AFP news

Equities fell Thursday after the Federal Reserve warned Donald Trump's trade war could reignite US inflation and dampen economic growth, while oil rose on Middle East concerns as investors awaited developments in the Israel-Iran conflict.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra apologised Thursday for a leaked phone call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen that has provoked widespread anger and put her government on the brink of collapse.

For days, Syrians have watched as Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptors light up the skies over their territory, but the new government in Damascus has so far remained officially silent on the unprecedented conflict.

President Donald Trump warned he was weighing US military action against Iran, as Israel launched fresh strikes against Tehran on Thursday.

Taiwan is vetting hundreds of thousands of military service members, public school teachers and civil servants in a bid to root out potential homegrown Chinese sympathisers, as Beijing intensifies espionage on the island.

From carbon pollution to sea-level rise to global heating, the pace and level of key climate change indicators are all in uncharted territory, more than 60 top scientists warned Thursday.

As Israel presses its aerial attacks on Tehran, concern is growing over the fate of foreign nationals and Iranians seen by rights groups as political prisoners imprisoned in the capital who have no chance of fleeing to safety.

The Iran-Israel war has helped strengthen Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu domestically and overseas, just as his grip on power looked vulnerable.

Israel said it struck a nuclear site near Tehran on Wednesday, while Iran said it fired hypersonic missiles as the arch foes traded fire for a sixth day.

Bustling Taipei-style shopping streets, majestic temples to the island's deities and thriving factories dot the eastern Chinese city of Kunshan, for years a hub for Taiwanese businesses.

Aynullah Rahimi's family has for decades tended the old cemetery in Kabul reserved for non-Afghans, but since the country's latest war ended and foreigners left in droves, he says few now enter the oasis of quiet in the capital.

Since the United States accused Vietnam of being a hub for counterfeit goods, Tran Le Chi has found it increasingly hard to track down her favourite fake Chanel T-shirts, Gucci sunglasses and Louis Vuitton handbags.

China tried to mislead foreign governments in 2024 by playing down the importance of a nuclear-capable missile test over the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand diplomats privately warned in documents obtained by AFP. Beijing sent shivers through the South Pacific in September 2024, when its elite Rocket Force fired a dummy warhead into the high seas near French Polynesia.

The criminal trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs is now in its sixth week of testimony -- and interest among influencers and YouTubers is still soaring, as online personalities flock to the Manhattan federal courthouse to livestream their musings.

Mizan Hossain fell 10 metres (33-foot) from the top of a ship he was cutting up on Chittagong beach in Bangladesh -- where the majority of the world's maritime giants meet their end -- when the vibrations shook him from the upper deck.

Group of Seven powers, holding talks Tuesday at a summit that Donald Trump left early, promised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fresh support as Russia stepped up attacks on its neighbor.

Israel has inflicted damage on strategic sites and killed key figures within Iran's military leadership during five days of aerial attacks that showed no sign of abating Tuesday, but whose ultimate outcome is unclear, analysts say.

In Iraqi airspace, Iranian missiles and drones have crossed paths with Israeli warplanes, forcing Baghdad to step up efforts to avoid being drawn into the region's latest conflict.

Oil prices and equities fluctuated Tuesday as investors weighed Donald Trump called for Tehran residents to evacuate and hopes that the conflict between Israel and Iran does not descend into all-out war.

Chelsea began their Club World Cup campaign with a 2-0 victory against Los Angeles FC in a largely empty stadium on Monday as Brazilian giants Flamengo also got off to a winning start and a Benfica comeback denied Boca Juniors in a stormy encounter.

It took years for Zehra Murguz to be able to testify about what happened to her and other Muslim women in the "rape camps" run by Serb forces during the war in Bosnia.

Israel and Iran traded missile fire for a fifth straight day Tuesday, as US President Donald Trump warned Tehran residents to "immediately evacuate" and left a G7 summit early.

K-pop megaband BTS is back from military service, and their international fandom -- long known for its progressive activism -- is celebrating by rallying behind a cause: adoptees from South Korea.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Central Asian leaders at a summit in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, his second trip to the region in under a year as Beijing competes with Russia for influence there.

In the Venezuelan mining community of El Dorado, the majority of residents carry around gold instead of cards or cash to pay for groceries.

World leaders at the Group of Seven summit in Canada on Monday pushed US President Donald Trump to back away from his punishing trade war, arguing that it poses a risk to global economic stability.

US President Donald Trump on Monday warned Iran to make a deal as Israel pounds the country, but he held back on working with fellow Group of Seven leaders to issue a joint call to encourage de-escalation.

The UK government announced on Monday that it would bring in tough new laws to "root out the scourge" of grooming gangs, and apologised to thousands of victims believed to have been sexually exploited.

Geopolitical tensions roiled the opening of the Paris Air Show on Monday as French authorities sealed off Israeli weapons industry booths amid the conflicts in Iran and Gaza, a move that Israel condemned as "outrageous".