Showing 1 - 10 of 1,177
Extravagant opera costumes up for auction
AFP, Published on 12/02/2026
» GENEVA - Sandra Delpierre’s fingers linger on a long blue and white fur coat and graze a pair of angel wings as she winds past thousands of colourful costumes used in opera performances.
'Artists of steel': Japanese swords forge new fanbase
AFP, Published on 11/02/2026
» MISATO, SAITAMA (JAPAN) - Sparks illuminate the soot-covered studio of Japanese swordsmith Akihira Kawasaki as his apprentice hammers red-hot steel, showcasing a millennium-old craft now enjoying a resurgence in popularity.
Trump says closing Kennedy Center arts complex for two years
AFP, Published on 02/02/2026
» WASHINGTON (UNITED STATES) - US President Donald Trump announced Sunday he is closing the Kennedy Center arts complex in Washington for two years, beginning on July 4 -- the nation's 250th anniversary -- for a thorough renovation.
Sumo diplomacy: Japan's heavyweight 'soft power' ambassadors
AFP, Published on 30/01/2026
» TOKYO - Two giants stare each other down before colliding with a dull thud. After years on the sidelines, sumo is back centrestage as part of Japan's soft power arsenal overseas.
Israel prepares to bury last Gaza hostage
AFP, Published on 28/01/2026
» MEITAR, Israel - Grieving relatives of Ran Gvili gathered on Wednesday as Israel prepared to bury the last hostage returned from Gaza, marking the end of a painful national saga triggered by Hamas’s 2023 attack.
Submersibles revealing mysteries of the deep sea
AFP, Published on 26/01/2026
» ABOARD OCEANXPLORER, Indonesia - A dome-fronted submersible sinks beneath the waves off Indonesia, heading down nearly 1,000 metres in search of new species, plastic-eating microbes and compounds that could one day make medicines.
Chilean police arrest suspect in deadly wildfires
AFP, Published on 22/01/2026
» LIRQUEN, Chile - Police in south-central Chile have arrested a man on suspicion of starting one of the recent wildfires that killed 21 people and razed entire neighbourhoods, the government said on Wednesday.
Plastics everywhere, and the myth that made it possible
AFP, Published on 22/01/2026
» WASHINGTON - If there’s one material that defines modern life more than any other, it’s plastic: present from the moment we’re born in newborn stool, in product packaging, in the soil beneath our feet and the air we breathe.
Trump embraces AI deepfakes in political messaging
AFP, Published on 15/01/2026
» WASHINGTON - From playing football in the Oval Office to sipping cocktails on a sun lounger in Gaza and attacking critics from a fighter jet, Donald Trump has become the first US president to deploy AI-generated imagery as a key tool of political communications.
Venezuelan prisoners smile to hear of Maduro's fall
AFP, Published on 11/01/2026
» GUATIRE (VENEZUELA) - The prisoner's face lit up when his wife visited and told him that the man responsible for his detention was himself behind bars: Venezuela's deposed leader Nicolas Maduro.