AFP news

The world's second-largest economy last year saw some of its slowest growth in decades, as a debt crisis in the property sector added to geopolitical tensions and weakening global demand.

A proposal to free the hostages in exchange for a pause in Israel's offensive in the Palestinian territory is being studied by Hamas leaders after it was thrashed out by Israel, Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

The Verdi services trade union called on more than 90,000 workers at over 130 local companies operating buses, trams and underground services to join the walkout in an escalating dispute over pay and working conditions.

At Sunday's gala, seven of eight of nominees in the Album and Record of the Year categories are women or gender fluid, among them Taylor Swift, SZA and Olivia Rodrigo -- a sea change many industry watchers see as long overdue.

Facebook became a venue for connecting with just about anyone, anywhere and by 2023 reported being used by more than 3 billion people monthly -- a three percent growth over the previous year.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva praised the Milei government's "bold actions to restore macroeconomic stability and... address long-standing impediments to growth."

The abrupt about-face from Orban on the vitally needed four-year funding package for Kyiv came as after EU leaders offered a possible review of the spending in two years.

Sudan's war has already killed thousands, including between 10,000 and 15,000 in a single city in the western Darfur region, according to UN experts.

The downbeat sentiment was compounded by disappointing earnings from US titans Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet, which pummeled the tech sector.

Deutsche said it plans to cut around 3,500 jobs over the next two years, "mainly in non-client-facing areas".

It was the most violent episode in the initial stage of the huge protests that upended the financial hub that year, with Beijing later imposing a sweeping national security law to snuff out dissent.

The leader of Hamas was expected in Cairo on Thursday for talks on a proposed truce in Gaza, as Israel kept up its offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.

The emblem of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) he inherited from his mother Benazir Bhutto -- assassinated in 2007 -- symbolizes "the self-respecting", "the trustworthy" and "victory", he told followers crammed in a rain-slick park.

Consumer prices slowed to 2.8 percent in January, from 2.9 percent in December, the EU's statistics agency said. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg and FactSet had forecast inflation to slow to 2.7 percent.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday vehemently rejected claims that drug traffickers helped to fund his first presidential campaign in 2006, describing the allegations as "completely false."

Premier League leaders Liverpool stepped up their title bid with a 4-1 rout of Chelsea, while Erling Haaland made his Manchester City comeback as the champions beat Burnley 3-1 on Wednesday.

Cuba's government on Wednesday delayed a planned 500 percent surge in the fuel price after a "cybersecurity incident," an economy ministry official said.

American forces destroyed a missile belonging to Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Wednesday that posed an "imminent threat" to US aircraft, the military said.

The United Kingdom government on Wednesday outlined its proposals to get the Northern Ireland assembly back up and running after a political deadlock of nearly two years caused by divisions over post-Brexit trade rules.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave a public apology in US Congress on Wednesday as hostile lawmakers grilled tech chiefs over the dangers that children face on social media platforms.

Washington and Beijing are at loggerheads over a raft of issues, from chips to tariffs, but both have been alarmed by the growing assertiveness of China's military in the Pacific.

H&M chief executive Helena Helmersson announced Wednesday she was stepping down, sending shares in the fashion retailer tumbling as the Swedish company reported lower-than-expected profits in the fourth quarter.

Thailand's progressive Move Forward Party, which won most seats at the last election, was Wednesday ordered to stop campaigning to reform the kingdom's tough royal defamation laws, as a top court ruled the policy was unlawful.

While most of the world treats Afghanistan's Taliban government as a pariah, China is growing diplomatic and economic links -- and Kabul is happy for the attention.

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was sentenced Wednesday to 14 years in jail on a graft charge, a day after he was given a 10-year prison term in verdicts handed down just a week before national elections.

Weak sales, deserting advertisers, falling revenues and unpaid wages: Niger's newspaper industry has been buffeted by sanctions imposed on the country after military officers seized power in July.

After a drone attack killed three American soldiers in Jordan on Sunday near the Syrian and Iraq borders, Washington immediately accused "radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq".

The Israeli army said Tuesday it is channelling water into Gaza's tunnels in a bid to destroy the sprawling underground network used by Hamas militants to launch attacks on Israel.

Wavering world leaders were told Tuesday to speed up efforts to agree a global treaty on avoiding a new pandemic catastrophe -- four years to the day since Covid-19 was declared an international emergency.