
AFP
17703 articles published since 08 Mar 2022
17703 articles published since 08 Mar 2022
Elderly Chinese farmers carrying enormous baskets of vegetables squeezed into a subway station as its doors opened before dawn on Wednesday, on the outskirts of megacity Chongqing. Braving persistent drizzle, a group of farmers began waiting at Shichuan station in northeast Chongqing more than two hours before the first train at 6:30am on Wednesday.
The EU faced questions on Wednesday over how much of its money goes to tech billionaire Elon Musk's companies as tensions ramp up between the new US administration and Brussels.
Mexico's booming tequila industry was left reeling Wednesday after US President Donald Trump slapped sweeping tariffs on the Central American nation that producers say threaten the popularity of its most famous liquor. More than two-thirds of tequila produced last year was exported to the United States -- 335 million liters of almost 500 million, according to Mexico's Tequila Regulatory Council.
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is considering letting go up to half of its approximately 90,000 employees, a source with knowledge of the situation told AFP on Tuesday. When asked about US press reports of the plans to halve the IRS headcount, the source confirmed such a project was being discussed internally.
Taiwanese chip-making giant TSMC plans to invest a whopping $100 billion in the United States, after US President Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on overseas-made chips. It follows Trump's accusations that Taiwan stole the US chip industry and his threats to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent -- and Taipei's promises to invest more in the United States.
China's defence spending will rise by 7.2 percent in 2025, the same as last year, Beijing said on Wednesday, as its armed forces undergo rapid modernisation and eye deepening strategic competition with the United States. China's military spending last year made up 1.6 percent of its GDP, far less than the United States or Russia, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Asian markets were mostly up Wednesday as investors weighed bullish growth targets announced by China despite its sluggish economy and the looming prospect of a global trade war. "Investors don’t like tariffs, and they are deeply uncomfortable with President Trump's new world order, which is weighing on market sentiment," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading platform.
A US judge on Tuesday denied Elon Musk's request to prevent OpenAI from becoming a for-profit business in a loss for the Tesla tycoon amid his feud with Sam Altman.
The first commercial mission of Europe's new heavy-lift rocket Ariane 6 has been rescheduled for Thursday, French company Arianespace announced, after an "anomaly" forced a last-minute postponement. But minutes before Monday's blast off from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, the company found an "anomaly" in one of the refuelling pipes.
AFP
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