AFP news

Meta on Wednesday reported profit of $13.5 billion in the recently ended quarter, beating market expectations and causing its share price to jump.

Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael Zambada Garcia is to appear in court on Thursday amid ongoing mystery about the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the alleged Mexican drug trafficking kingpin.

Hollywood is out in force at the Paris Olympics -- perhaps taking notes before the United States' turn to host with the next Games in 2028.

Donald Trump questioned Wednesday whether Democrat Kamala Harris is really Black or is using race as a political convenience in an interview that sent shockwaves through the 2024 presidential contest.

The entire world, including Ukraine, wants Russia to join global leaders at a planned second peace summit to end the war in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has told French media including AFP. With Russian forces gaining momentum on the front and aid from allies ebbing or in doubt, Zelensky has launched an ambitious diplomatic offensive to end the war grinding through its third year.

Passenger traffic at European airports returned to pre-Covid levels in the first half of the year as the sector finally "turned the corner" on the pandemic crisis, the main industry association said on Wednesday.

The killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an air strike in Tehran Wednesday came as a "thunderbolt" to war-weary Gazans, with some expressing disappointment Iran was unable to "protect him".

A South Korean Olympic sharpshooter who took silver in the women's 10-metre air pistol exploded across the internet Wednesday, crowned the Paris Games' breakout style star.

The eurozone's annual inflation rate unexpectedly edged up in July due to rising energy costs, official data showed on Wednesday, leaving it still uncertain if the European Central Bank will cut interest rates in September.

The World Bank has approved a $1.5 billion financial package to support cash-strapped Ethiopia's economic reform programme after officials loosened curbs on the local currency.

Forced to formulate a new electoral strategy less than 100 days before the US presidential election, Donald Trump will take part in two campaign events on Wednesday, with new opponent Kamala Harris in his sights.

France's Cassandre Beaugrand won the Olympic women's triathlon on Wednesday after the event finally went ahead in a huge relief for organisers.

Australian children with potentially deadly peanut allergies will be offered life-saving treatment in a nationwide programme touted as a world first.

The Bank of Japan further unwound its massive monetary easing programme on Wednesday by hiking interest rates for only the second time in 17 years and indicating plans for more if the economy performs as officials expect.

Hamas said Wednesday its political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike in Iran, where he was attending the swearing-in of the new president, and vowed the act "will not go unanswered".

The US Federal Reserve is highly unlikely to waver from its position of holding interest rates at a two-decade high on Wednesday, but could drop hints about a September start to rate cuts.

Sealed inside a habitat in Texas and cut off from the outside world for over a year, Kelly Haston was the commander of a first-of-its-kind simulation for NASA to prepare for a future mission to Mars.

Samsung Electronics Wednesday reported its fastest growth since 2010, with operating profits soaring for the second quarter, as chip prices bounce back and demand for generative AI continues to grow.

A young violinist accompanied thousands of opposition supporters belting out the Venezuelan national anthem Tuesday at a rally in Caracas, in a peaceful, but firm, rejection of an election victory claimed by strongman Nicolas Maduro.

Starbucks reported lower profits Tuesday behind broad-based sales declines, but shares rose as the company said a turnaround was on track.

US Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic election nominee, said Tuesday that Israel had a "right to defend itself" following a strike in Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Beirut.

Microsoft on Tuesday reported strong quarterly earnings but saw its shares slip on figures showing its crucial cloud computing unit did not grow as strongly as expected.

Massive explosions on the Sun have triggered warnings of geomagnetic storms that could create dazzling auroras in the northern United States, Europe and southern Australia from Tuesday night.

Protests erupted in parts of Caracas Monday against the re-election victory claimed by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro but disputed by the opposition and questioned internationally, AFP journalists observed.

Britain's Labour finance minister Rachel Reeves declared Monday that the public finances face an extra GBP22-billion hole inherited from the previous Conservative administration and warned of "difficult decisions" ahead to cut spending or hike taxes.

All three of the chain's operating regions experienced comparable sales declines, a significant weakening next to the year-ago results when global comparable sales jumped nearly nine percent.

Unsafe pollution levels in the River Seine forced the postponement of the men's triathlon at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, as gymnastics icon Simone Biles eyed her first gold of the Games.

Musk reposted a manipulated Harris campaign video in which a voiceover mimicking her calls President Joe Biden senile, and declares that she does not "know the first thing about running the country," adding that as a woman and a person of color, she is the "ultimate diversity hire."

Stung by shock rulings on abortion and other topics and by a series of scandals involving the conservative-dominated court, Biden called for 18-year term limits for justices and an enforceable ethics code.