AFP news

Disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein faced one of his accusers in New York court Wednesday as he was told he would be retried for rape and sexual assault convictions that were overturned in the state.

A Saudi court's decision to sentence fitness influencer Manahel al-Otaibi to 11 years in prison highlights what activists describe as a fierce crackdown on even vaguely critical online speech.

Pfizer reported a drop in profits on lower sales of Covid-19 related profits Wednesday as it steers investments to other pharmaceutical areas and implements previously announced cost cuts.

Red Bull confirmed on Wednesday that celebrated chief technical officer Adrian Newey will leave the Formula One team in early 2025 after 19 years.

Clashes broke out on Wednesday at pro-Palestinian demonstrations on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, as dozens of universities around the United States struggle to contain similar protests.

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken urged Hamas to accept a truce in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to send troops into its far southern city of Rafah.

Paul Auster, the prolific American novelist whose works included "The New York Trilogy," has died of complications from lung cancer, a friend of the novelist told AFP. He was 77.

The US Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady for a sixth straight meeting Wednesday, with a summer start to cuts looking less likely owing to stubborn inflation.

When Nepal suddenly announced a ban on TikTok last year, lawyer Sunil Rajan Singh was determined to fight what he said was a government effort to hide its wrongdoings.

Eruptions at a remote Indonesian volcano forced more than half a dozen airports to close with ash spreading as far as Malaysia, officials said Wednesday, while authorities rushed to evacuate thousands due to tsunami fears.

Argentina's lower house of parliament on Tuesday approved a swath of liberalizing reforms eyed by President Javier Milei, in the first legislative boost to his budget-slashing agenda.

Madonna's long-awaited free concert on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach has upended the neighborhood, with over a million fans expected -- but for retired resident Mario Renato Borges, it's the least the singer deserves.

Starbucks reported lower profits on falling sales on Tuesday as the coffee giant pointed to weakening consumer sentiment and lackluster conditions in China as factors behind an earnings miss.

E-commerce titan Amazon on Tuesday said profit in the first three months of 2024 tripled as its cloud, ads, and retail businesses thrived.

The oil industry's public relations strategy has evolved from climate science denial to "disinformation and doublespeak" to counter meaningful environmental policies, US congressional Democrats said in a report Tuesday.

The world should establish a set of rules to regulate AI weapons while they're still in their infancy, a global conference said on Tuesday, calling the issue an "Oppenheimer moment" of the time.

Donald Trump set out a stark vision for an authoritarian second term in an interview with Time magazine published Tuesday, ranging from possible mass deportations of migrants by the US military and detention camps to pregnancy monitoring to enforce abortion bans.

Haiti's transitional ruling council, which is leading the Caribbean nation following the resignation of its prime minister amid a wave of gang violence, chose politician Edgard Leblanc Fils as its head on Tuesday.

Tesla plans hundreds of additional job cuts beyond a recent company-wide layoff as it cracks down on costs in a tough electric vehicle market, according to a US media report.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez got back to work on Tuesday, a day after he announced he would stay on following days of weighing his future in response to a graft probe targeting his wife.

Columbia University, the epicenter of pro-Palestinian protests that have upended college campuses across the United States, began suspending student demonstrators on Monday after they defied an ultimatum to disperse.

The Palestinian militant group whose October 7 attack started the Gaza war said it was considering a plan for a 40-day ceasefire and the release of scores of hostages for larger numbers of Palestinian prisoners.

The UK expects to deport 5,700 migrants to Rwanda this year, a senior minister said Tuesday, after the government published new details on the controversial plan.

The EU on Tuesday launched an investigation into Meta's Facebook and Instagram over concerns the platforms are failing to counter disinformation ahead of EU elections in June.

French media baron Arnaud Lagardere resigned Tuesday as chief executive of the sprawling group of the same name after being charged with misuse of corporate funds.

Indonesia's remote Mount Ruang volcano erupted several times on Tuesday, authorities said, issuing the highest level of alert and ordering thousands of people to evacuate due to the threat of a tsunami from debris sliding into the sea.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed Tuesday to Jordan where he will discuss ways to boost aid deliveries into Gaza and quietly thank the kingdom for its help during recent Iran-Israel clashes.

Fashion designer Yumi Katsura, who helped popularise Western bridal wear in Japan and who made a golden cape for Pope John Paul II, has died aged 94, her office said Tuesday.

The Philippines said the China Coast Guard used water cannon on two of its vessels on Tuesday, causing damage to one of them, during a patrol near a reef off the Southeast Asian country.