AFP news

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and opposition leader Friedrich Merz will face off in a final head-to-head debate Wednesday, four days before the election, in a campaign overshadowed by the rise of the far right.

US President Donald Trump expanded his offensive against trading partners on Tuesday, threatening 25 percent tariffs on imported cars, and similar or higher duties on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.

Britain's annual inflation rate rose more than expected last month, official data showed Wednesday, adding pressure to the Labour government which is also facing sluggish economic growth.

Banking giant HSBC said Wednesday that CEO Georges Elhedery's plan since October to simplify the company's structure and geographic setup will yield $1.5 billion in annual cost savings by the end of 2026.

Asian markets were mixed Wednesday after President Donald Trump broadened his tariff threats, while traders were also assessing the geopolitical outlook after the first high-level official US-Russia talks since the invasion of Ukraine.

Bogus child pornography claims, fabricated support for communism and fake posts showing Elon Musk calling for his removal -- a deluge of disinformation is targeting a top judge in suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial.

An asteroid that could level a city now has a 3.1-percent chance of striking Earth in 2032, according to NASA data released Tuesday -- making it the most threatening space rock ever recorded by modern forecasting.

Donald Trump's threats of import tariffs have sent shockwaves through Canada, forcing businesses to question their dependence on the United States -- a reassessment that is creating headaches for many sectors.

A US judge on Tuesday declined a request to temporarily block Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from firing federal employees and accessing agency data, a victory for President Donald Trump in his bid to shrink the government workforce.

Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce are poised to progress to the last 16 of the Europa League when they visit Anderlecht on Thursday as the Portuguese coach targets a sixth European trophy of his storied managerial career.

Wildlife rangers will Wednesday begin shooting 90 dolphins stranded on a remote Australian beach, saying the stressed creatures would be euthanised after attempts to refloat them failed.

The US Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Wall Street billionaire Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary, a key step towards the rollout of President Donald Trump's "America First" trade agenda, which uses tariffs as a broad negotiation tool.

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro claimed Monday to have been the target of a plot to down his plane with missiles by "big mafias" irate at his government's attempts to hunt them down.

The sweeping tariffs threatened or already imposed by US President Donald Trump risk triggering inflation, market distortions, and even a global recession, China said Tuesday at the World Trade Organization.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday criticised US-Russia talks for excluding Kyiv, saying efforts to end the war must be "fair" and involve European countries including Turkey.

The UN nuclear watchdog chief will make his first visit this week to storage facilities for vast quantities of soil contaminated in the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta has said it will lay an undersea cable stretching across five continents to carry data, including for developing artificial intelligence.

Turkey has detained 282 people in a nationwide swoop on those with suspected "terror" ties, the interior minister said Tuesday, despite a parallel government bid to end the bloody four-decade Kurdish conflict.

The Philippine Coast Guard condemned "dangerous" maneuvers by a Chinese Navy helicopter Tuesday as it flew within three meters (10 feet) of a surveillance flight carrying a group of journalists over the contested Scarborough Shoal.

Faced with myriad problems including gridlocked traffic and a sinking earth surface in its current capital, Iran is considering a drastic solution -- moving it to an altogether different location on the Gulf of Oman.

Electric vehicle maker Tesla has begun hiring in India, with the company of tycoon Elon Musk issuing advertisements days after US President Donald Trump's right-hand man met with India's premier.

Lawyers supporting Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte filed the first legal challenge against her impeachment at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, saying it had been unconstitutionally rushed through without proper oversight.

Japan will allow people from Taiwan to list the island as their place of origin in the country's family registry instead of China, a justice ministry official said Tuesday.

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.

Twenty-five years ago, director Park Chan-wook risked jail to make a movie about friendship between North and South Korean soldiers, striking box office gold and beginning his actors' ascent to global stardom.

Asian markets were mixed Tuesday with Hong Kong resuming its tech-led rally after a meeting between President Xi Jinping and China's top business leaders fanned hopes that a long-running crackdown on the private sector is coming to an end.

Israeli troops withdrew from all but five points in south Lebanon on Tuesday, allowing displaced residents to return to border villages largely destroyed in more than a year of hostilities.

Top US and Russian diplomats met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for talks on resetting their fractured relations, the first such discussions since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

India captain Rohit Sharma and superstar batsman Virat Kohli enter the Champions Trophy this week with intense focus on their dwindling powers and speculation over when they will retire.