AFP news

Japan's "Moon Sniper" spacecraft will attempt a historic touchdown on the lunar surface this weekend using pinpoint technology the country hopes will lead to success where many have failed.

The rich and famous are paying top dollar for a place at this week's Davos summit but heiress Marlene Engelhorn is on the other side of the fence at the glitzy Swiss resort, demanding that they pay more in taxes.

President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday sought to breathe new life into his final term with a promise for a "stronger and fairer" France, at a rare news conference peppered with a string of announcements aimed at forging greater civic responsibility and security.

Iowa's first-in-the-nation Republican nominating contest for the US presidential election could hardly have been scripted better for Donald Trump, whose historic performance leaves his rivals fighting for scraps.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Tuesday defended his company's multi-billion-dollar investment in ChatGPT developer OpenAI after the EU and Britain launched probes into whether it resembles a merger.

The CEO of Fortnite-maker Epic Games said Tuesday the company's court battle to open up Apple's iPhone to alternative app stores was lost after the US Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Ryanair on Tuesday welcomed improved quality controls at US aircraft manufacturer Boeing and announced its own enhanced checks, after a major safety issue.

A US federal judge on Tuesday ruled against JetBlue's $3.8 billion takeover of low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines, saying that the deal would reduce competition.

Google on Tuesday confirmed it is eliminating "a few hundred" positions from its global ad team, amid a push to use artificial intelligence for efficiency and creativity.

While cyber-attacks on banks, utilities and media platforms may grab the most attention, the hacking of the British Library has led to warnings that academia has become an easy target.

Pharrell Williams brought the American West to Paris on Tuesday as he presented a collection full of cowboy hats and rhinestones for his latest show as creative director at Louis Vuitton.

Everton and Nottingham Forest could face points deductions after admitting to being in breach of the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules at the end of the 2022/23 season.

Russian 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva put her school work to one side Wednesday and instead underlined her huge potential by crushing sixth seed Ons Jabeur in under an hour at the Australian Open.

The shows were barely over in Milan but the fashion crowd had already shifted to Paris on Tuesday, with Pharrell Williams hinting at a cowboy theme for his opening day show for Louis Vuitton.

Apple's iPhone for the first time became the world's biggest selling smartphone after rival Samsung's 12-year run as leader, data showed.

Britain's plan to send migrants to Rwanda returns to the spotlight Tuesday when lawmakers debate the controversial scheme, testing leader Rishi Sunak's authority with a general election around the corner.

Donald Trump romped to a landslide victory Monday in Iowa's caucuses -- the first vote in the US presidential race -- cementing his status as the presumptive Republican standard-bearer to challenge President Joe Biden in November's election.

Looking over his shoulder for eavesdroppers in a cafe, an Israeli anti-war campaigner leaned closer to a woman who plans to refuse military enlistment, risking jail time during Israel's unrelenting Gaza offensive.

Yemen's Huthi rebels hit a US-owned cargo vessel with a missile on Monday, the US military said, heightening fears for the volatile region after repeated attacks on shipping triggered American and British strikes.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been released from Walter Reed hospital, he said Monday, after two weeks of treatment that he initially concealed from other top officials including President Joe Biden, leading to calls for his removal from office.

The US special envoy for Ukraine's economic recovery said Monday that tapping frozen Russian assets would be an "easy" source of money for Kyiv, but the G7 must first agree collectively to do it.

France's new Education Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera is coming under increasing pressure over her decision to have her children attend a private school, a row overshadowing President Emmanuel Macron's attempt to relaunch his second term with a government reshuffle.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made his first in-person appearance at the annual meeting of global elites in Davos on Tuesday as he seeks to shore up support in his country's nearly two-year-old conflict with Russia.

Israel has said its operations against Hamas in southern Gaza will soon enter a less intensive phase, after the militant group's health ministry reported the death toll in the territory had surpassed 24,000.

For more than a century, Marc Bernhardt's family has been running a dairy farm in eastern Germany's Saxony region.

Political tension was running high in the Comoros on Monday, with violent incidents reported one day after the Indian Ocean island nation held a presidential vote.

The first refugee to be elected to New Zealand's parliament resigned Tuesday over alleged shoplifting, which she said was related to personal stress and trauma.

ChatGPT maker OpenAI has said it will introduce tools to combat disinformation ahead of the dozens of elections this year in countries that are home to half the world's population.

Lionel Messi was controversially crowned as FIFA's best men's player for 2023 on Monday, while Aitana Bonmati added to her collection of individual accolades at the awards ceremony in London.