AFP news

Taiwan accused China on Tuesday of holding its biggest maritime mobilisation around the island in years, though Beijing has stayed tight-lipped over its latest show of force.

Car giant Stellantis and Chinese manufacturer CATL said Tuesday they would build a $4.3-billion factory to make electric vehicle batteries in Spain, the latest bid to boost Europe's troubled EV drive.

China's "coercive behaviour" threatens regional stability, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday, after Taiwan said Beijing was carrying out its biggest maritime mobilisation around the self-ruled island in years.

Air passenger numbers are forecast to top five billion for the first time next year and the sector's revenues will break the trillion-dollar barrier, the global aviation body IATA said on Tuesday.

South Korean authorities banned more top officials from leaving the country Tuesday, in the wake of President Yoon Suk Yeol's bungled attempt to impose martial law.

A war monitor said on Tuesday that Israel had conducted 300 strikes on Syria since the fall of president Bashar al-Assad, adding that the raids had "destroyed the most important military sites" in the country.

China is deploying dozens of ships in its biggest maritime mobilisation around Taiwan in years, Taipei said Tuesday, after Beijing voiced fury at President Lai Ching-te's recent visit to the United States.

A German property developer has sparked outrage with a plan to turn a World War II tunnel system into a luxury bunker for rich survivalists who fear the outbreak of World War III. Relatives of the prison labourers who built it under the Nazis are aghast at the business venture that is offering a crypto-currency called "BunkerCoin" as entry tokens to the promised apocalypse shelter.

A morning rally in Hong Kong and Shanghai stocks ran out of steam on Tuesday with traders tempering initial excitement about China's pledge to adopt a looser monetary policy as they awaited more details about the plan.

Chatter muffled as members of a secret society, masked and garbed in honey-coloured robes, entered the court of Foumban, the historic capital of a centuries-old kingdom nestled in hilly northwestern Cameroon.

A 26-year-old man was arrested and charged with murder Monday in the targeted killing of a health insurance executive on the streets of New York, along with other violations.

The 2030 FIFA World Cup will send dozens of football teams and hordes of fans crisscrossing the globe for matches on three continents, sparking alarm over the environmental cost.

A new Netflix series on Saudi football features packed stadiums and top-flight talent, but whether it can curb criticism of Riyadh's bid to host World Cup 2034 is an open question.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the first sitting prime minister of Israel to face a criminal trial, is expected to testify for the first time when his corruption case resumes Tuesday.

El Salvador's gang-busting strongman President Nayib Bukele has set out on a new mission: to kickstart his country's sputtering economy by inviting back the mining companies that were barred seven years ago.

The suspect in the high-profile killing of a health insurance CEO that has gripped the United States graduated from an Ivy League university, reportedly hails from a wealthy family, and wrote social media posts brimming with cerebral musings.

Britain, Germany, France, Italy and several other European countries said Monday they would freeze all pending asylum requests from Syrians, a day after the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad.

A French filmmaker accused of sexually assaulting actor Adele Haenel when she was 12 denied the charges Monday as his trial opened in Paris, five years after her allegations fired France's #MeToo movement.

Thousands of people took to the streets in Georgia on Monday for the 12th consecutive day of protests against the government's decision to shelve European Union accession talks after disputed elections.

European leaders have hailed the end of Bashar al-Assad's brutal rule in Syria as a moment of hope -- but they also view his sudden toppling as fraught with dangers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday slammed Russia and its President Vladimir Putin over two aerial attacks that killed at least 12 people.

No elves, no dwarves, and not a hobbit in sight: "The Lord of the Rings" returns to the big screen this month with a new Japanese anime-style movie about the warring men of J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional universe.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a "meeting of different political forces" to hammer out a programme for a new government, the Greens party leader said on Monday amid a political crisis triggered by Prime Minister Michel Barnier's ouster.

Mobile money agents have become a familiar sight across Nigeria, using handy point-of-sale machines to provide essential services to millions of people without access to banking, particularly in hard-to-reach rural areas.

This year is "effectively certain" to be the hottest on record and the first above a critical threshold to protect the planet from dangerously overheating, Europe's climate monitor said Monday.

As South Korean lawmakers tried to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol for declaring martial law, ruling party MPs stormed out of the chamber to thwart the effort -- except for Ahn Cheol-soo.

Australian police said Monday they are hunting for three suspects over an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue, designating it a terrorist act.

Syrian rescuers searched a jail synonymous with the worst atrocities of ousted president Bashar al-Assad's rule, as people in the capital flocked to a central square Monday to celebrate their country's freedom.

Taiwan's military was on high alert Monday after detecting Chinese warships near the island, Taipei said, as it prepared for likely drills by Beijing in response to President Lai Ching-te's US visits.