The Swedish island of Gotland has discovered huge reserves of Burgundy truffles whose quality matches the best of what France has to offer. Swedish chefs already prefer the local variety, even though it's more expensive. AFP goes foraging for delicacies in the newfound truffle trove.
During the momentous events in Berlin in 1989, they worked as news reporters for Russian media. Twenty years on AFPTV talks to two journalists who witnessed first-hand the fall of the Wall and the crumbling of the Soviet Union.
Former French president Jacques Chirac's charity foundation gave its first award for the prevention of conflicts to two Nigerian preachers on Friday. The jury also gave a special prize to Park Jae-Kyu, South Korea's former unification minister.
For nearly 60 years he's been Japan’s most famous robot. Astro Boy, the celebrated comic strip and cartoon superhero first sketched by manga master Osamu Tezuka, has been given a new lease on life in a 3D Hollywood blockbuster.
Irish rockers U2 warmed up the German capital with a concert broadcast live during the MTV Europe Music Awards, the first in a series of celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Duration : 00:31
In a bid to boost its flagging tourism industry, Cyprus is laying golf courses by the acre. But the manicured greens demand much irrigation and opponents say developers' plans to use water from desalination plants would be harmful to the environment. Duration : 02:16.
For nearly 20 years, Reverend Martin Weskott has been saving books printed in the former East Germany from the rubbish heap of history. He stores them in a barn and opens the site up once a week to give people the chance to buy the Communist-era literature. Weskott believes he has sold about one million East German books over the years. Duration: 01:32
How would you pair French wine with braised abalone? A year after Hong Kong scrapped a 40 percent tax on wine, sales are booming, and the territory is positioning itself as the wine capital of Asia. Duration : 01:56
The Little Prince, the intergalactic boy traveler who is part of many peoples' childhoods around the world, is visiting Brazil in a show also honoring his adventuresome creator.
An exhibit on climate change in Mexico City’s Papalote children’s museum aims to raise awareness of global warning in one of the world’s top oil producers. Although Mexico has led global efforts to combat climate change, the issue is still new at home.
Several records were broken for artists at Sotheby's New York auction of impressionist and modern art Wednesday, with 181 million dollars in sales, above the pre-auction estimate.
Central London is one of the most expensive places to live on the planet. But hundreds of properties -- amongst them mansions and former embassies -- are left empty by their owners, often leaving the way open for communities of squatters to set up home. One multi-million pound property, in London's famous Leicester Square, has been taken over by an art collective offering a rent-free space to cash-strapped performers.
French banks pledged on Thursday to stagger payment of half of all banker bonuses over three years and to pay half in the form of shares, in line with measures agreed at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh.
The UN announced Thursday it was evacuating more than half its international staff from Afghanistan after a deadly Taliban attack on a guesthouse for UN workers.
More people are HIV positive in South Africa than in any other country in the world. Yet many men still refuse to face up to the problem. A new scheme in Johannesburg hopes to change that, by talking directly to guys in the bars and clubs around town. Duration: 02:21
Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps is standing tall -- all 4,810.45 metres of it. That's only 45 centimetres less than when it was last measured four years ago, but three metres above the height French schoolchildren have long been taught. Scientists carried out new measurements in September -- and on Thursday announced some surprising finds from the top of the summit straddling France and Italy. Duration: 01:15
Music therapy has been found to help some sufferers of Alzheimer's disease, as well as their family and caregivers. In one home for Alzheimer's and dementia patients, residents take up drumming and singing as a means of connecting to others in the midst of these isolating illnesses. Duration: 01:48
Clocks at the reception give the time in Havana and Moscow. Communist leaders look down with thin-lipped smiles from portraits on the wall. At the East Hotel in Berlin, the reminders of East Germany and its authoritarian regime are everywhere. It's a place destined to please "Ostalgie" tourists eager to bunk down in the past. Duration: 01:35
While the world commemorates the fall of one wall, another is the focus of unyielding protest. For some, the separation barrier between Israel and the West Bank is an essential security buffer, for others, a symbol of oppression. Every Friday, hundreds of people come to protest its presence. Duration: 02:05
Carrying around a dash of eloquence and a well-groomed moustache, cheese-maker Bernard Mure Ravaud has won several prices and, over 25 years, his cheese-shop in the French Alps city of Grenoble has proved a hit. Duration: 01:54
A new innovation is helping Peru's most isolated communities -- nets which "catch" clouds in the country's Andean heights, soaking up precipitation to be converted into water.
Israeli naval commandos intercepted a ship carrying "hundreds of tonnes" of arms which officials said were being sent from Iran to the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. The haul from the Francop ship is among the largest ever seized by Israel, containing hundreds of ammunition crates packed into shipping containers, many hidden behind sacks of cement.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday the future of Jerusalem must be on the agenda of any Middle East peace talks, as the Palestinians again took Israel to task over Jewish settlements in the disputed holy city. Duration: 00:52
A group of Kurdish rebels recently crossed from Iraq into Turkey in a gesture of support for a Turkish government plan to end the 25-year Kurdish conflict. From their base in the Iraqi Qandil Mountains, PKK commander Murat Karayilan, second in command of the rebel movement, spoke exclusively to AFPTV. Duration: 01:42
With the last hurdle for the Lisbon Treaty out of the way, people across the European Union can now focus on another question: what is it, exactly? The document seeks to reform the unwieldy 27-nation bloc, but it is unclear to most how that will change life for the 300 million people within its mandate. Reaction from the streets of London, Warsaw, Paris and Berlin. Duration: 02:24
Afghanistan's former presidential challenger Abdullah Abdullah on Wednesday slammed Hamid Karzai's re-election as illegal, piling pressure on the head of state as his foreign allies warned him to deliver on reform pledges. Duration: 00:44
For more than two years the Gaza Strip has suffered a penury of all essentials goods due to the ongoing Israeli blockade. But some things do manage to make it into the enclave -- including drugs. Increasing numbers of young Gazans, overcome by the misery and monotony of their situation, are seeking refuge in oblivion. Duration: 02:05.
Afghan opium production is on the rise, helping to fund the Taliban and other terror groups and having a devastating impact across the world, experts say. Inside the country, too, opium addiction is now becoming a problem, especially among the poorest. Duration: 02:31.THIS REPORT WAS ORIGINALLY FILED ON SEPTEMBER 2, 2009.
A surf culture is beginning to develop on China's tropical island of Hainan as both middle-class and counter-culture hippie types learn to ride the waves. Surf operators, including foreign veterans of the sport, are popping up to service this new clientele, and this coming weekend, Hainan will host China's only surfing competition -- the Hainan Open. Duration: 02:03.
French artist Henri Matisse used Auguste Rodin, who was 30 year older, as a constant source of inspiration for his sculptures. The Matisse-Rodin exhibition at the Rodin Museum in Paris until the end of February, revisits the link between the two great masters. Duration: 01:45.
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday said it was "imperative to redouble our efforts" to combat global warming, as European leaders pressed Washington to take action on climate change ahead of next month's summit.
Major Hollywood actors, Jim Carrey, Bob Hoskins and Colin Firth, flipped on the switch for the 50th anniversary of Christmas lights in London on Tuesday night.
US President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama made the Middle East conflict a cornerstone of his diplomacy when he came to the White House. A year after his election, America's changing role is as crucial as ever in mediating diplomatic efforts for the troubled region's peace process.
The 1Goal campaign is pushing to make education for all children the legacy of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Tatum Keshwar, Miss South Africa was in a Soweto school to promote 1 Goal, which aims to get the estimated 75 million children worldwide who aren't in school into the education system. Backed by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the campaign is trying to gather 30 million signatures and the backing of countries around the world.
A year ago Wednesday, Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States of America. A look at images from that historic election.
The annual Kimberley Process talks, which aim to bring an end to the trade in conflict diamonds around the world, are taking place in Namibia. While experts argue there is more transparency than ever in the industry, there are still concerns that the Kimberley Process does not go far enough.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel hit out at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tuesday, saying it would be unacceptable to allow a Holocaust denier to get the nuclear bomb.
Known for its anaesthetic, anti-inflammatory and even antibiotic qualities, the leech is making a return to the world of medicine. In Russia, 10 times more of the blood-suckers are grown than anywhere else in the world and leech therapy is nothing new. Duration: 01:55
World and Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt has come face-to-face with his match for speed in the animal world -- a cheetah. The fastest man on earth adopted a cub in Kenya on Monday as he promoted a new environmental charity. Duration: 00:59
World and Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt has come face-to-face with his match for speed in the animal world -- a cheetah. The fastest man on earth adopted a cub in Kenya on Monday as he promoted a new environmental charity. Duration: 00:59