BUSINESS

Official Lebanese media said Israeli strikes hit south Beirut Saturday night into Sunday, some of them "very violent", with AFP correspondents hearing explosions for over two hours in one of the most intense barrages yet.

Donald Trump on Saturday flew over crowds of cheering supporters awaiting his much-hyped return to the spot where he cheated an assassin's bullet, even as fears linger among his devotees that he could be targeted again.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of an mpox epidemic, launched a vaccination campaign against the virus on Saturday in the eastern city of Goma, AFP journalists said.

President Joe Biden said Friday he was not confident the US election in November would be peaceful, citing incendiary comments by Republican contender Donald Trump, who still rejects his 2020 defeat.

Bolivia's former president Evo Morales, who has locked horns with the country's current leader, said Friday that allegations he raped a teenage girl when in power were a "lie."

Thousands of dockworkers returned to work Friday, the day after a longshoremen's union reached a preliminary deal with shippers, ending a three-day strike weeks before the US presidential election.

The Haitian government has deployed specialist anti-gang police units, it said Friday, after an apparent massacre northwest of Port-au-Prince that the United Nations said left at least 70 dead.

Social media platforms such as Meta's Facebook must limit the use of personal data including someone's sexual orientation for targeted advertising, the European Union's top court ruled Friday.

Ireland's data watchdog said Friday it will probe whether budget airline Ryanair's use of facial recognition to check the identity of customers booking through third-party websites violates EU privacy laws.

Hiring in the United States picked up significantly more than expected in September while the jobless rate crept lower, according to government data released Friday, offering relief to policymakers ahead of November's election.

As the EU seeks to put a brake on competition from Chinese electric cars, European automakers are stuck in second gear.

Yury Kozynets embraced his wife Alyona Gladkaya in front of the evacuation bus, just before it separated them, whisking her away from the under-fire Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk.

The lawsuit, filed in Galveston County, is seeking civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation and injunction against further breach

As Meta's shares closed at a record $582.77 on Thursday, which is a 68% rise from early January when its shares were trading at $346.29, Zuckerberg topped Bezos' $205.1 billion net worth.

The airline is also negotiating an out-of-court agreement with bondholders to address its financial challenges following the collapse of its merger with JetBlue Airways

Europe's Hera probe is tentatively scheduled to launch Monday on a mission to inspect the damage a NASA spacecraft made when it smashed into an asteroid during the first test of Earth's planetary defences.

British online bank Revolut on Thursday urged Facebook owner Meta to reimburse victims of password security breaches, blasting the US tech giant's data-sharing partnership with several UK banks as "woefully" inadequate.

Oil prices stabilised Friday after soaring on fears about the Middle East crisis as investors await Israel's response to Iran's missile attack, while shares in Hong Kong resumed their rally on a mixed day for equity markets.

Afghanistan's Islamic State group is staging a growing number of bloody international attacks, presenting a rare but complicated opportunity for foreign cooperation with the Taliban government to counter the jihadists.

As a bitterly contested US election campaign enters its final stretch, misinformation researchers have raised the alarm over threats posed by AI and foreign influence -- but voters appear more concerned about falsehoods from a more familiar source: politicians.

EU countries are expected to confirm Friday hefty tariffs on electric cars made in China, a move dividing the bloc as some states led by Germany fear sparking a trade war with Beijing.

At 21 years old, Zackree Kline works at a funeral parlor and as a waiter, clocking 60 hours a week to get by -- a situation motivating him to vote for Republican Donald Trump in November.

Fear of missing out has rocketed the value of artificial intelligence companies, despite few signs as to when the technology will turn a profit, raising talk of AI overenthusiasm.

The United States announced the seizure on Thursday of 41 internet domains allegedly used by Russian intelligence agents to try to gain access to the computers and email accounts of Pentagon, State Department and other US government employees.

US dockworkers will return to work after a three-day strike at East and Gulf Coast ports after the union and port operators reached a tentative deal on pay and extended the current contract to January 15, both sides said Thursday.

More than two dozen international civil society organizations will call on major tech firms to bolster their AI policies to combat "sexist and misogynistic" disinformation plaguing social media platforms, according to the draft of an open letter seen by AFP on Thursday.

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has become an AI powerhouse after securing Silicon Valley's largest-ever funding round.

Democratic US presidential candidate Kamala Harris will rally Thursday with Liz Cheney, a staunch Republican opponent of Donald Trump, as both Harris and former president Trump hit crucial Midwestern swing states.

Iran's missile barrage at Israel this week was meant as a warning that the Islamic republic can hit Israeli territory, but has instead exposed Iranian military limitations, analysts say.