AFP news

China on Tuesday said it would probe US tech giant Google over violations of anti-monopoly laws after Washington slapped 10 percent levies on Chinese goods.

Swiss banking giant UBS said it remained on track to substantially wrap up its mega-merger with Credit Suisse by the end of 2026, after once again posting better-than-expected quarterly results on Tuesday.

Two Panamanian lawyers filed a complaint Monday to cancel the concession of a Hong Kong-based company for operating two ports on the Panama Canal, following US President Donald Trump's threats to seize the vital waterway.

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will meet President Donald Trump on a visit to the United States this week, top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Tuesday.

Countries and economic blocs around the world are at different stages of regulating artificial intelligence, from a relative "Wild West" in the United States to highly complex rules in the European Union.

China has made good on its threats to retaliate in the escalating trade war with the United States, imposing tariffs on American imports of energy, cars and machinery parts.

Asian equities rose with the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar Tuesday after Donald Trump said he would delay the imposition of stiff tariffs on imports from the US neighbours, soothing trade war worries for now.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet President Donald Trump on Tuesday, as Israel and Hamas say they are ready for negotiations on a new phase in their fragile Gaza ceasefire.

From retaliatory tariffs on US goods like car parts and soy beans to controls on raw minerals essential for American manufacturing -- analysts say China has plenty of options if it wants to reply to fresh US levies.

The US government's giant humanitarian agency closed its headquarters to staff Monday amid moves by Elon Musk, the world's richest person and President Donald Trump's controversial aide, to seize control in actions decried by critics as "plain illegal."

Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Monday moved to force through France's budget without a vote but looked certain to keep his job -- for now -- thanks to support from the Socialists in the bitterly divided parliament.

US President Donald Trump paused tariffs on Mexico for one month after last-minute talks Monday -- but there was no breakthrough yet in negotiations with Canada on an issue that has sparked fears of a global trade war.

Mexican agricultural and auto-parts producers called Sunday for "dialogue" to head off the trade war prompted by US President Donald Trump's decision to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada.

Stock markets slumped, the dollar rallied and oil prices rose Monday as US President Donald Trump eyed more tariffs after launching trade wars with Canada, China and Mexico, heaping pressure on the global economy.

US tech giant OpenAI on Monday unveiled a ChatGPT tool called "deep research" that can produce detailed reports, as China's DeepSeek chatbot heats up competition in the artificial intelligence field.

Eurozone inflation ticked up slightly in January to 2.5 percent, edging higher for a fourth consecutive month driven by energy price increases, official data showed on Monday.

An east Ukrainian crime boss and separatist wanted by Kyiv was killed with one other person in a blast at a luxury residential complex in Moscow on Monday, Russian media reported.

EU leaders meeting in Brussels Monday warned there would be no winners in a trade war with the United States, insisting they would hit back if President Donald Trump imposes tariffs.

The World Health Organization's chief hit back Monday at US President Donald Trump's reasons for pulling the United States out of the WHO -- and again urged Washington to reconsider.

Fast-moving floodwaters rose Monday in northeastern Australia after forcing many to flee, blacking out homes, and sweeping away a chunk of a critical bridge.

Whenever Sema Genc enters a room, the first place she looks is the ceiling: would it hold up in an earthquake, or would she be trapped under the rubble again?

Music's brightest stars on Sunday rocked the red carpet at the Grammy Awards, bringing some high drama, serious style -- and, as ever, lots of skin.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to begin talks Monday on brokering a second phase of the ceasefire with Hamas, his office said, as he visits the new Trump administration in Washington.

US President Donald Trump has slapped new tariffs on Chinese goods, partly in response to Beijing's alleged role in a deadly opioid epidemic in the United States.

Once famed as an industrial powerhouse that produced some of the world's finest steel, Rotherham is now known as the epicentre of the UK grooming scandal, leaving the town angry, ashamed and needing answers.

EU leaders huddle Monday with Britain's prime minister and the head of NATO to discuss efforts to boost Europe's defences faced with an aggressive Russia -- as Donald Trump demands America's allies spend much more.

Elon Musk attacked the US Agency for International Development, calling it a "criminal organization" on Sunday, as Donald Trump said the agency was "run by radical lunatics" and said he was considering its future.

Steven Nelson has spent more than a dozen years on Death Row in Texas and is to be executed by lethal injection on Wednesday for the murder of a pastor that he insists he did not commit.

Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison defended the jaw-dropping trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis on Sunday as a shellshocked NBA struggled to comprehend the deal.