AFP news

Once a feared general under late dictator Suharto, Indonesia's likely new president Prabowo Subianto now faces the challenge of honouring his campaign pledges to maintain the country's economic growth.

Although the Frankfurt-based ECB has held rates steady so far in 2024, it is widely expected to begin cutting rates later this year in the face of slowing consumer prices and a weakening eurozone economy.

While economists predicted that the recession could be short-lived, the data is a big setback for Sunak, who has placed economic growth as a key priority.

Every year, the Venice Art Mask Factory in Albania's Shkoder produces more than 20,000 hand-crafted masks, including 1,700 unique pieces this year alone, to be donned by carnival revelers from Rio to Tokyo.

Republicans impeached US President Joe Biden's immigration chief on Tuesday, the culmination of months of attacks on the Democratic administration as they seek to make border security a key issue in November's election.

Since Elon Musk's turbulent 2022 acquisition of X, formerly Twitter, the site has restored thousands of once-banned accounts and introduced a paid verification system that critics say has boosted conspiracy theorists.

The Republican White House frontrunner was widely rebuked after saying he would not defend NATO members who had not met their financial obligations, in his most extreme broadside yet against the organization.

So far this year, Kim has declared South Korea his country's "principal enemy", jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach, and threatened war over "even 0.001 mm" of territorial infringement.

CNN and NBC News both called the race in favor of Tom Suozzi, forecasting that he had defeated Republican Mazi Pilip in the election, which was marked by a heavy snowstorm across the district.

The 30-year-old wooden gallery of the Saint Peter the Apostle church had been weakened by termites. It gave way during mass, apparently due to the added weight, plunging churchgoers to the aisle on the ground floor below.

Beer volume overall dipped by 4.7 percent, with 60 percent of that decline driven by sharp falls in Nigeria and Vietnam, the firm said.

Sarkozy has faced a litany of legal problems since his sole term in office between 2007 and 2012 and has been charged separately with corruption, bribery, influence-peddling and campaign finance infringements.

A Proteas team with just 40 Test caps between them have opened up the prospect of squaring the two-match series after crashing to a 281-run loss in the first Test at Mount Maunganui.

A Hamas source told AFP that a delegation was headed to the Egyptian capital to meet Egyptian and Qatari mediators, after Israeli negotiators held talks with the mediators on Tuesday.

Higher gas and electricity bills were the main upward contributor to the rate, but this was offset by falling prices for furniture, food and non-alcoholic beverages.

The warning came even as Kyiv said it had destroyed another Russian warship in the Black Sea, the latest in a string of successful attacks on Russia's naval fleet.

Officials on Wednesday also reported the arrest of four people, including the open pit's field manager, in the opening stages of their investigation into the accident.

One reason for the more ambitious outlook is net gains on investments at Sony's life insurance business, the company said, announcing a plan to take its financial services division public in October 2025.

The United Arab Emirates and Israel established diplomatic ties in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords, making it one of the few Arab countries to recognize Israel.

Israeli forces and Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, have traded near-daily fire since war broke out on October 7 between Israel and the Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip.

Official tolls of civilians killed since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, are unreliable as no independent count has been made due to a lack of access to Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.

The appeal for the top court to stay the earlier ruling is crucial to deciding whether Trump can be put on trial for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in which he lost to current President Joe Biden.

Candidates loyal to Khan defied a crackdown blocking them from campaigning and forcing them to run as independents, with a combined showing bigger than any party in Thursday's National Assembly polls.

The commission announced in September that 22 "core" services provided by the designated gatekeepers -- Google's Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok parent ByteDance, Facebook owner Meta and Microsoft -- met the thresholds for mandatory compliance.

Trump was rebuked from all sides after saying in a speech Saturday that he would "encourage" Russia to attack members of NATO who had not met their financial obligations, in his most extreme broadside against the organization..

Several issues remain stuck in the weeds ahead of the World Trade Organization's biennial ministerial meeting, as anxiety swells over the impact that geopolitical tensions and the looming US elections could have on global trade.

The $95 billion package includes funding for Israel's fight against Hamas militants and for key strategic ally Taiwan, but the lion's share -- $60 billion -- would help pro-Western Ukraine restock depleted ammunition supplies, weapons and other crucial needs as it enters a third year of war.

The cryptocurrency has enjoyed a strong run in recent months, fueled by expectations US lawmakers would allow the creation of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the price and let the public invest in crypto without directly purchasing it.

The event brought together A-list stars, directors, producers and behind-the-scenes artists, offering them a chance to meet the competition and charm a few voters over champagne and canapes ahead of next month's awards.