BUSINESS

US retail sales logged smaller gains than expected in February according to government data released Monday, edging up from an earlier decline with all eyes on consumer spending strength amid growing worries of a recession.

In a corner of his mother's backyard, 30-year-old Thabang Moshoke runs a clipper through a client's hair at a makeshift barbershop that has only a rough roof to shield it from the skies.

British designer Jonathan Anderson has left Spanish brand Loewe after more than a decade at the helm, owner LVMH announced Monday, with the 40-year-old tipped to take over at Dior.

China's economy charted an uneven trajectory in the first two months of the year, a slew of key indicators showed Monday, muddying Beijing's drive to boost flagging consumption.

Could lumpy metallic rocks in the deepest, darkest reaches of the ocean be making oxygen in the absence of sunlight?

Asian markets rose on Monday as investors welcomed Chinese plans to kickstart consumption in the world's number two economy, though worries about Donald Trump's tariffs war continue to cast a shadow over trading floors.

Only seven years into her marriage did Yuki Niimi first touch her husband -- at a morgue where she collected his body after he was executed and kissed him in a coffin.

Like something from the science fiction film "Dune", the "world's biggest mining dredger" has been swallowing acre after acre of the fertile coastal strip where most of Senegal's vegetables are grown.

President Donald Trump's administration on Sunday began mass layoffs at Voice of America and other US-funded media, making clear its intent to gut outlets long seen as critical for US influence.

President Donald Trump's administration on Sunday began mass layoffs at Voice of America and other US-funded media, making clear its intent to gut outlets long seen as critical for US influence.

After more than a decade of negotiations, a new round of talks to finalize a code to regulate deep-sea mining in international waters begins Monday in Jamaica, with hopes high for adoption this year.

A pair of US astronauts stuck for more than nine months on the International Space Station will be returned to Earth on Tuesday evening, NASA said.

A fire tore through a nightclub in North Macedonia early Sunday, killing 51 people, apparently after on-stage fireworks set the place ablaze, the country's interior minister said.

A pair of astronauts stranded for more than nine months on the International Space Station were a step closer to returning home Sunday after a replacement crew docked with the orbital outpost.

Chinese internet search giant Baidu released a new artificial intelligence reasoning model Sunday and made its AI chatbot services free to consumers as ferocious competition grips the sector.

Lando Norris kept his cool in a rain-hit and incident-packed season-opening Australian Grand Prix Sunday to edge world champion Max Verstappen with Lewis Hamilton 10th on his Ferrari debut.

The top US and Russian diplomats discussed Saturday the "next steps" to end the war in Ukraine, hours after Kyiv's allies agreed to exert pressure on Moscow.

A Myanmar junta airstrike on a village held by anti-coup fighters killed at least 12 people according to a local administrative official, who said the bombardment targeted civilian areas.

For US craft brewer Bill Butcher, President Donald Trump's expanding range of tariffs have sparked an unexpected impact -- a shortage of bottles to package his beer -- while uncertainty looms over his business costs.

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting this week, treading carefully amid uncertainty over President Donald Trump's economic policies, which include spending cuts and sweeping tariffs.

Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison is under renewed pressure from Beijing after selling its Panama Canal ports, with Chinese authorities publishing newspaper criticism of the deal for the second time in three days.

The creation of a "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve" in the United States is further proof of President Donald Trump's support for the cryptocurrency sector.

Beneath the broken earth of the besieged Sudanese city of El-Fasher in the western region of Darfur, Nafisa Malik clutches her five children close.

At least 27 people were killed and dozens more injured Saturday when tornadoes and violent storms raked across the central United States, officials said.

Disney's live-action remakes of animated classics are usually safe bets.

President Donald Trump's administration on Saturday put journalists at Voice of America and other US-funded broadcasters on leave, abruptly freezing decades-old outlets long seen as critical to countering Russian and Chinese information offensives.

President Donald Trump's administration on Saturday put journalists at Voice of America and other US-funded broadcasters on leave, abruptly freezing outlets long seen as critical to countering a Russian and Chinese information offensive.

Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration will not eject fast-fashion juggernaut Shein from the US market, its executive chairman Donald Tang has told AFP. The head of the online platform, which has come in for scrutiny over its environmental footprint and allegations of human rights violations, also insisted that the company does not use forced labour.

Anger was rising in the Democratic ranks Saturday after the party's top US senator led a band of lawmakers in reluctant support of a Republican measure that prevented a government shutdown.