WORLD

Germany on Wednesday banned the Hamburg Islamic Centre, an association that has been under investigation for several months over its alleged support for Lebanon's Hezbollah group and its links to Iran.

Hungary falls well short of EU democratic standards, notably on corruption, bribery, political funding, conflicts of interest and lack of media independence, according to a European Commission evaluation published Thursday.

France has declared itself prepared for the deluge of Olympics visitors -- and so have Paris's drug dealers.

North Korean sweet wrappers and packets of crackers made at a factory once visited by leader Kim Jong Un were seen by AFP reporters on streets in the South Korean capital Wednesday.

Denmark is waiting for Japan's extradition for the veteran anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, arrested this weekend in Greenland, before ruling on the case, the justice ministry said Wednesday.

Dozens of journalists joined marches in Kenya on Wednesday in protest at what they see as heavy-handed government tactics to stifle media freedoms, including police attacks on journalists during the demonstrations that have rocked the country for the past five weeks.

A passenger plane crashed on take-off in Kathmandu on Wednesday, with the pilot rescued from the flaming wreckage but all 18 others aboard killed, police in the Nepali capital told AFP.

The tired troops moved through the forest in east Ukraine at dawn, imitating assault rifle fire while searching for non-existent Russians between the trees.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in southern China on Wednesday, with both sides calling for peace as Russia's war grinds on against its neighbour.

Keir Starmer faces his first House of Commons grilling as UK prime minister on Wednesday, after suspending seven of his own Labour MPs for rebelling over a controversial welfare policy.

Garment factories and banks reopened in Bangladesh Thursday after authorities eased a curfew imposed to contain deadly clashes sparked by student protests over civil service employment quotas.

Relentless rain drenched the northern Philippines on Wednesday, triggering floods in Manila and landslides in mountainous regions as Typhoon Gaemi intensified the seasonal monsoon.

Before the Pride parade by LGBTQ activists in the east German town of Altenburg even started, a small group had been hurling insults and flashing middle fingers at those present.

Trash-carrying balloons sent by North Korea hit the South Korean presidential compound Wednesday, security officials told AFP, prompting Seoul to mobilise chemical response teams in the escalating tit-for-tat propaganda war.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday will launch a new initiative against world hunger ahead of an upcoming G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

Activists are asking Europe's top rights court to fault Russia for creating a "climate catastrophe", saying Moscow's war on Ukraine is contributing to a spike in its greenhouse gas emissions.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday dismissed a left-wing alliance's push to name a new prime minister after snap elections, saying parties in a fractured parliament must come together to build a broad coalition after the Paris Olympic Games.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets across Kenyan towns on Tuesday in defiance of a police ban, the latest in a series of demonstrations that have rocked the East African nation.

The BBC is to axe 500 jobs over the next 20 months in a bid to save GBP200 million ($258 million) and become a "leaner, more agile organisation," the British public service broadcaster announced Tuesday.

Swedish music streaming giant Spotify said Tuesday that it added seven million paid subscribers in the second quarter, beating forecasts after it raised prices.

Israel swiftly condemned an agreement brokered by China Tuesday which Beijing said would bring Hamas into a "national reconciliation government" for post-war Gaza.

As Polish lawmakers debated easing stringent abortion laws, Warsaw-based lawyer Jerzy Podgorski was in court defending a man from the remote town of Pinczow charged with aiding his partner's abortion.

The funding will be used over five years for a package of five schemes and initiatives to "facilitate employment, skilling and other opportunities" for more than 40 million young people, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her annual budget speech.

Ugandan police detained several demonstrators in the capital Kampala on Tuesday, according to an AFP journalist, as scattered anti-corruption rallies began despite being banned by authorities.

After winning support from Democratic party heavyweights, Kamala Harris will test her potential candidacy with voters Tuesday at a campaign rally in Wisconsin, a critical "swing state" for her likely face-off with Donald Trump.

Hamas announced Tuesday it had signed an agreement in Beijing with other Palestinian organisations including rivals Fatah to work together for "national unity", with China describing it as a deal to rule Gaza together once the war ends.

A shrine perched on an extinct volcano in Myanmar once thronged with the bustle of pilgrims praying to flower-eating spirit Popa Maedaw, but civil war has cut the complex off from the faithful.

Shortages of fuel and electricity, hospitals in ruins and impassable roads: outside the relative comfort of Caracas, years of economic crisis have taken their toll on rural Venezuela.

Donald Trump constantly attacked his Democratic opponent Joe Biden over his age and fitness, but the 78-year-old Republican could find those same arguments coming back to haunt him after the president ended his reelection bid.