BUSINESS

European aircraft maker Airbus said Thursday net profits rose in 2024 as it boosted plane deliveries and set a goal of accelerating them further.

Hundreds watched on Thursday as four black coffins, which Hamas said held the remains of Israel's Bibas family and an elderly hostage, were carried off stage by Palestinian militants in southern Gaza.

Renault confirmed on Thursday it defied headwinds in the car industry by boosting revenue and attaining record profitability in 2024 thanks to the success of its new line up of vehicles, although net profit sank as it scaled back its partnership with Nissan.

Newly-energized American conservative leaders and activists will gather on the outskirts of the capital Washington on Thursday for an annual three-day conference set to celebrate US President Donald Trump's return to power.

US President Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that a trade deal was "possible" with China -- a key target in the US leader's tariffs policy.

Vietnam approved plans on Wednesday for a multi-billion-dollar railway with China, boosting links between the two communist countries.

South Korea's ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday became the country's first sitting head of state on trial on criminal charges.

Mercedes-Benz said Thursday it planned hefty cost cuts after its 2024 profits plunged by almost a third amid a slump in China and weak electric car sales, as Germany's auto sector reels.

Iran executed at least 975 people last year in a "horrifying escalation" of its use of capital punishment, two human rights groups said on Thursday.

Eleven-year-old Yeat Saly lies in a hospital bed, a piece of shrapnel lodged in his forehead -- one of the many injuries inflicted by an old mortar he found near his village in Cambodia.

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the Russians "have the cards" in any negotiation to end the war in Ukraine, after branding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a "dictator" who refuses to hold elections.

Asian markets turned negative Thursday amid Federal Reserve concerns that US President Donald Trump's tariffs and immigration measures could reignite inflation.

US airline Delta will offer $30,000 to each passenger on a plane that crashed as it landed at Toronto airport this week, the carrier told AFP on Wednesday.

Hamas is due to hand over the bodies of four hostages Thursday, including those of the Bibas family, who have become symbols of the hostage crisis that has gripped Israel since the Gaza war broke out.

When Germans vote on Sunday, conservative Friedrich Merz is the strong favourite to become the next chancellor after a bitterly fought campaign roiled by the rise of the AfD, a far-right party vocally backed by Team Trump.

Three years into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian soldier Ivan Banias has found himself struggling to digest the "absurdity" of what US President Donald Trump is saying about the war, his country and his president.

Germany's conservative election frontrunner Friedrich Merz on Wednesday called on voters to give him a strong mandate to restrict immigration and rebuild the economy to ward off the rise of the far-right AfD. In a final head-to-head TV debate with centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz before Sunday's general election, Merz warned that it's the last chance to halt the surge of the Alternative for Germany party.