AFP news

Italy's leading bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, has reached a deal with trade unions for 9,000 voluntary job cuts -- around 10 percent of its workforce -- due to the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) and digitalisation.

An Irish regulator helping to police European Union data privacy said Thursday it had fined professional networking platform LinkedIn 310 million euros ($335 million) over breaching users' personal data for targeted advertising.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday his country would support Lebanon with 100 million euros, as Paris hosted an aid conference with big financial aims but slim diplomatic prospects.

The Israeli military said Thursday it hit Hezbollah weapons production facilities in the group's south Beirut bastion, in some of the fiercest strikes on the area since the Lebanon war began.

French luxury group Hermes posted Thursday a jump in third quarter sales, bucking the overall gloom in the sector caused by falling sales in China.

Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC halted shipments to a customer this month after its semiconductors were sent to China's Huawei, a Taipei government official told AFP, potentially breaching US sanctions.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks Thursday in Qatar, a key mediator in the Gaza war, as he seeks to build momentum for a ceasefire after Israel's killing of the leader of Hamas.

While the outcome of next month's US presidential election remains on a knife-edge, analysts say that for many in China the consequence is the same whoever emerges victorious: more tariffs, more tensions and a trade war that shows no sign of easing.

New Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's snap election gamble could backfire this Sunday, with his ruling party at risk of losing its majority for the first time in 15 years.

Boeing workers in the Seattle region decisively rejected the US aerospace giant's latest contract offer on Wednesday, extending their nearly six-week strike.

Microsoft's ambition to become the "Netflix of video games" faces a huge test this week with the release of "Call of Duty: Black Ops 6" on Friday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday against "illusory" attempts to defeat Russia on the battlefield ahead of his first meeting with UN chief Antonio Guterres in more than two years for talks set to focus on the conflict in Ukraine.

A former model has accused Donald Trump of groping her after the two were introduced by sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein in the 1990s, The Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday.

In her store located a stone's throw from the wall separating the United States and Mexico, Ida Pedrego sighs at the thought of White House hopefuls visiting the border to talk about immigration.

A specialist London bookstore is selling an original typescript of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's children's classic "The Little Prince", complete with the author's hand-written corrections and revisions.

Donald Trump boasted on Wednesday of almost daily conversations with Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that he has a very good relationship with the Israeli prime minister.

Perplexity AI chief Aravind Srinivas said Wednesday that he hopes to collaborate with news publishers which accuse the Google challenger of freeloading off their work.

Global growth is expected to ease slightly to 3.2 percent this year and remain at that level in 2025, the IMF announced Tuesday, while warning that the stable figures masked "important" regional and sectoral shifts.

Maritime trade should show modest growth this year, the UN said Tuesday, warning though that the geopolitical tensions, climate impacts and conflicts shaking global trade are threatening the functioning of maritime supply chains.

Thousands of artists including ABBA singer Bjorn Ulvaeus, Hollywood actress Julianne Moore and Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro have signed a statement warning about the unlicensed use of artificial intelligence.

Real Madrid came from behind to beat Borussia Dortmund 5-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday with Vinicius Junior scoring a hat-trick, as Aston Villa maintained their 100 percent record to go top of the table.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected a strategic missile base, state media said Wednesday, releasing images of him viewing transport and launch vehicles for the country's largest and most powerful intercontinental ballistic weapons.

European and Asian stock markets traded mixed Wednesday and oil prices retreated as investors focused on company earnings and the outlook for the US and Chinese economies.

A Chinese aircraft carrier group sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, Taiwan's defence minister said, a day after Beijing held a live-fire exercise near the self-ruled island.

Kamala Harris faces voters' questions at a live forum Wednesday in must-win Pennsylvania as the vice president and her rival Donald Trump battle for undecided voters in the closing stretch of an extremely close White House race.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday "now is the time" to end the conflict in Gaza, and urged Israel to avoid further escalation with Iran.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday touted the creation of a new "multipolar world order" at the BRICS summit, a gathering of world leaders he hopes will show that Western attempts to isolate Moscow over its Ukraine offensive have failed.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday played down allegations made by Donald Trump's team of "blatant foreign interference" by his Labour Party in the US election, saying it was normal for its volunteers to campaign.

The World Health Organization said Wednesday that "intense bombardment" and "escalating violence" in northern Gaza had forced it to postpone the final phase of a child polio vaccination drive.