AFP news

Taipei's defence ministry announced Friday the highest single-day number of Chinese military aircraft around the self-ruled island this year, which analysts attributed as a reaction to Taiwan's political outreach to Europe in recent days.

Donald Trump is up against a fast-approaching deadline to secure a half-billion dollar bond as he appeals his financial fraud case, facing possible bankruptcy or the seizure of his assets if he fails.

Israel's hopes of reaching the European Championships for the first time against the background of bloody conflict at home were shattered by a 4-1 defeat to Iceland on Thursday while war-torn Ukraine stayed on course for the finals with a last-gasp comeback.

Call it a "walled garden" or an ecosystem, but at the heart of Thursday's blockbuster US lawsuit against Apple are the many ways the company gets customers to remain faithful to its products.

Texas and 15 other US states filed a lawsuit on Thursday challenging the Biden administration's freeze on new liquefied natural gas exports.

The Swiss National Bank cut interest rates on Thursday -- the first to do so among the major central banks, saying the battle against inflation was working almost two years after launching its monetary tightening campaign.

Russia fired more than 30 missiles at Kyiv early Thursday, the largest attempted attack on the Ukrainian capital for weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed retribution for escalating strikes on Russia's border regions.

Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont is to unveil Thursday his plans for Catalonia's snap May election, a move that could bring forward his return home after years of self-imposed exile.

The United States has circulated a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for an "immediate ceasefire linked to the release of hostages" in the Gaza Strip, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Neuralink on Wednesday streamed a video of its first human patient playing computer chess with his mind and talking about the brain implant making that possible.

The Bank of England is widely expected to keep its main interest rate at a 16-year high Thursday, rejecting a cut as inflation remains well above target despite recent slowing.

The UN General Assembly will turn its attention to artificial intelligence on Thursday, weighing a resolution that lays out the potentially transformational technology's pros and cons while calling for the establishment of international standards.

The Reddit social network was set to make its trading debut Thursday after pricing robustly in an initial public offering that suggested greater investor enthusiasm for new stock issuers.

The United Kingdom and Australia inked a new defense agreement in Canberra on Thursday, as they try to boost a fledgling nuclear-powered submarine program with the United States.

Fashionistas desperate to get their hands on an exclusive Birkin handbag are suing Hermes in California on grounds the company won't sell them one unless they buy other luxury products first.

US President Joe Biden unveiled almost $20 billion in grants and loans Wednesday for Intel's domestic chip-making plants -- his administration's biggest investment yet in the sector as he takes on China's chip dominance and sells his economic achievements over election rival Donald Trump.

Indonesia's Prabowo Subianto has been elected president of the world's third-biggest democracy, the elections commission said Wednesday, beating two rivals who have vowed to file legal complaints about the vote.

Negotiations to form a transitional council to govern Haiti advanced on Wednesday, as the United States airlifted more citizens to safety from gang violence that has plunged the impoverished country into chaos.

The feted Belgian designer Dries Van Noten will step down as creative director of his namesake fashion label this summer, he announced Tuesday.

China lashed out against critics of Hong Kong's new national security law on Wednesday, accusing the British government of having the "mindset of a coloniser" and condemning the EU's "hypocritical" position.

Brazil's justice system on Wednesday will decide whether former Manchester City and Real Madrid striker Robinho will serve his nine-year rape sentence, handed down by an Italian court, in the South American country.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to return Wednesday to the Middle East in a new bid to secure a truce in the Israel-Hamas war.

China and Australia claimed to have stabilised long-strained relations after talks in Canberra on Wednesday, despite tensions over a high-profile prisoner, trade and China's crackdowns in Hong Kong and elsewhere remaining evident.

Asian markets mostly rose Wednesday as traders tracked another record day on Wall Street, with focus squarely on the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a successful test of a solid-fuel engine for a "new-type intermediate-range hypersonic missile", Pyongyang's state media said Wednesday.

In a surf town in El Salvador nicknamed "Bitcoin Beach," shopkeeper Maria Aguirre watched with delight as the cryptocurrency -- and her investment in it -- recently soared to new all-time highs.

South Africa's top diplomat on Tuesday accused Israel of setting a precedent for leaders to defy the top UN court, as she again alleged a campaign of starvation in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden accused election rival Donald Trump of despising Latinos as the incumbent visited the battleground states of Nevada and Arizona on Tuesday, seeking to shore up support from the crucial demographic himself.

DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman will become the head of a newly created consumer AI unit at Microsoft, the scientist and entrepreneur said on Tuesday.