AFP news

Microsoft's chief executive officer pledged a $1.7 billion investment in artificial intelligence and cloud computing to help develop Indonesia's AI infrastructure after a meeting with the archipelago's president on Tuesday.

Global bank HSBC announced Tuesday the shock departure of chief executive Neil Quinn, who will retire after overhauling the group in an "intense" five-year tenure weathering a Covid fallout, simmering geopolitics, and shareholder pressure to spin off Asia assets.

US federal prosecutors are calling for ex-Binance chief Changpeng Zhao to be sent to prison when he appears Tuesday for sentencing on money laundering charges.

Hong Kong on Tuesday launched trading of Asia's first spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), moving forward in the city's race to become a regional virtual asset investment hub.

A Vienna-based privacy campaign group said Monday it would file a complaint against ChatGPT in Austria, claiming the "hallucinating" flagship AI tool has invented wrong answers that creator OpenAI cannot correct.

At least 45 people died when a dam burst its banks near a town in Kenya's Rift Valley, police said on Monday, as torrential rains and floods battered the country.

French police on Monday detained screen legend Gerard Depardieu for questioning after two women accused him of sexual assault, a source close to the case said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Monday for tighter defence integration among Gulf Arabs in response to Iran, part of efforts to encourage moderation by Israel by dangling the prospect of better ties with the region.

Humza Yousaf is poised to resign as Scotland's first minister before he faces two confidence votes this week, British media reported on Monday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to make a state visit to France on May 6 and 7, Paris announced on Monday, with wars in Ukraine and the Middle East expected to be high on the agenda.

Tesla received a key security clearance from China during Elon Musk's whistlestop visit to the world's biggest electric car market, which wrapped up on Monday.

The yen surged after diving to a new 34-year low past 160 per dollar on Monday as a forecast-beating US inflation reading dented expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year.

A Hamas delegation was due Monday in Egypt, where it will respond to Israel's latest proposal for a long-sought truce in Gaza and hostage release after almost seven months of war.

G7 environment ministers gathered in Turin on Monday for two days of talks, as the UN warned "excuses" for failing to take bold actions on climate change were "not acceptable".

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will break his silence Monday on whether or not he will resign in response to a graft probe of his wife that he says amounts to a campaign of harassment.

Some 20,000 Georgians staged a "March for Europe" Sunday, calling on the government to scrap a controversial "foreign influence" bill which the EU has warned would undermine Tbilisi's European aspirations.

Ukraine's army leader admitted Sunday that Kyiv's position on the battlefield has worsened after Russian forces captured another village in the east, pressing their advantage in manpower and ammunition.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Sunday she would stand in upcoming European Parliament elections, a move apparently calculated to boost her far-right party, although she would be forced to resign immediately.

The White House insisted Sunday that pro-Palestinian protests that have rocked US universities in recent weeks must remain peaceful, after police arrested around 275 people on four separate campuses over the weekend.

Ayman Chaudhary turned her love for reading into a living on TikTok, posting video snippets about books like those banned in schools in ultra-conservative parts of the United States.

Liverpool's fading Premier League title hopes were dealt a near-fatal blow on Saturday as West Ham rescued a draw against Jurgen Klopp's men while Sheffield United dropped through the relegation trap door.

The United States on Thursday announced sweeping new rules requiring coal-fired plants to eliminate nearly all their carbon emissions or commit to shutting down altogether, a keystone of President Joe Biden's agenda to confront the climate crisis.

Columbia University backed off late Thursday from an overnight deadline for pro-Palestinian protesters to abandon an encampment there as more college campuses in the United States sought to prevent occupations from taking hold.

Her fluffy face now frail, Kabosu still flashes the enigmatic smile that made her the go-to meme dog for millennials and inspired a $23 billion cryptocurrency beloved by Elon Musk.

Chinese tech giant ByteDance has said it has no plans to sell TikTok after a new US law put it on a deadline to divest from the hugely popular video platform or have it banned in the United States.

The Bank of Japan kept its ultra-low interest rates unchanged Friday and stopped short of signalling another hike, pushing the yen to a fresh 34-year low against the dollar.

China on Friday urged US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to address rising disagreements or risk a "downward spiral" between the two powers as talks opened in Beijing.

India's six-week election juggernaut resumed Friday with millions of people lining up outside polling stations in parts of the country hit by a scorching heatwave.

Shares in social media company Snap, which runs the youth-focused Snapchat, soared nearly 25 percent on Thursday after it reported more quarterly revenue than expected by analysts.