German 'bureaucracy monster' on everyone's election hit list

Berlin (AFP) – German politicians make a lot of laws and regulations but on the campaign trail many rage against the country’s notorious bureaucracy, labelling it a monster that needs to be slayed.

Slashing bureaucracy was a key demand at a recent Berlin protest called by business groups wanting to revive the stagnating economy

Why Brazil's Lula is bleeding support

Brasília (AFP) – Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 79, has been on a whirlwind campaign of interviews and public appearances in recent weeks to shore up dwindling support, but the numbers keep getting worse.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been on a media blitz of late, eager to shore up dwindling public support

Survivors recount horrific RSF attack on famine

Tawila (AFP) – Sarah had survived famine, multiple wars and years of displacement in Sudan’s Zamzam camp and never considered fleeing, until a paramilitary attack turned the site into a “killing field”.

Sudanese women and children, who fled Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur

Musk launches 'scary smart' AI chatbot

San Francisco (AFP) – Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company unveiled on Monday the latest version of its chatbot, Grok 3, which the billionaire hopes will find traction in a highly competitive sector contested by the likes of ChatGPT and China’s DeepSeek.

Elon Musk's AI company is releasing a new version of its chatbot, Grok

Syrians return to Homs, 'capital of the revolution'

Homs (Syria) (AFP) – Once dubbed the capital of the revolution against Bashar al-Assad, Homs saw some of the fiercest fighting in Syria’s civil war. Now, displaced people are returning to their neighbourhoods, only to find them in ruins.

A girl holds an independence-era Syrian flag out of the window of a bus at the entrance to the central city of Homs

'They knew': Victims of paedophile French surgeon blame systemic failure

Rennes (France) (AFP) – A French surgeon to stand trial over raping or sexually assaulting almost 300 patients, mostly children, practised for decades right up until his retirement despite a conviction for owning abusive images of children and colleagues sounding the alarm, an AFP investigation shows.

Joel Le Scouarnec is to face charges he sexually abused 299 patients

UN nuclear chief to view soil removed from Fukushima

Tokyo (AFP) – The UN nuclear watchdog chief arrives in Japan on Tuesday for a trip that will include his first visit to storage facilities for vast quantities of soil contaminated in the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is undertaking a decades-long process to decommission the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant

India's infrastructure push engulfs Kashmir farmers' land

Srinagar (India) (AFP) – Farmers in Indian-administered Kashmir say a major government infrastructure drive is taking their deeply cherished land, fearing it spearheads a push to “Hinduise” the disputed Muslim-majority territory.

Farmers in Indian-administered Kashmir say a major government infrastructure drive is taking their deeply cherished land