AFP news

The United Nations has said it reached agreement with the Syrian government on aid deliveries to rebel-held areas from Turkey, raising concern among relief groups who had wanted Damascus kept out.

European stock markets rebounded on Wednesday as bank shares recovered and after a mixed showing by Asia.

Two weeks after the coup in Niger, France has abandoned its tough tone on the crisis and is now inclining towards diplomatic solutions, with military action seemingly ruled out for now, experts said.

Scientists have identified the maximum mix of heat and humidity a human body can survive.

China on Wednesday reported it had entered deflation for the first time since 2021 -- the latest indicator pointing to a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

A spate of high-profile visits by US officials to Saudi Arabia underscores how ties have warmed amid talks over a potential deal that would see the Gulf kingdom recognise Israel, analysts say.

Asian markets wavered Wednesday after data showing the first drop in Chinese consumer prices compounded worries about the world's number two economy.

Uncertainty over the future of Kylian Mbappe hangs over French football ahead of the new Ligue 1 season, which starts this weekend.

Australia's biggest lender Commonwealth Bank reported a record annual profit Wednesday as it raked in money from customers forced to pay higher interest rates.

China slipped into deflation as consumer prices contracted last month for the first time in more than two years, official data showed Wednesday, as slowing domestic spending weighs on the country's post-Covid economic recovery.

Two Ukrainian combat drones headed for Moscow were shot down, Russian officials said on Wednesday, the latest in a surge of drone attacks targeting the capital.

Pakistan's parliament was due to be dissolved Wednesday, ushering in a technocrat-led interim government to oversee an election that will not include the country's most popular politician, Imran Khan.

Sports broadcaster ESPN announced Tuesday it has signed a licensing deal with Penn Entertainment to create a branded sportsbook for US audiences that will launch later this year.

Nigeria's president has not ruled out military intervention in neighbouring Niger after its president was ousted in a coup but believes diplomacy is the "best way forward" to resolve the crisis, his spokesman said Tuesday.

Taiwanese chip giant TSMC agreed Tuesday to plough $3.8 billion (3.5 billion euros) into a new semiconductor factory in Germany, lending a major boost to Europe's efforts to bring production onto the continent.

The US trade deficit narrowed in June on a bigger pullback in imports than exports, according to government data released on Tuesday.

The coup that shook Niger nearly two weeks ago triggered an international outcry and curbs on domestic freedoms, yet many people in the capital say the change is a breath of fresh air.

Thousands of people displaced by 12 years of war are stuck in squalid, unofficial camps in Syria's Kurdish-held northeast, languishing in extreme poverty and largely cut off from international assistance.

Stock markets stuttered Tuesday on renewed concerns that the Federal Reserve will hike rates again, while another weak batch of trade data compounded worries about the struggling Chinese economy.

Much of the eastern United States was lashed by intense storms Monday, leaving at least two people dead, hundreds of thousands without power and thousands of flights canceled or delayed.

July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, the European Union's climate observatory confirmed Tuesday.

Rescue workers combed through the rubble of damaged buildings in the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, the day after Russian strikes killed at least seven people.

China last month suffered its biggest fall in exports for more than three years, official data showed Tuesday, as the world's second-largest economy is battered by sluggish global demand and a domestic slowdown.

Lawyers for Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan were Tuesday set to file a bail application for him, as he languished in a small cell of a century-old prison at the start of a three-year jail term for graft.

Asian markets stuttered Tuesday on renewed concerns that the Federal Reserve will hike rates again, while ongoing worries about the Chinese economy added to the negativity.

Russia said Monday it plans to launch a lunar lander this week after multiple delays, hoping to return to the Moon for the first time in nearly fifty years.

Crouching beside Ukrainian-made attack drones on a runway, TV star Serhiy Prytula appeared keen to taunt Moscow with a crowdfunded fleet that experts have linked with recent strikes inside Russia.

PayPal on Monday launched a stablecoin digital currency backed by US dollars to be used for transactions at its global online payments platform.

Five people including two policemen were killed and at least 11 others injured during the collapse of several buildings in Iran's capital, local media reported on Monday.