AFP news

US and European stock markets rebounded Wednesday but Asia slipped as investors waited for a speech by US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell at the end of the week.

Though there are only a handful of them among thousands of delegates, the "Uncommitted Movement" delegates at the Democratic National Convention are among the most vocal.

UK government borrowing jumped by far more than expected in July, official figures showed Wednesday, stoking fresh anxiety for the new Labour government ahead of its first budget in just over two months.

Switzerland's new instant payment system will bolster the future of cashless payments in the country, the Swiss central bank said Wednesday after the scheme went live.

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken headed home on Wednesday after failing to secure a Gaza ceasefire, warning both Israel and Hamas his plan may be the last chance to avert a broader war.

Bangladeshi student Omar Faruq believes the future of his country is bright but all he can see is darkness, after police trying to crush a student-led revolution blinded him with rubber pellets.

At just 18 years old, Nepali mountaineer Nima Rinji Sherpa is on the brink of a remarkable achievement.

Saving lives was the childhood dream for 28-year-old Indian doctor Radhika, but after the brutal rape and murder of a colleague her own safety has increasingly become a top concern.

Divers spent a second day Tuesday searching for six people believed trapped when a luxury yacht sank off the Italian island of Sicily, including a British tech tycoon, colleagues and his teenage daughter.

Ukraine's military incursion into Russia, a first in the two-year-old war, has handed Kyiv the initiative on the battlefield, but its outcome remains highly uncertain, analysts say.

Specialist divers on Tuesday launched a fresh search for six people, including UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch and the chairman of Morgan Stanley International, missing since their yacht capsized off the Italian island of Sicily.

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken was in Egypt on Tuesday for talks on a Gaza ceasefire after saying Israel had accepted a US "bridging proposal" for a deal and urging Hamas to do the same.

Barack Obama will hail Kamala Harris as the future of the Democratic Party on Tuesday as she is formally crowned its presidential nominee after a roller-coaster ride in US campaign politics.

With recent data indicating the US economy remains in good shape as inflation slows and the labor market softens, there is widespread expectation the bank will finally start unwinding its long-running program of tight monetary policy next month.

If 2024 already looks like an annus horribilis for big tech in the EU, the months ahead could prove a winter of discontent as the bloc wields a fortified new legal armoury to bring online titans to heel.

It was the hero's send-off he had hoped to defer for another four years but when it came, any lingering bitterness seemed forgotten for a cathartic hour as Joe Biden basked in the adulation of his party faithful.

Half a day's drive from India's entertainment capital Mumbai, many in the struggling textile city of Malegaon escape the thrum of dawn-till-dusk industrial weaving looms by daydreaming about Bollywood stars.

Russia's prosecutor general on Monday said it had banned a foundation started by US film star George Clooney and his human rights lawyer wife Amal.

US President Joe Biden will give a bittersweet farewell address at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday, passing the torch to Kamala Harris as the party's nominee for November's election.

The Kenyan government plans to raise about $1.2 billion by reinstating some unpopular taxes contained in a finance bill that was scrapped in the face of deadly street protests, a government minister said.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo reshuffled his cabinet on Monday just weeks before he steps down in an effort to ease the transition to his successor, Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, his office said.

Philippine ships sustained serious damage Monday in pre-dawn collisions with Chinese vessels near a disputed reef, Manila's coast guard said, as Beijing steps up efforts to push its claims in the South China Sea.

Youth unemployment in China ticked up to 17.1 percent in July, official figures showed, the highest level this year as the world's second-largest economy faces mounting headwinds.

New Zealand's population growth has come to a near halt, official statistics showed Monday, as tens of thousands of people exit a spluttering economy for pastures new.

The Kremlin on Monday ruled out entering peace talks with Ukraine over Kyiv's surprise offensive into Russian territory, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said was meeting its goals.

France on Monday paid homage to film legend Alain Delon following his death at 88, with tributes pouring in for the actor who became one of his country's biggest stars, but was also shadowed by controversy.

Equities were mixed Monday following last week's strong performance, with traders focused on a closely followed meeting of central bank chiefs where the Federal Reserve's Jerome Powell is due to deliver a key speech.

For 17 years, Edita Burgos has looked inside body bags, visited military camps, led street protests, and filed court cases in a desperate search for her missing son Jonas.

Ringed by once-free beaches and green parks, Hungary's Lake Balaton has delighted generations of holidaymakers -- but now, locals warn, private developers are fencing off the sandy bays for rich visitors, with the nationalist government's blessing.