The cash-strapped UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA Thursday praised President Joe Biden for resuming US financial support, saying it came at a "critical moment" amid the Covid pandemic. "UNRWA could not be more pleased that once again we wi...

The Philippine health department suspended Thursday the use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 jab for people under 60 after reports of blood clots overseas, in a setback for the country's already slow vaccine rollout. It comes amid a record surge in coro...

French national railway SNCF said Thursday it has ordered 12 hydrogen-powered trains to begin tests in four regions in 2023 as it eyes a zero-emissions future with the nascent technology. The trains are to be built by the French industrial group Al...

Israel briefly came to a standstill on Thursday with the morning bustle halted for two minutes at 10:00 am (0700 GMT) as sirens blared to honour the victims of the Holocaust. In an annual ritual, pedestrians froze in place and drivers stopped and ...

Uniqlo's parent company Fast Retailing said Thursday it expects a stronger rebound in full-year operating profit driven by a solid performance in East Asian countries hit less hard by virus lockdowns. The Japanese clothing empire forecast 2020/21 o...

Rescue divers have freed a meditating Buddhist monk from a flooded Thai cave in scenes that echoed the high-profile 2018 rescue of a trapped boys' football team. Manas Kemgoh, 46, was on a pilgrimage when he entered the Phra Sai Ngam cave in Phitsa...

Tickets to tourist attractions, shopping coupons, and report cards naming and shaming stores where staff haven't been vaccinated: China is veering from compulsion to persuasion in its bid to inoculate its population from Covid. The country has admi...

On soccer fields, in locker rooms and even at the doctor's office, the rights of US transgender youths have become a political lightning rod, with dozens of recent bills attempting to dictate their fate in conservative states. "It's devastating to ...

Worried about reports of rising domestic violence during lockdown, Polish teen Krysia Paszko set up a website purporting to be a cosmetics shop that actually offers victims covert help. "I was inspired by this French idea, where by going to the pha...

Barefoot and resplendent in traditional embroidered garments, women from an indigenous Mayan community in rural Mexico are challenging gender stereotypes and the country's machismo culture on a dusty softball field. There are no locker rooms or man...

Top players from around the world have gathered for the 14th Indian Premier League, which starts on Friday for a 52-day Twenty20 extravaganza played in empty stadiums because of the coronavirus pandemic. Here, AFP highlights five stars who could b...

Diplomats loyal to Myanmar's junta have seized the country's embassy in London, leaving the ambassador locked out in the street after he called for the release of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The ambassador, Kyaw Zwar Minn, said Wednesd...

Two Indonesian navy ships packed with aid arrived Thursday in a cyclone-ravaged section of the archipelago, as the disaster's death toll rose to nearly 180 people, including dozens killed in neighbouring East Timor. The vessels docked in hard-hit ...

Virginia on Wednesday became the first southern US state to approve the use of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. The state Senate and House of Delegates voted to allow adults to possess marijuana as of July 1, in a measure approved despi...

Britain's prime minister has condemned another night of violence in Northern Ireland, after crowds threw petrol bombs and a bus was set on fire in Belfast. The violence follows a week of rioting which some have suggested is the first evidence Brexi...