AFP news

Premium carmaker Audi said Monday it will cut 7,500 jobs by 2029 in Germany, citing "immense challenges" as the country's auto industry battles slowing electric vehicle demand and rising Chinese competition.

A pair of astronauts stranded in space for more than nine months were finally headed home Tuesday after their capsule undocked from the International Space Station.

Starbucks has been ordered to pay $50 million to a customer who was burned when hot tea spilled on his lap at a California drive-through.

Nvidia chief Jensen Huang is expected to showcase cutting-edge chips for artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing on Tuesday, shrugging off talk of China's DeepSeek disrupting the market.

Bone and muscle deterioration, radiation exposure, vision impairment -- these are just a few of the challenges space travelers face on long-duration missions, even before considering the psychological toll of isolation.

European stocks rose on Tuesday as investors prepared for Germany's lawmakers to vote on a massive spending boost for defence and infrastructure, while escalating geopolitical fears supported commodities.

Shares in Chinese EV giant BYD surged to a record high Tuesday after it unveiled new battery technology it says can charge a vehicle in the same time it takes to fill up a petrol car.

A 46-year-old man convicted of rape and murder is to be put to death by nitrogen gas in the southern state of Louisiana on Tuesday, the first of four executions scheduled this week in the United States.

Russian pensioner Olga Shkuratova trembled, clutching a scrap of paper bearing a handwritten phone number for her son.

US military, be warned: after years of fighting in rugged terrain and weathering thousands of air strikes, Yemen's Huthi rebels are not to be taken lightly, experts say.

Australia voiced unease on Tuesday over anonymous letters reportedly offering hefty rewards for information on a Hong Kong activist now living in Melbourne.

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will hold a highly-anticipated phone call Tuesday to discuss the Ukraine war, with Kyiv and its European allies demanding that Russia agree to an unconditional US-proposed ceasefire.

Hit by massive funding cuts and a crackdown on student protesters, Columbia University is under fire from US President Donald Trump, putting the world of higher education on tenterhooks.

Colombian influencer Sara Samaniego braids her long straight hair, checks her make-up in a mirror, places her phone in the center of a ring light and flashes a big smile for the camera.

A motorbike rider inches slowly over bumpy terrain deep in Cambodia's Virachey national park, carefully adjusting the basket strapped behind him.

Israel on Tuesday unleashed its most intense strikes on the Gaza Strip since a January ceasefire, with rescuers reporting 220 people killed, and Hamas accusing Benjamin Netanyahu of deciding to "resume war" after a deadlock on extending the truce.

Three decades since Shizue Takahashi's husband and a dozen others were killed with a nerve agent on Tokyo's subway, she fears Japan could see a repeat of the doomsday cult attack.

Dressed in a floral shawl, Benji Dezaval carefully places hallucinogenic mushrooms on the tongues of the faithful of his Colorado "psychedelic church," as if they were communion wafers.

Washington has questioned UN agencies, nonprofits and charities that received US funds on whether they have "communist" links or support "gender ideology", and other topics targeted by US President Donald Trump, a dozen groups told AFP. A list of 36 questions was sent to small and large organisations alike as part of Washington's ongoing review of its vast foreign aid spending.

For Volodymyr Zelensky, his Oval Office clash with Donald Trump was a stark demonstration of how important personal ties with Donald Trump will be to his chances of ending the war with Russia on acceptable terms.

In a war-ravaged neighbourhood of Sudan's capital Khartoum, the stench from a gaping sewage pit is unbearable as Red Crescent workers pull a bloated body from deep underground.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Donald Trump will speak by phone on Tuesday, as one US official expressed hope the two could agree a Ukraine ceasefire within "weeks".

US officials on Sunday vowed further strikes in Yemen until the Huthi rebels decide to end their attacks on Red Sea shipping, while also threatening action against the group's backer Iran.

A pair of US astronauts stuck for more than nine months on the International Space Station will be returned to Earth on Tuesday evening, NASA said.

After more than a decade of negotiations, a new round of talks to finalize a code to regulate deep-sea mining in international waters begins Monday in Jamaica, with hopes high for adoption this year.

President Donald Trump's administration on Sunday began mass layoffs at Voice of America and other US-funded media, making clear its intent to gut outlets long seen as critical for US influence.

Markets rose on Monday as investors welcomed Chinese plans to kickstart consumption in the world's number two economy, though worries about Donald Trump's tariffs war continue to cast a shadow over trading floors.

China's economy charted an uneven trajectory in the first two months of the year, a slew of key indicators showed Monday, muddying Beijing's drive to boost flagging consumption.

With Canada's economy and even sovereignty under unprecedented threat from its southern neighbour the United States, its new leader has embarked on a trans-Atlantic trip to strengthen ties with traditional friends France and Britain.