AFP news

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Jordan's King Abdullah II Saturday after leaving Israel empty-handed in his efforts to secure humanitarian "pauses" in its war to destroy Hamas.

The US Senate on Thursday approved Admiral Lisa Franchetti's nomination to lead the Navy, making her the first woman to hold the position and to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The United States and China, the world's two largest greenhouse gas emitters, will hold weekend talks in California to seek progress ahead of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, the State Department announced Thursday.

Jeering Qantas shareholders voted down a pay package for the company's top brass Friday, as the outgoing chairman apologised for a public "loss of trust" in Australia's much-loved carrier.

Danish shipping giant Maersk said Friday it would slash 3,500 jobs as net profit and revenue plunged in the third quarter due to a sharp fall in freight rates.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel Friday, an AFP correspondent travelling with him said, in a trip focused on measures to minimise harm to civilians in the war in Gaza.

From fabricated images of Donald Trump's arrest to a video depicting a dystopian future under Joe Biden, the 2024 White House race faces a firehose of tech-enabled disinformation in what is widely billed as America's first AI election.

Myanmar's junta chief said the military will strike back at ethnic armed groups waging an offensive in the north of the country, seizing towns and blocking trade routes to China, state media reported Friday.

The once bustling streets of Jerusalem's Old City have fallen eerily quiet, with the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas keeping away tourists and their much-needed cash.

US presidential elections are described as a 50-state obstacle course, but the hurdles across Donald Trump's path in the coming year look particularly daunting as a crush of court dates competes with campaign commitments in his 2024 calendar.

Under-fire Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag cannot afford another damaging defeat when his troubled side face Fulham on Saturday.

Music's glitterati will fete a new class of legends entering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Friday, among them Missy Elliott and the late George Michael.

The owner of X Elon Musk on Thursday predicted the future with AI would be an "age of abundance" with a "universal high income" instead of a universal basic income but warned of "humanoid robots" that might chase humans.

Apple on Thursday reported that sales fell for the fourth consecutive quarter when compared to the prior year, but profit rose on the back iPhones and services.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the one-time cryptocurrency golden boy accused by US prosecutors of stealing billions of dollars of his customers' money, was found guilty on Thursday on all counts, and now faces up to 110 years behind bars.

From Angola to Hong Kong, North Korea is rapidly shuttering its overseas embassies, as Pyongyang's economy sputters and Kim Jong Un embraces 'new Cold War' diplomacy with Russia, experts say.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced a stimulus package worth more than $100 billion on Thursday as he tries to ease the pressure from inflation and rescue his premiership with his poll ratings at a record low.

Storm Ciaran battered northern France with record winds of nearly 200 km per hour killing a lorry driver as southern England remained on high alert Thursday and rail operators in several countries warned of traffic disruptions.

Hundreds more wounded and foreign passports holders hoped to escape war-torn Gaza on Thursday as Israeli forces bombed and fought intense ground battles with Hamas militants in the besieged Palestinian territory.

British energy giant Shell on Thursday said net profit rose 4.5 percent to $7 billion in the third quarter from a year earlier, as it benefits from high oil prices.

More than 165,000 Afghans have fled Pakistan in the month since Islamabad issued an ultimatum to 1.7 million people to leave or face arrest and deportation, officials said Thursday.

President Joe Biden wants Congress to quickly pass billions of dollars in new aid for both Israel and Ukraine, but the Republican-controlled lower chamber on Thursday is set to consider a bill that puts Kyiv on the back burner.

Uruguay's foreign minister resigned abruptly Wednesday, after the release of recordings in which he allegedly seeks to cover up information involving Sebastian Marset, an accused cocaine trafficker and subject of an international manhunt.

President Joe Biden, when responding to a heckler at a Minnesota campaign event Wednesday night, said he thinks there should be a humanitarian "pause" in the Israeli-Hamas war to get "prisoners" out of Gaza.

Novak Djokovic returned to the court on Wednesday, cruising past Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-2 and strengthening his hold on top spot in the rankings after his two closest rivals both lost at the Paris Masters.

The Walt Disney Company on Wednesday announced it will buy Comcast's $8.6 billion stake in Hulu, completing its takeover of the streaming service.

A portrait of English playwright William Shakespeare and a speech from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" have been sent into space in a weather balloon to mark the 400th anniversary of the publication of his first collected works.

Nearly half the world's countries are seeing the level of democracy decline, an international think tank said Thursday.

Oil-rich Gulf states have positioned themselves as both champions of climate innovation and guardians of fossil fuel interests -- a balancing act experts warn could derail action at COP28 in Dubai.