Zarghunna Noori has always been a fighter, but the 22-year-old taekwondo champion -- who dreamt of representing Afghanistan at the Olympics -- says she has finally met her match. "In sports when we lose we are left feeling terrible," she told AFP a...

The head of teetering Chinese developer Evergrande has urged staff to resume construction and sales to deliver properties, state media reported Thursday, as it battles to avoid a collapse many fear could send shockwaves through the world's number tw...

A prominent rights campaigner said Thursday Britain had warned him and other Beijing critics to avoid travel to countries that have an extradition agreement with China because of Hong Kong's national security law. China is remoulding Hong Kong in i...

An Australian adviser to Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in a junta court to face immigration and official secrets charges, a lawyer involved in the case said Thursday. Macquarie University professor Sean Turnell was the first for...

While apartment-hunting with his partner 30 years ago, Thierry Delessert was repeatedly asked whether they were cousins, or gay. He knew the latter answer would automatically see their application thrown out. The 56-year-old historian still recalls...

Fourteen years after the last episode of the cult television series "The Sopranos," a film retracing the early years of future mob boss Tony Soprano premiered Wednesday in New York. Series creator David Chase, co-writer of the prequel "The Many Sai...

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie on Thursday questioned new World Rugby guidance capping how much full-contact training teams can do, suggesting it could be detrimental and hard to police. The sport's governing body has recommended a maximum of 15 minut...

Iceland holds legislative elections on Saturday after four years of an unprecedented left-right coalition that has managed to put a lid on a volatile decade of crises and scandals. But with so many political parties vying for power and no one clear...

For millions of young Germans, Chancellor Angela Merkel is the only leader they have known, a beacon of stability in a world plagued by uncertainties. But as her 16-year tenure comes to end, some say her slowly-slowly approach stymied progress on ...

Australia's leader said he is being given the cold shoulder by French President Emmanuel Macron after the controversial scrapping of a submarine deal, but vowed to be "patient" in repairing frayed relations. Speaking in Washington late Wednesday, P...

In power for so long that a whole generation of Germans grew up knowing only her as chancellor, Angela Merkel is due to bow out of politics following Sunday's elections. AFP takes a look back at images of the East German quantum chemist who leapt i...

Olaf Scholz, the centre-left Social Democrat (SPD) candidate to succeed Angela Merkel, is one of Germany's most influential politicians, with a reputation for being meticulous, confident and fiercely ambitious. As finance minister and vice-chancell...

Angela Merkel's exit from the stage is sparking fears of a hole at the heart of the European Union during challenging times -- but there are also hopes for a wind of change. Tributes have been growing for the German leader -- dubbed "Queen of Europ...

Crises have a knack for felling leaders. Not Chancellor Angela Merkel. During 16 years in power, the veteran navigated Germany through the 2008 financial turmoil and ensuing eurozone debt crisis, the 2015 refugee influx and now the coronavirus pand...

Germany goes to the polls on Sunday in an election that will see Angela Merkel step down after 16 years in power, sparking a knife-edge race to lead Europe's biggest economy. The first chancellor not to seek re-election since 1949, Merkel's decisio...