AFP news

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.

It was a record-extending eighth team title for Japan and made up for narrowly missing out to Russia for gold at the Tokyo Games. China took silver and the United States bronze, ahead of Britain.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez refused on Tuesday to answer question from a judge investigating alleged influence-peddling by his wife, a case that has put pressure on his fragile minority government.

The liberal and left-wing warping of reality -- a trend some call "BlueAnon," a play on the QAnon conspiracy cult -- is fueling information chaos on social media platforms that are already a cesspool of right-wing falsehoods.

Long in the authorities' sights, the 57-year-old former lawyer has already spent time in jail for supporting the jihadist Islamic State group.

The southern coastal state of Kerala has been battered by torrential downpours, with blocked roads into the disaster area at Wayanad district complicating relief efforts.

Spain's competition watchdog said Tuesday it had slapped online travel agency Booking.com with a record 413-million-euro fine for "abusing its dominant position" during the past five years.

China has in recent years stepped up military and political pressures on democratic Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory.

The French economy -- the eurozone's second biggest after Germany -- expanded by 0.3 percent in the second quarter, outperforming the INSEE statistics institute's earlier estimate of 0.1 percent

Beijing is racing to achieve its goal of five percent annual growth in 2024, a target considered ambitious by many experts as the world's second-largest economy faces headwinds including an indebted real-estate market, flagging consumption and high youth unemployment.

The United States will provide $500 million in military funding to the Philippines, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, as Washington boosts ties with Manila in the face of China's growing assertiveness.

BP said increased volume and lower exploration write-offs were "partly offset by increased depreciation charges and higher costs".

Flowers, teddy bears and tributes were left near the scene of Monday's stabbing spree at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, near Liverpool, that also saw two adults and six children critically injured and three more children hurt.

Ukraine on Monday urged the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to investigate an attack on a prison in Russian-occupied Ukraine that killed dozens two years ago.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hailed China as an "important interlocutor" in managing global tensions Monday as she met President Xi Jinping.