BUSINESS

Aaron Sorkin, Oscar-winning writer of "The Social Network," is working on a follow-up movie about Facebook that will explore the company's role in the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol.

The first week of arguments in Donald Trump's criminal trial was wrapping up on Friday following four days of gripping testimony from a colorful ex-tabloid publisher who said he squashed potentially embarrassing stories about the former president.

China's anti-doping agency said Friday it will cooperate with a compliance audit ordered by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) involving a case where 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a prescription heart drug.

British head of state King Charles III will make a limited return to public duties next week, after doctors said they were "very encouraged" by the progress of his treatment for cancer.

ExxonMobil and Chevron both reported a dip in profits Friday on lower refining margins and natural gas prices, but ExxonMobil's big takeover appears on track to close before Chevron's.

Poland opened an art show Friday to celebrate its only Van Gogh painting, a rare early landscape worth millions that was once hawked by a pedlar for the price of a beer.

France and Germany on Friday firmed up plans to jointly develop a next-generation battle tank equipped with artificial intelligence and laser technology, billed as a game changer in modern warfare.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has suspended all duties and gone silent while he considers whether to step down on Monday over a graft investigation against his wife.

Ukraine warned Friday that Moscow was ramping up attacks on railways in a bid to disrupt military supplies ahead of a fresh Russian offensive while Kyiv waits for new US weapon deliveries.

Burkina Faso has suspended the BBC and Voice of America radio networks from broadcasting after they aired a rights report accusing the army of attacks on civilians in its battle against jihadists.

The US central bank's favored measure of inflation accelerated last month, according to government data published Friday, pushing back the chances of an interest rate cut this summer.

Armed groups in the Middle East and North Africa have little difficulty getting their hands on portable surface-to-air missiles despite a campaign to prevent their proliferation, according to a report published Friday.

The European Union on Friday added Chinese-founded online retailer Shein to its list of digital companies that are large enough to come under stricter safety curbs.

Cybersecurity firm Darktrace said Friday it had accepted a $5.3-billion takeover bid from US private equity firm Thoma Bravo, which highlighted the British group's "capability in artificial intelligence".

Markets were mixed on Friday after forecast-topping earnings from Microsoft and Alphabet helped soothe worries that a tech-fuelled rally may have been overdone, while the yen hit a fresh 34-year low after the Bank of Japan stood pat on interest rates.

BHP's multi-billion-dollar bid to buy rival Anglo American promises to be the largest mining merger deal in decades, and one driven by the race for cleaner energy and green metals.

Electric vehicle executives at a top car show in China were bullish on prospects for growth, despite a gruelling price war and mounting Western pressure on the industry.

British mining giant Anglo American on Friday rejected a blockbuster $38.8-billion takeover bid from Australian rival BHP, slamming it as "highly unattractive" and "opportunistic".

Chinese tech giant ByteDance has said it has no plans to sell TikTok after a new US law put it on a deadline to divest from the hugely popular video platform or have it banned in the United States.

American Airlines reported a quarterly loss Thursday on an uptick in labor and other operating costs as the carrier confirmed its full-year financial forecast.

Shares in social media company Snap, which runs the youth-focused Snapchat, soared nearly 25 percent on Thursday after it reported more quarterly revenue than expected by analysts.

Microsoft, the tech titan most closely associated with AI, has announced nearly $10 billion in investments in artificial intelligence abroad in recent months, the price it is willing to pay to remain a top player in this crucial market.

Corruption in Venezuela's oil industry is a many-headed monster that has devoured billions of dollars in taxpayers' money in the past 20 years, experts say.

They can't bring back their children, siblings or partners, but five years on, the families of the 2019 Boeing crash victims want to ensure a similar tragedy never happens again.

Microsoft and Google on Thursday drubbed quarterly earnings expectations as the tech titans continued investing heavily in artificial intelligence promising to shake up the way people live.

Google's parent Alphabet on Thursday trounced revenue and profit expectations for the first quarter of this year, causing shares to leap more than 12 percent.

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is accusing Apple of using "illegally exploited" minerals extracted from the country's embattled east in its products, lawyers representing the African country said Thursday.

Japanese auto giant Honda announced Thursday the largest automotive investment in Canada's history, worth Can$15 billion (US$11 billion), for a massive new EV battery and vehicle assembly plant.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he plans to visit China in May, his first planned trip abroad since re-election as Moscow seeks deeper ties with Beijing.