AFP news

US President Donald Trump -- speaking as the bodies of 67 people were being pulled from Washington's Potomac River -- launched an extraordinary political attack Thursday, blaming diversity hires for the midair collision between an airliner and a military helicopter.

Germany's ex-chancellor Angela Merkel weighed in Thursday on a controversy flaring ahead of February elections, slamming her party successor for relying on far-right support on the flashpoint issue of immigration.

The families of Thai farm workers held for over a year in Gaza cheered and wept with relief Thursday as they were freed in a hostage-prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.

Nostalgia-tinged evening wear, fantasy-fuelled escapism and messages about world peace featured during a packed Paris Couture Week that also saw new changes on fashion's artistic director merry-go-round.

An Iraqi refugee in Sweden who repeatedly burned the Koran in 2023, sparking outrage in Muslim countries, has been shot dead, investigators said Thursday, with Sweden's prime minister suggesting a "foreign power" might have been involved.

Social media giant Meta on Wednesday reported surging profits and revenue for 2024, announcing ambitious plans to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure in the year ahead.

Israel will cut ties with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Thursday following accusations it provided cover for Hamas militants, a move likely to hamper delivery of its vital services after 15 months of war in Gaza.

British energy giant Shell on Thursday announced a 17-percent drop in annual net profit owing to weaker oil and gas prices as well as asset write-offs.

A record 92.3 million passengers travelled through Dubai's international airport last year, its operator said on Thursday, underlining the Gulf city's economic boom.

President Ferdinand Marcos said Thursday his government will remove a US missile system from the Philippines if Beijing ends its "aggressive and coercive behaviour" in the contested South China Sea and ceases claiming Filipino territory.

Eurozone growth slowed to a halt in the fourth quarter last year, dragged by contractions in major powers Germany and France which were held back by economic headwinds and political instability.

Europe's top rights court on Thursday ruled that Italy had failed to protect nearly three million people living in a region blighted by toxic waste dumped by the mafia, and gave the government two years to fix the situation.

Australia's reliance on coal-fired power stations has dropped to a record low, accounting for less than 50 percent of its electricity for the first time, the market operator said Thursday.

EU talks to relaunch Europe's embattled car industry are to get underway on Thursday, with automotive CEOs awaited in Brussels to discuss fines and competition from China.

A US passenger plane carrying 64 people crashed into Washington DC's chilly Potomac River after colliding midair with a military helicopter on a nighttime training exercise Wednesday, prompting a major emergency response and the grounding of all flights.

Israel and Hamas were set to carry out their third hostage-prisoner exchange on Thursday, with three Israelis and five Thai captives slated for release as part of a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the Gaza war.

Manchester City came from behind against Club Brugge to reach the Champions League knockout phase, where they were safely joined by Paris Saint-Germain as Arsenal qualified directly for the last 16 on Wednesday in the final round of league-phase matches.

An angry pre-election showdown on immigration flared in Germany's parliament Wednesday as the conservative opposition said it would accept support from lawmakers of the far-right AfD, breaching a long-standing taboo.

Tesla is set to report earnings Wednesday for the first time since President Donald Trump -- a close ally of CEO Elon Musk -- returned to the White House.

After three interest rate cuts in a row, the US Federal Reserve is expected to take a breather on Wednesday and signal it will remain on pause until the data changes, despite pressure to cut from President Donald Trump.

Hamas officials accused Israel on Wednesday of delaying aid deliveries to Gaza and jeopardising a truce and hostage release deal, an allegation Israel dismissed as "fake news."

OpenAI on Tuesday launched a bespoke version of its ChatGPT artificial intelligence tool for use by the United States government.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that his country could hold peace talks with Ukraine, but ruled out speaking directly with President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he called "illegitimate".

As the clock ticks down on TikTok's 75-day reprieve from divesting from its Chinese owners or being banned in the United States, several contenders are in the running.

With around six million dollars and a stockpile of chips acquired before Washington banned their export to China, startup DeepSeek has produced what Chinese tech titans couldn't -- a world-class AI chatbot.

From incense offerings and vibrant lion dances in Beijing to prayer rituals at temples in Bangkok and Taipei, hundreds of millions of people across Asia celebrated the Lunar New Year on Wednesday, ushering in the Year of the Snake.

US export controls on high-tech chips may have inadvertently fuelled the success of start-up DeepSeek's AI chatbot, sparking fears in Washington there could be little it can do to stop China in the push for global dominance in AI. The firm, based in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, has stunned investors and industry insiders with its R1 programme, which can match its American competitors seemingly at a fraction of the cost.

Promising a "simplification shock", the EU will unveil a much-anticipated blueprint to revamp Europe's economic model on Wednesday, as the bloc struggles to keep up with China and the United States.

A pre-dawn stampede at the world's largest religious gathering killed at least 15 people in India Wednesday, with many more injured after a surging crowd spilled out of a police cordon and trampled bystanders.