AFP news

Lingering hopes that Donald Trump's planned tariff blitz next week will not be as painful as feared lifted most Asian markets Wednesday, though uncertainty about the president's policies and the US economy tempered optimism.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio heads Wednesday to the Caribbean looking for ways forward on violence-torn Haiti and to show support for oil-rich Guyana in its dispute with Venezuela.

Huthi media in Yemen reported Wednesday at least 17 strikes in Saada and Amran, blaming the United States for the attacks.

By 2030, Coca-Cola products will account for an estimated 1.33 billion pounds (602,000 metric tons) of plastic waste entering the world's oceans and waterways each year, according to a stark new analysis published Wednesday by the nonprofit Oceana.

China remains the main threat to the United States globally but of increasing concern is its closer cooperation with Russia, Iran and North Korea, said an annual US intelligence report released Tuesday.

At South Korea's thousand-year-old Gounsa Temple, workers delicately swaddled a giant gilded Buddha statue with a fire-retardant blanket.

European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde's recent remarks on a "digital euro" prompted a fresh wave of misinformation online, highlighting an uphill battle ahead to convince the public of the project's merits.

An "unprecedented" mass bleaching event has been recorded off Australia's western coast, scientists said Wednesday, turning huge chunks of a celebrated reef system a sickly dull white.

Truck driver Lee Seung-joo was driving through South Korea's Andong mountains when the wildfires hit, engulfing the area in flames and turning it into "a literal hell".

The world's longest-serving death row prisoner, Iwao Hakamada, won compensation from Japan this week after almost five decades in jail -- and he owes his freedom to a judge with steely determination.

At least 19 people have been killed in one of South Korea's worst wildfire outbreaks, with multiple raging blazes causing "unprecedented damage", the acting president said Wednesday.

Nathalie Mago's work day begins after she's tucked her three daughters into bed and flicked off the lights in their house north of the Philippine capital Manila.

In a matter of days, US President Donald Trump has extended a hand to Iran and bombed Tehran's allies in Yemen.

US President Donald Trump downplayed a growing scandal Tuesday after a journalist was accidentally added to a group chat about air strikes on Yemen, denying any classified information was shared and defending a top aide over the breach.

A Sudanese monitor accused the army on Tuesday of carrying out one of the deadliest air strikes in the country's nearly two-year war, hitting a rebel-held town in the western region of Darfur.

French star actor Gerard Depardieu, on trial for sexual assault, told the Paris court on Tuesday that he was not in the habit of "groping" women, and called the #MeToo movement a "reign of terror."

A Turkish court on Tuesday remanded in custody seven journalists for covering the mass protests that erupted following the arrest of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, in a crackdown that has now seen more than 1,400 people arrested.

Pioneering US genetic testing company 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy and is looking for a buyer two years after hackers gained access to millions of profiles. 23andMe, which sells a mail-back saliva test to determine ancestry or certain health-related genetic traits for less than $200, said late Sunday that it had "filed a voluntary petition for reorganization" with a state bankruptcy court in Missouri.

Shakira fans flocking to see the Colombian star in concert are generating tens of millions of dollars for Mexico, according to the local chamber of commerce, underscoring the economic signicifance of major musical events.

South Korean auto giant Hyundai on Monday announced a multi-billion-dollar investment in the United States, including a new $5.8 billion steel plant.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that the number of wounded in a Russian strike on the city of Sumy Monday rose to almost 90 people, including 17 children.

Europe's main stock markets rose solidly Tuesday after a rally on Wall Street thanks to easing concerns over US President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Chewing gum releases hundreds of tiny plastic pieces straight into people's mouths, researchers said on Tuesday, also warning of the pollution created by the rubber-based sweet.

Tesla sales plunged in the European Union in the first two months of the year, auto industry figures showed Tuesday, as Elon Musk's politics and ageing models may be turning consumers away.

Washington and Kyiv held brief talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, a day after hours of US-Russia negotiations on halting the fighting in Ukraine ended without any breakthroughs announced.

British energy giant Shell on Tuesday announced plans to slash costs by billions of dollars and increase shareholder returns, as it focuses on its liquified natural gas (LNG) business.

US President Donald Trump announced Monday steep tariffs on imports from countries buying Venezuelan oil and gas, a punitive measure that could hit China and India, among others, and sow fresh global trade uncertainty.

Top Trump administration officials texted a group chat including a journalist plans for strikes on Yemen's Huthi rebels, the White House said, an extraordinary security breach that shocked Washington's political elite.

On the second floor of a London furniture store, three journalists are busy finalising the latest edition of a newsletter, covering everything from local foodbank funding to a neighbourhood cafe.