AFP News Agency

24/08/2025

Corgis compete in a costume contest at the Corgi Race Vilnius 2025 gathering in the Lithuanian capital.

Other events over the weekend included races and barking contests.

📷Petras Malukas

24/08/2025

Armed with colorful oars, rowers pack into long boats in western Indonesia, paddling furiously in front of race crowds swelled by the viral success of a young boy famous for his dancing at the front of the traditional vessels.

Read more here: https://u.afp.com/SAJ8

24/08/2025

Bird call contest seeks to boost conservation awareness in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Bird Watching Society holds its first-ever bird call contest with people taking to the stage to mimic the calls of birds including the koel, brown fish owl, and Asian barred owlet. The event aims to raise awareness of the conservation of bird habitats in and around the city.

24/08/2025

Israel continues offensive on Gaza City as famine declared

Smoke rises as Israeli forces press ahead with an offensive on Gaza City, saying it is key to capturing Hamas's last major strongholds. It comes after a UN-backed report by the IPC officially declared that famine is affecting 500,000 people in the Palestinian territory, accusing Israel of a "systematic obstruction" of aid.

23/08/2025

At the height of North America's firefly season in 2025, TikTok lit up with misinformation about the beloved luminescent insect.

"We are the last generation to see fireflies" claimed posts using animated images of lightning bugs, one attracting over 30 million views. But the claim is false.

There are more than 2,000 species of fireflies on all continents except for Antarctica, making it highly unlikely that all of them would disappear within just one generation.

Experts say some have shown remarkable adaptability to light pollution. However, they also warn the destruction of habitats could lead to the extinction of
certain species.

🎥 Quentin Tyberghien
📸 I-Hwa Cheng, Philip Fong, Don Emmert, Jeff
Haynes, Karen Bleier, Derek R. Henkle, Brendan
Smialowski, Ina Fassbender, Ben Stansall
✍️ Manon Jacob
💻 Natalie Handel
🎵 Audio Network / The Way is Lit / Thomas Balmforth
(PRS)

23/08/2025

A British woman suffering from motor neurone disease who lost her ability to speak is once again talking in her own voice thanks to artificial intelligence and a barely audible eight-second clip from an old home video.

Read more here: https://u.afp.com/SQFZ

23/08/2025

Netflix's gargantuan hit film "KPop Demon Hunters" has captured the global zeitgeist this summer, smashing streaming and music chart records. Now it is coming for movie theaters.

Read more here:

Netflix's gargantuan hit film "KPop Demon Hunters" has captured the global zeitgeist this summer, smashing streaming and music chart records. Now it is coming for movie theaters.

23/08/2025

Stray goats run riot near Marseille

Once limited to the surrounding hills, thousands of stray goats now wander villages freely on the outskirts of the southern French city. As the herd grows, so too does the debate over whether the animals are a loveable quirk or a problem that needs control.

22/08/2025

The Justice Department released a transcript of an interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, the accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, in which she said Donald Trump was friendly with the convicted s*x offender but was "never inappropriate with anybody."

22/08/2025

Shanghai Zoo prepares ice blocks and watermelons to help animals cope with extreme heat as the city continues to issue high-temperature alerts.

22/08/2025

American actor Willem Dafoe, who has starred in over 100 films including "Platoon" and "Finding Nemo", receives the "Heart of Sarajevo" award at the Sarajevo Film Festival for his "outstanding contribution to the art of cinema".

22/08/2025

US President Donald Trump has vowed to lead the largest migrant deportation program in US history. To do so, his administration has stepped up raids, arrests, detentions and deportations of undocumented migrants, in some cases without due process. The crackdown has sparked protests and fear across the nation, which is home to the largest immigrant population in the world.