Showing 1 - 10 of 97
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.
Amid Ukraine war fallout, fearful Chechen women seek escape route
AFP, Published on 28/01/2026
» EUROPE - Facing what activists say is a hardening of repression inside Chechnya amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Asil and Aishat, both young women, recently fled their violent families in search of safety.
Over 70 shark, ray species win new wildlife trade protections
AFP, Published on 28/11/2025
» BANGKOK - The world's top wildlife trade organisation increased protections on Friday for more than 70 species of sharks and rays, in a move conservationists hailed as a "historical win".
Inside Saudi's hajj-only barbershop, shaving thousands of heads in a day
AFP, Published on 07/06/2025
» MINA (SAUDI ARABIA) - Near the holy city of Mecca, men in white robes stand quietly in a long queue, waiting for the next important act of their hajj pilgrimage: a haircut.
Muslim pilgrims 'stone the devil' as hajj concludes in Saudi
AFP, Published on 06/06/2025
» MINA (SAUDI ARABIA) - Pilgrims were set to perform the last major ritual of the hajj -- the "stoning of the devil" -- on Friday, as Muslims around the globe celebrated the beginning of the Eid al-Adha holiday.
Muslim pilgrims pray at Mount Arafat in hajj apex
AFP, Published on 05/06/2025
» MOUNT ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia - Muslim pilgrims prayed atop Mount Arafat on Thursday during the high point of the annual hajj pilgrimage, as Saudi officials called on participants to refrain from being outside during the hottest hours of the day.
French surgeon says deserves no 'leniency' after decades of abusing patients
AFP, Published on 26/05/2025
» VANNES (FRANCE) - A French surgeon who sexually abused hundreds of patients over two decades, most of them minors, said Monday he was asking for no "leniency" as his three-month trial nears a verdict.
At least 160,000 rally in Berlin against far right
AFP, Published on 03/02/2025
» BERLIN - Demonstrators descended on Berlin Sunday to protest last week's decision by Germany's conservatives to make overtures to the far right ahead of this month's legislative election, drawing at least 160,000 people, according to police.
French actor Alain Delon dies aged 88, French media report
Reuters, Published on 18/08/2024
» PARIS: French actor Alain Delon, who melted the hearts of millions of film fans whether playing a murderer, hoodlum or hitman in his postwar heyday, has died, French media reported on Sunday. He was 88.
‘Open warfare’ as Marcos-Duterte alliance crumbles
Reuters, Published on 03/02/2024
» MANILA - The alliance between Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte disintegrated this week when they accused each other of using drugs — a rift that could threaten Marcos’s reform agenda and risk fuelling instability.