BEIJING, China -- New Zealand has raised concerns with China over human rights abuses and growing tensions with Taiwan, Wellington's foreign minister told AFP in an interview Saturday. Nanaia Mahuta held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in which they discussed "challenging issues", she...
PARIS, France -- A large asteroid will safely zoom between Earth and the Moon on Saturday, a once-in-a-decade event that will be used as a training exercise for planetary defence efforts, according to the European Space Agency. The asteroid, named 2023 DZ2, is estimated to be 40 to 70 metres (130 to...
WASHINGTON, United States --Â An explosion at a chocolate factory in the US state of Pennsylvania has killed two people and left nine others missing, according to local media. The explosion at the RM Palmer Company plant in the West Reading borough of Pennsylvania occurred before 5 pm local time...
UNITED NATIONS, United States -- How can anyone seek shelter from a natural disaster they don't even know is coming? Last year the United Nations called for every person on the planet to be covered by early warning systems by 2027 -- but months into the effort it is becoming clear that the project...
PARIS, France -- New evidence that raccoon dogs were at the Chinese market where Covid is suspected to have first infected humans has reignited debate over the origin of the pandemic. The researchers who unexpectedly stumbled over the genetic data say that it supports -- but cannot definitively...
LONDON, United Kingdom -- Charles III arrives in France on Sunday for his first state visit as king, but the planned celebrations of historic cross-Channel relations face potential disruption from protests over unpopular pension reforms. Officials on both sides are keeping a close eye on the waves...
UNITED NATIONS, United States -- Several African and Latin American countries on Thursday launched a major initiative to restore 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) of rivers by 2030, as well as lakes and wetlands degraded by human activity. The "Freshwater Challenge," led by a coalition of...
MALABO, Equatorial Guinea -- Seven people have been killed in an outbreak of Marburg virus in Equatorial Guinea, with a further 20 deaths "probably" due to the hemorrhagic fever, the World Health Organization said Thursday. The outbreak of the virus, which is almost as deadly as Ebola, has now...
PARIS, France -- Leading glaciologist Claude Lorius, whose Antarctica discoveries in the 1980s helped prove humanity's role in global warming, has died at 91. Lorius died on Tuesday morning in the French region of Burgundy, according to Jerome Chappellaz, a palaeoclimatologist and former colleague...
WASHINGTON, United States -- TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced relentless questioning from combative US lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle Thursday over the video-sharing app's alleged ties to China and its danger to teens. The 40-year-old Singaporean suffered unusually intense grilling by...
KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday told European leaders that "delays" sending fighter jets and long-range missiles could extend the war, after he paid a visit to the frontline southern region of Kherson. On the train home from the war-ravaged areas, Zelensky gave an...
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea claimed Friday it had tested an underwater nuclear attack drone able to unleash a "radioactive tsunami", as it blamed recent US-South Korea exercises for a deteriorating regional security situation. Pyongyang carried out drills in response this week, the official...
