bluesky_AFP English

British author M. John Harrison, who has amassed a cult following for his genre-bending novels, told AFP on Tuesday, after winning the Booker Prize, that the Western world is "becoming a weirder place." u.afp.com/SFJn

After recent attacks on supermarket fridges, home appliances could be next, the EU's cyber chief told AFP on Tuesday, as he urged Europe to invest more to counter growing cyber threats. u.afp.com/SFJs

VIDEO: In Ethiopia, where the cost of sanitary pads puts them out of reach for many girls, entrepreneur Hanan Ahmed is making reusable alternatives to fight period poverty and menstrual stigma.

Pope Leo XIV vowed not to let illness or old age affect his zeal Tuesday, after rallying hundreds of thousands of Argentines in Cordoba and urging them to "go forth and be saints!" u.afp.com/SFJW

Hundreds rallied to demand justice and safety at work Tuesday, a day after a massive explosion at a Turkish steel plant killed 18 people and injured 12 others, as bereaved families began burying their dead. u.afp.com/SFJM

Top US diplomat Marco Rubio said Tuesday that he saw no need to attack Iran again, as diplomatic efforts to end the war gathered steam and Tehran urged Washington to accept its demands for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. u.afp.com/SFJx

VIDEO: On a beach in northeastern Senegal, Ibrahima Diaw stares in disbelief at the wreckage of the pirogue his son boarded in hopes of reaching Europe. He was among 39 people who died when the boat capsized Friday in one of Senegal's deadliest migration tragedies in recent years.

🇵🇰 🇩🇪 Pakistan farmers sue German firms in landmark climate case Abdul Hafeez Khoso is one of 39 farmers suing German energy firm RWE and cement maker Heidelberg Material in a rare bid to make big polluters pay damages for climate impacts, after Pakistan's Sindh province was flooded in 2022

🇸🇳 Families mourn 39 migrants dead in Senegal boat sinking tragedy Thirty-nine people died after a migrant boat sank off Senegal on 6 November, in one of the country's deadliest migration tragedies in recent years. Thousands have died recently trying to reach Spain's Canary Islands from west Africa

🇫🇷 🗳️ EXPLAINED: Who are the top candidates in France's presidential election? | AFP ▶️ youtu.be/lgx6J88k0sI Candidates are launching their campaigns for France's 2027 presidential election, now less than six months away. So who are the leading contenders? AFP's Will Edwards explains

🇺🇸 🏛️ US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday denounced a push to impeach him as a "farce" and defended his record leading multiple military operations that have sparked allegations of misconduct against the Pentagon chief u.afp.com/SFob

🇺🇸 ✨ 🔔 Anthropic plans to raise up to $64 billion in its upcoming initial public offering, the artificial intelligence giant said in a filing on Tuesday, putting the company's total valuation at up to $1.4 trillion u.afp.com/SFo6

🇵🇸 🐴 🔨 Gazan makes horseshoes from rubble of war In the ruins of destroyed homes, Mohammed al-Sir searches for scraps of iron and shapes them into horseshoes in Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip. "Today, amid the war, our craft has become extremely hard," says the 49-year-old Palestinian farrier

🇬🇧 🇺🇸 The United States has withdrawn military aircraft from a second British airbase following a threat from Iran, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has reported, citing people familiar with events u.afp.com/SFoM

🇦🇺 ✨ Australia to adopt 'mandatory' AI safeguards: PM Artificial intelligence companies will have to abide by new "mandatory" safeguards when operating in Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says. Global unease about the power of advanced AI is growing after a string of hacking incidents

🇺🇸 🇨🇳 🖥️ ⚖️ Tech titan Jensen Huang faced fresh turmoil on Tuesday as shareholders sued him and his firm for allegedly misleading them over his affair with an accused Chinese spy u.afp.com/SFop

📚 🏆 UK author M. John Harrison won the Booker Prize on Monday for his enigmatic novel "The End of Everything", which echoes concerns about artificial intelligence in a darkly satirical depiction of post-apocalyptic Britain u.afp.com/SF4V

🇺🇦 🇷🇺 🇺🇸 🇪🇺 🇦🇪 US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine on ending more than four years of war opened in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, with Washington calling for a "new" security framework, as Europe fears US President Donald Trump plans a deal with Moscow on the continent's future u.afp.com/SF4E

🇺🇸 US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is due to hold a rare news conference on Tuesday as he pushes back against congressional efforts to remove him from office for alleged misconduct u.afp.com/SF46

France vows tough response to freezer cyberattack blamed on Iran. "We rule nothing out and will take all measures -- including those we may not disclose publicly -- that we deem proportionate and necessary to deter any further attacks," says foreign minister u.afp.com/SF4S

The Azeri woman and her dog clearing mines after conflict. On Azerbaijan's former front line, Afsana Bayramova and her dog Rocky search for the buried explosives preventing displaced families from returning to abandoned villages, emptied through decades of conflict with Armenia u.afp.com/SFZb

Poland has plunged back into a fierce battle over its top court and who actually rules the country. Since his 2023 return to power, Prime Minister Tusk has tried in vain to reform the constitutional court, which the previous nationalist PiS government had brought under its control u.afp.com/SFZy

California voters have rejected a one-time tax on billionaires, US media project, despite growing anger over wealth disparity. The tax would have forced around 200 billionaires in the state to cough up 5% of their total net worth, with the money going to help pay for healthcare u.afp.com/SFZr

The newly restored West Mebon temple rises from a reservoir at Cambodia's sprawling Angkor archaeological complex, the latest in a century of conservation projects led by former colonial power France u.afp.com/SFZX

EU to clamp down on influencer marketing under plans to overhaul consumer protection rules, documents show u.afp.com/SFZm

'Three child' policy. Papua New Guinea is considering ways to limit families to just three children in a bid to stop its booming population from overwhelming public services u.afp.com/SFZd

What we know about the Nvidia CEO spy scandal. Jensen Huang, whose chips power the AI boom and who has the ear of Trump, has admitted to an affair with a Chinese executive suspected of being a spy for Beijing. Huang has lobbied the White House to allow chip exports to China u.afp.com/SFZA

BREAKING California voters have rejected a one-time tax on billionaires, US media projects, despite growing anger over global wealth disparity

AI firms will have to abide by new "mandatory" safeguards when operating in Australia. "Our task is to make sure that we shape AI, rather than AI shape us," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says u.afp.com/SFZn

Australian airline Qantas to cut 850 jobs as it shifts functions to India and accelerates use of AI u.afp.com/SFZs