AFP News

Tech giant Apple on Wednesday rolled out major updates to its artificial intelligence offerings that integrate OpenAI's ChatGPT into its native applications, including Siri, on the iPhone.

Equities swung in Asian trade Thursday following another record day on Wall Street fuelled by inflation data that reinforced expectations for a US interest rate cut next week, while traders also remained hopeful for more measures to stimulate China's economy.

Taiwan said Thursday it detected 16 Chinese warships in waters around the island, one of the highest numbers this year, as Beijing intensifies military pressure on Taipei.

Mohammed Naeem knew the Kabul street where he and his brothers built matching apartment buildings was too narrow, but he was still in disbelief as their homes were reduced to rubble to widen the road.

Faced with a stuttering economy, political turbulence in the eurozone and the prospect of renewed trade tensions with the United States, the European Central Bank is Thursday set to cut interest rates again.

Australia will spend US$385 million to establish a rugby league team from Papua New Guinea in its rugby league competition, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday, a move designed to help ward off China.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday vowed to fight "until the very last minute", defending his shock decision last week to declare martial law and deploy troops to the country's parliament The South Korean leader is banned from foreign travel as part of an "insurrection" probe into his inner circle over the dramatic events of December 3-4 that stunned South Korea's allies.

The movers and shakers of the video game industry will gather Thursday in Los Angeles to celebrate the annual Game Awards, the sector's equivalent of the Oscars.

In a patch of South America rich in lithium, used to make batteries for electric cars and other tech, Bolivia is lagging behind its neighbors in the race to mine the key metal.

Pope Francis travels to the French island of Corsica Sunday to visit the small Catholic community, just days after having skipped the reopening ceremony for Notre Dame cathedral.

Last week's slaying of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson has brought renewed attention to the widespread dissatisfaction with the American health care system, even as prominent leaders have condemned the killing.

Manchester City's crisis continued with a 2-0 defeat away to Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday, while Pep Guardiola's old club Barcelona beat Borussia Dortmund to clinch a spot in the knockout stage of Europe's elite club competition.

Somalia and Ethiopia have reached a deal to end a nearly year-old bitter dispute following hours of Turkish-brokered talks in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.

The UN General Assembly voted Wednesday in favor of a draft resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, a symbolic gesture after the United States vetoed a similar action in the UN Security Council.

Economic officials in outgoing President Joe Biden's administration are set to meet their Chinese counterparts this week for talks, in a final effort to strengthen ties before Donald Trump's White House return.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday urged businesses to invest in war-torn Ukraine and stressed a commitment to smooth Kyiv's path to European Union accession.

The largest group in the European Parliament, the conservative EPP, joined calls Wednesday to "reverse" a ban on combustion engine vehicles starting in 2035, citing the struggles of the automotive industry.

Russia on Wednesday vowed retribution against Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of firing Western-supplied missiles on a military airfield in its southern Rostov region.

Canada's central bank on Wednesday lowered its key lending rate by 50 basis points to 3.25 percent, seeking to aid a slowing economy facing uncertainty following a tariff threat from US President-elect Donald Trump.

In the corridors of Damascus's main hospitals, thousands of families have gathered for the foreboding mission of trying to find the bodies of loved ones captured years ago by the Syrian authorities.

A proposed $25 billion supermarket mega-merger disintegrated Wednesday in bitter recriminations between Albertsons and would-be suitor Kroger following US court rulings blocking the deal.

Google on Wednesday announced the launch of Gemini 2.0, its most advanced artificial intelligence model to date, as the world's tech giants race to take the lead in the fast developing technology.

US consumer inflation ticked up for a second consecutive month in November, driven by housing and food prices among other sectors, according to government data published Wednesday, complicating the Federal Reserve's rate cut deliberations.

The Afghan minister for refugees was killed on Wednesday in a suicide bombing at the ministry's offices in the capital Kabul, government sources said, blaming the Islamic State group for the attack which has not been claimed.

FIFA is set to confirm on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup while a joint bid by Morocco, Spain and Portugal which also features matches in South America will be awarded the 2030 tournament.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday urged the release of protesters "arbitrarily" arrested in a crackdown on pro-EU demonstrations in Georgia, in telephone talks with the billionaire former premier Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Elysee said.

French President Emmanuel Macron raced Wednesday to meet a self-imposed 48-hour deadline to name a new prime minister after he hosted party bosses in a bid to hammer out a consensus and avoid a protracted political crisis.

Syria's new prime minister said the Islamist-led alliance that ousted president Bashar al-Assad will "guarantee" the rights of all religious groups and called on the millions who fled the war to return home.

A feared Sudanese militia chief "willingly and enthusiastically" participated in war crimes, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor charged Wednesday, laying out searing accusations of rape, murder, and torture.