PARIS -- Europe should brace for more deadly heatwaves driven by climate change, said a sweeping report on Monday, noting the world's fastest-warming continent was some 2.3 degrees Celsius hotter last year than in pre-industrial times. Crop-withering drought, record sea-surface temperatures and unprecedented glacier melt are among the consequences laid out in a report by the World Meteorological Organization and the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service. The continent, whi

MPONDWE, Uganda -- Militants linked to the Islamic State group massacred at least 41 people, mostly students, in western Uganda, the country's deadliest such attack in over a decade, officials said Saturday. The military said it was pursuing the attackers from the Allied Democratic Forces, who also abducted six people during a raid on a school late Friday before fleeing back towards the Democratic Republic of Congo. Officials and witnesses said guns and knives were used in a grisly late-nig

ISTANBUL (AFP) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed former Wall Street executive Hafize Gaye Erkan as central bank governor on Friday, signalling a possible shift from his unconventional policies to fight soaring inflation. Erkan -- a former chief executive of US real estate finance firm Greystone, co-CEO of First Republic Bank and managing director at Goldman Sachs -- will be the first woman to head the central bank. She takes over from Sahap Kavcioglu, who lowered rates even tho

K-pop idol. Used tyre salesman. Hip-hop mogul. The course of true success has never run smoothly, but Korean-American entertainer Jay Park has had an unusually bumpy ride to stardom. The 36-year-old is now one of South Korea's most recognisable entertainers: he's founded two of the country's largest hip-hop labels, released a string of hits, has his own soju liquor brand and was the first Asian-American to sign with Jay-Z's Roc Nation. But this success was hard fought, he tol

BANGKOK (AFP) -- Badminton women's singles world number two An Se-young smashed home victory at the final of the Thailand Open in Bangkok on Sunday, overcoming China's He Bingjiao. The 21-year-old South Korean came out roaring and was in knock-out form throughout the 21-10, 21-19 straight games victory in the Thai capital. World number five He fought back in the second game -- leading briefly by four points -- which featured some brilliant net play from both players. But she could not

ANKARA (AFP) -- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to be sworn in on Saturday as head of state after winning a historic runoff election to extend his two-decade rule for another five years as Turkey's economic woes worsen. The inauguration in parliament will be followed by a lavish ceremony at his palace in the capital Ankara attended by dozens of world leaders. Turkey's transformative but divisive leader won the May 28 runoff against a powerful opposition coalition, and despite an

India -- At least 288 people were killed and more than 850 injured in a horrific three-train collision in India, officials said Saturday, the country's deadliest rail accident in more than 20 years. Images from the crash site showed smashed train compartments torn open with blood-stained holes near Balasore, in the eastern state of Odisha. Carriages had flipped over entirely in the crash late on Friday and rescue workers searched for survivors trapped in the mangled wreckage, with scores of

BEIJING (AFP) -- China's cybersecurity watchdog said Sunday US chipmaker Micron Technology had failed a national security probe and urged all operators of critical information infrastructure to stop purchasing their products as Beijing tightens enforcement of national security and anti-espionage laws. Micron's products "have relatively serious potential network security issues, which pose a major security risk to China's critical information infrastructure supply chain and

CHISINAU (AFP) -- Tens of thousands of Moldovans rallied on Sunday to demand European Union membership for their country, whose bid to join the bloc has been accelerated by the war in neighboring Ukraine. The former Soviet republic of 2.6 million people applied last year to join the EU and in June 2022 became a candidate country, alongside Ukraine. More than 75,000 people participated in the demonstration in the center of the capital, Chisinau, according to initial police estimates. They waved E

CANNES, France (AFP) -- Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese were set for a victory lap at Cannes on Sunday after their Native American crime epic, "Killers of the Flower Moon" scored rave reviews, while the festival prepared to bow down before Jude Law as King Henry VIII. Scorsese's latest opus, about a wave of murders among oil-rich Osage Indians in the 1920s, was showered in words like "searing," "triumph" and "masterpiece" by critics who scored

Talks to avoid a US debt default were on a knife edge Saturday as President Joe Biden warned he would not accept "extreme" Republican demands but said he remained optimistic. "I still believe we'll be able to avoid a default and we'll get something decent done," he told reporters at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan. With the Treasury Department warning that the US government could run out of money as early as June 1 -- triggering massive economic disruption in the

HIROSHIMA, Japan -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is poised for a first post-invasion trip to the Asia-Pacific, meeting allies at a G7 summit in Hiroshima as the bloc hit Russia's "war machine" with further sanctions. The previously unannounced visit was revealed by officials Friday -- a rare long-haul foray for the war-time president and an opportunity to huddle with leaders of seven wealthy democracies that bankroll his country's stoic defence. The visit comes at

The G7 plans to launch a partnership scheme to diversify supply chains this year, ministers from the group said Saturday following finance talks in Japan ahead of a major summit next week. The ministers did not directly mention efforts to reduce reliance on trade with China or Russia as motivation for the new framework, which focuses on clean energy technology. But after meeting her Japanese counterpart, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pointed to recent shocks to the global economy. "S

PARIS -- Iran on Friday released two French citizens jailed in separate cases and they are both now returning to France, the French foreign minister said. Bernard Phelan, who also holds Irish nationality, and Benjamin Briere were freed from their prison in the northeastern city of Mashhad and are "on their way to France," Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said. The pair were among some two dozen foreigners jailed in Iran who campaigners see as hostages held in a deliberate strategy by

ROME -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected in Rome on Saturday for talks with his Italian counterpart, an official told AFP Friday, with a meeting with Pope Francis also possible. "We confirm that this meeting will take place tomorrow," a spokesperson for Italian President Sergio Mattarella said when asked about reports of a meeting with Zelenskyy. It would be the first visit by Zelenskyy to EU and NATO member Italy since Russia's invasion in February 2022. A Va