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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will seek to address Caribbean leaders' concerns about Cuba at a summit on Wednesday, as Washington ramps up pressure on the communist island fresh after removing Venezuela's president.

The president of France's Palace of Versailles is expected to take over as head of the Louvre following the resignation of Laurence des Cars after a $100-million robbery at the museum last year, an informed source told AFP on Wednesday.

Richly talented but much maligned, England captain Harry Brook finally achieved redemption at Pallekele stadium in Kandy after a torrid few months -- and came of age as a leader.

Iran on Wednesday dismissed US claims about its missile programme as "big lies", after President Donald Trump said Tehran was developing missiles that could strike the United States.

The roar of machine guns and drone of helicopters shook the luxurious resort where Mexico's most-wanted cartel boss hid on Sunday, plunging tourists enjoying the picturesque western Mexican town of Tapalpa into panic.

Armed with nothing but a crowbar and shovel in the hills of Somaliland, Ahmed Ibrahim hacks away at rocks where he and fellow miners have already found tonnes of lithium.

Thirty-six dancers with raised arms glide slowly forward as they encircle their prey, a lone figure on a red table in a climactic scene from Ravel's "Bolero" choreographed by Maurice Bejart.

Sri Lanka's criminal investigators arrested the country's former intelligence chief on Wednesday in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people, including 45 foreigners.

South Korea has recorded its biggest annual birth rate bump in 15 years, official figures showed Wednesday, but still far below the threshold needed to stop its population shrinking.

The rebuttal to Donald Trump's State of the Union was delivered Tuesday by a stalwart of the Democrats' moderate wing -- seen as a model for the centrism some bet is key to winning November's midterm elections.

Australian detectives arrested two men Wednesday over the alleged kidnapping and murder of an elderly grandfather in a suspected case of mistaken identity.

English football icon Harry Redknapp told AFP that his late grandmother, the inspiration for his love of horse racing, "wouldn't believe" he had a horse that is "running in the (Cheltenham) Gold Cup".

US President Donald Trump boasted Tuesday of a "turnaround for the ages" in a State of the Union speech, seeking to reverse his dismal polls and see off mounting challenges at home and abroad ahead of crucial midterm elections.

The Cleveland Cavaliers emphatically got back to winning ways Tuesday, coasting to a 109-94 victory over the New York Knicks as their recent star signing James Harden scored 20 points.

If Donald Trump was worried about a hostile reception over his breakneck remaking of presidential norms, he did not show it -- striding in six minutes late, with the unhurried confidence of a man who knew the evening belonged to him.

Japan's Greenland-born women's football coach Nils Nielsen is no fan of Donald Trump but he loves his team and believes they can become fan favourites at the Asian Cup in Australia.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz touched down in China on Wednesday, beginning his inaugural visit to his country's largest trade partner and a high-tech rival as Europe's biggest economy struggles.

The mayor of New Zealand's capital city took an afternoon dip on Wednesday hoping to assuage public fears after a breakdown at a local wastewater treatment plant pumped raw sewage into the ocean and sprayed faecal matter on coastal homes.

US President Donald Trump boasted Tuesday of a "turnaround for the ages" in a State of the Union speech, seeking to reverse his dismal polls and see off mounting challenges at home and abroad ahead of crucial midterm elections.

Defending champion Marc Marquez launches his bid for a record-equalling eighth MotoGP world title as the season opens this week in Thailand.

Normally, Indonesian mother-of-four Rauzah would cook a feast for her family to break their Ramadan fast. This year, she makes do as best she can in the orange tent where they have been sheltering for almost three months.

Stock markets in Seoul and Tokyo surged to record highs as tech firms led an Asia-wide rally Wednesday following a rebound in their counterparts on Wall Street.

Overseas Nepali workers bankroll their families and buttress the economy, making them a key constituency in elections next week -- but they cannot vote themselves.

Jacques Poissant's suffering stopped the day he asked his daughter if it would be "cowardly to ask to be helped to die".

US President Donald Trump was to deliver a high-stakes State of the Union address Tuesday, boasting of a "turnaround for the ages" and vowing to confront threats to America as conflict with Iran looms.

A deserted cafe and petrol station near the Niirala border crossing to Russia shows how life has been on hold since Finland shut the frontier with its giant neighbour in December 2023.

Along Egypt's Mediterranean coast, the oldest tram in Africa and the Middle East rumbles for a final few weeks before its removal -- the latest urban upheaval Alexandrians say is hollowing out their city's identity.

When US and Iranian negotiators meet on Thursday in Geneva, Iran's top security chief Ali Larijani will be Tehran's key player behind the scenes.

A harpoon gun from "Jaws," a jacket worn by "The Terminator," and a "Star Wars" lightsaber hilt and C-3PO head are among the eye-catching items to be sold at auction next month.

A Brazilian prosecutor on Tuesday urged the conviction of two politicians accused of ordering the 2018 murder of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco, a case that exposed deep ties between politics and organized crime in the city.

The US-imposed oil blockade on Cuba is upending the lives of everyday workers, who are switching jobs and ditching their cars to make due amid rolling blackouts and fuel shortages.

Bodo/Glimt are on the march in the Champions League after dumping out European giants Inter Milan, the latest chapter in a remarkable rise for the tiny club from north of the Arctic Circle.

Norway's Bodo/Glimt pulled off one of the most remarkable results in modern Champions League history on Tuesday, beating last season's runners-up Inter Milan 2-1 at San Siro to reach the last 16 with a 5-2 aggregate triumph, while Newcastle United, Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen also went through.

Australian Open chief Craig Tiley is stepping down after a "transformative" tenure to run the US Tennis Association (USTA), the Australian governing body said Wednesday.

A few years ago, El Tunco beach in El Salvador was crawling with gang members who robbed and extorted people at will.

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino told AFP on Tuesday he was "very reassured" about Mexico's hosting of games in the football World Cup, in his first comments on the violence triggered by the killing of a drug cartel leader.

Fifteen Democratic-run US states announced Tuesday they are suing President Donald Trump's administration over its reduction in the number of recommended pediatric vaccines, which they criticize as contrary to science.

Three firemen pulled a man's body from the mud amidst the rubble of houses swept away in a landslide in southeastern Brazil, where 30 people died and 39 were still missing on Tuesday after torrential rains.

Warner Bros. Discovery said Tuesday it has received a revised acquisition proposal from Paramount Skydance, signaling that the offer could open the door to the company rethinking its deal with Netflix.