AFP news

Equities and oil plunged again Wednesday after Donald Trump ramped up his trade war by hitting China with tariffs of more than 100 percent as sweeping measures against the United States' dozens of partners are set to come into effect.

The United States and China hurtled towards an all-out trade war Tuesday, locked in a high stakes game of brinkmanship as President Donald Trump prepared to unleash a wave of tariffs against dozens of partners.

As the world reels from US President Donald Trump's tariffs onslaught, here is a look back at some major trade wars since the 19th century: - 19th century Opium Wars - In the mid-19th century, two conflicts over the opium trade, which became known as the Opium Wars, pitted China against the British Empire.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired a senior US officer assigned to NATO, the Pentagon announced Tuesday, saying her removal was due to a loss of confidence in her ability to lead.

Rescuers were racing to find survivers Tuesday among the rubble of a Dominican Republic night club where at least 18 people died and dozens were hurt in an early-morning roof collapse.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Ukrainian troops had captured two Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russian forces, adding that Kyiv would demand an explanation from Beijing and a reaction from its allies.

Troubled Australian casino operator Star Entertainment says it has been thrown an 11th hour multi-million dollar lifeline by US-based casino giant Bally's Corporation.

Indonesian stocks closed down nearly eight percent on Tuesday after a weeklong public holiday break, its biggest fall in more than a decade as uncertainty over US President Donald Trump's global tariffs roil markets.

China's expansion of its armed forces is "staggering", NATO's chief said on a visit to Japan beginning Tuesday aimed at "projecting" the alliance's power in the Asia-Pacific region.

Robert De Niro is set to receive an honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes festival this year, with rumours that Tom Cruise will join him and other stars on the French Riviera.

Iran's top diplomat said Tuesday he believed a new nuclear deal could be agreed with the United States provided Tehran's longtime foe shows sufficient goodwill in talks to begin in Oman on Saturday.

Australia is ready for the impact of Donald Trump's trade tariffs, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday in a first television debate before the tightly contested May 3 elections.

Increasingly frail but with undimmed passion, Britain's David Hockney has put aside his health worries to shape what he describes as the biggest exhibition of his vast career.

Global temperatures hovered at historic highs in March, Europe's climate monitor said on Tuesday, prolonging an unprecedented heat streak that has pushed the bounds of scientific explanation.

A wide range of economists are voicing alarm over US President Donald Trump's tariffs blitz, which has sparked a trade war that experts say could lead to a global recession.

In a drought-hit Mexican border region at the center of growing competition with the United States for water, conservationists are working to bring a once-dying river delta back to life.

The NBA has said it is "exploring" the creation of a professional basketball league in Europe, but the plans remain vague and raise many questions.

Asian markets battled Tuesday to recover from the previous day's tariff-fuelled collapse, though Donald Trump's warning of more measures against China and Beijing's vow to fight "to the end" raised concerns the trade war could worsen.

US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened fresh tariffs of 50 percent on China and ruled out any pause in his aggressive new global trade policy, despite a dramatic market sell-off.

American-Palestinian Muhammad Rabee feels abandoned by the United States, he told AFP on Monday, a day after Israeli forces killed his 14-year-old son during a family visit in the occupied West Bank.

Should the European Union target US Big Tech and services in response to President Donald Trump's tariff onslaught?

Israel staged a strike in south Lebanon on Sunday that it said had targeted Hezbollah, and authorities said killed two people, as a US envoy visited for talks on the militant group and economic reforms.

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that China would have agreed to a deal on the sale of TikTok if it were not for the tariffs imposed by Washington on Beijing last week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington on Monday to meet Donald Trump, whom he will likely ask for a reprieve from US tariffs while seeking further backing on Iran and Gaza.

Fearing that US President Donald Trump's 25 percent tariffs on imported cars and auto parts could spark "paranoia" among buyers and drive up prices, Arthur Bibbs has decided to go ahead and buy a secondhand truck now.

A top Chinese official has vowed to protect US firms and pledged his country will remain a "promising land" for foreign investment, Beijing said Monday, after it slapped 34 percent tariffs on US imports.

Monday's stock market collapses in Asia and Europe after China retaliated to steep US tariffs revived memories of similar market turmoil after the Covid pandemic and the last global financial crisis.

Jacques Moalic, a 102-year-old former Agence France-Presse journalist, remembers vividly the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp by American troops 80 years ago.

Asian markets collapsed Monday after China hammered the United States with its own hefty tariffs, ramping up a trade war that many fear could spark a recession.