFA.
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🚗 German automobile giant Volkswagen confirmed Friday a recall of around 2.86 million vehicles worldwide over a potential steering risk, according to the German transport authority KBA.
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🇧🇹 Bhutan's solar push to help power new economic zone
Bhutan has long relied on hydroelectric power to meet its electricity needs but the Kingdom is looking to solar energy to help power its development, including a new special economic zone known as the Gelephu Mindfulness City.
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🧩 Competitors battle it out in World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship final
In a test of speed and focus, puzzle enthusiasts battle it out in the final of the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship in northwest Spain.
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🇪🇸 Protests in Madrid after 87-year-old pensioner evicted
Demonstrators are taking to the streets of Madrid to protest the eviction of an 87-year-old pensioner from her lifelong home, in one of the harshest expressions of Spain's chronic housing crisis.
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🏈 Star running back Bijan Robinson rushed for an explosive 194 yards and two touchdowns as the Atlanta Falcons thrashed the Green Bay Packers 35-14 on Thursday.
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🏅 Japanese teenager Shin Ohashi have moved closer to a hat-trick of Asian Games breaststroke golds after qualifying for the 50m final, the morning after smashing the 200m world record.
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⚽ The four main European football leagues -- the English Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A and Germany's Bundesliga -- have called for a reform of FIFA.
The sport's governing body has been mired in crisis since the revelation of a shelved plan to create a commercial company open to private investors.
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🇵🇰 How giant dancing gorillas are gate-crashing parties in Pakistan
Party-goers in Pakistan are going ape over the latest craze to hit the dancefloor -- giant gorillas. Entertainers dress up in the super-sized simian costumes, flailing around their limbs to DJ beats alongside revellers in Lahore.
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🇺🇸 🇨🇳 US President Donald Trump has hosted Chinese leader Xi Jinping for a lavish state dinner at the White House, after a day of pomp and ceremony that masked deep tensions between the rival superpowers.
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🚕 Rebellious Afghan taxi drivers defy ban on music
Taxi drivers in Afghanistan are turning on the tunes in their cars, defying a ban imposed by the Taliban government despite the fear of getting caught by morality police.
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🇪🇹 Ethiopian forces battled overnight to repel an assault by Tigray rebels in the Afar region, a humanitarian source said Friday, with reports of an internet blackout in the north of the country.
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ALT Members of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) walk along a main road in Mekelle, on September 23, 2026.
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🇫🇷 🇻🇦 Pope Leo XIV has arrived in France for the Vatican's first state visit to the European nation in 18 years, with artificial intelligence, young believers and the continent's future near the top of his agenda.
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🇲🇳 Mongolian herders enlist new tech against harsher, drier climate
Huge and sparsely populated, Mongolia is disproportionately affected by climate change, but an app is helping the herders navigate the extreme weather that threatens the country's nomadic population and livestock.
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🇮🇩 📷 Indonesia's cash-for-photos scheme turns villagers into wildlife protectors
Indonesian villagers wade through the forests of Borneo hoping to capture photos of orangutans or birds as part of a conservation programme seeking to make animals worth more alive than dead.
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Taxi drivers in Afghanistan are turning on the tunes in their cars, defying a ban imposed by the Taliban government despite the fear of getting caught by morality police.
The music that used to flow constantly out of restaurants, cafes and shops in the capital Kabul has been muted for five years, replaced only by religious or patriotic songs supported by the Taliban authorities in power since 2021
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Geologists from US mining company KoBold Metals are pushing deep into the Congolese bush, hoping a cutting-edge army of "explorers" directed by AI will help give them an edge in the race for critical minerals
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Hopping mad.
In a country famed worldwide for its beer, a proposed tweak to health warnings on adverts for alcoholic drinks has shaken Belgian brewers
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Dolly Parton's nephew has been ordered to stay away from employees and properties of her estate, US media reported, after the manager for the late country music legend alleged an "escalating campaign of threats" to extort money from the vast enterprise
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Rebellious Afghan taxi drivers defy Taliban ban on music.
"At every checkpoint we pass, we lower the volume of the music or even turn it off completely... so I don't get into trouble with them," taxi driver Roeen tells AFP
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Italy bans burqas and niqabs in schools, caps numbers of foreign students per class.
Italy is a frontline country for migration and integration is a hot campaign issue ahead of next year's general election
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Visitors pass by artwork entitled "Mushrooms" by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in Sydney.
Ai Weiwei is the second artist commissioned for the Neil Balnaves Tallawoladah Lawn Commission, which presents major new contemporary sculpture on the harbourside in front of MCA Australia
📸 Izhar Khan
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Canadian capital to rename 'Trump Ave'.
Ottawa is hitting back at the US leader, who among other things insists Canada should cease to exist as a country and instead become the 51st US state
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Bacterial infection suspected in killing hundreds of whale calves in the southern Argentine region of Patagonia, marine mammal expert says
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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a fiery UN speech assailing enemies and allies alike -- and sparking uproar in the chamber.
Dozens of envoys from across the world walked out.
Protesters, some brandishing "stop the genocide" banners, gathered near the United Nations. Several demonstrators were detained, including Hollywood star actor Susan Sarandon
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US President Donald Trump hosted Chinese leader Xi Jinping for a lavish state dinner at the White House, after a day of pomp and ceremony that masked deep tensions between the rival superpowers
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Movie star Susan Sarandon and "Hacks" actress Hannah Einbinder among a reported 100 people detained by police in New York during protest against the Israeli prime minister Netanyahu
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Mongolian herders on the front line of climate change enlist new tech against harsher, drier climate
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China's 13-year-old swimming prodigy Yu Zidi could cause a sensation at the Los Angeles Olympics in two years' time. The schoolgirl won all three individual races she swam this week in Tokyo with Asian Games records. See how she compares to other elite swimmers at that age.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom has a prediction for November: Democrats retake the House, and Donald Trump's presidency "as we know it" is over. u.afp.com/S9Ti
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Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said on Thursday that next month's friendly against Benin in Buenos Aires will give Lionel Messi the chance "to say goodbye the way he wants to". u.afp.com/S9Sr
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