Beijing, China - Factory output in China grew at a faster rate than expected last month, official data showed Monday, weathering a brutal trade war with Washington. Industrial production in the export powerhouse grew 6.1 percent on-year in April, according to figures published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)....

The announcement came hours after the military said it had begun "extensive ground operations" in a newly intensified campaign in Gaza, and as Israel and Hamas engaged in indirect talks on a deal to potentially halt the fighting.

Moody's on Friday downgraded the United States's credit rating from the top triple-A level, citing rising levels of government debt and dealing a blow to Donald Trump's narrative of economic strength and prosperity.

The Israeli military said Saturday it had launched "extensive strikes" as part of a fresh offensive in Gaza, after rescuers reported 100 people killed in the besieged Palestinian territory.

The Istanbul meeting follows Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's warning of "irreversible" consequences if the European powers move to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran that were lifted under a 2015 deal.

Under imposing chandeliers, Trump welcomed a promise by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who effectively rules the kingdom due to King Salman's frail health, for $600 billion in investment and quipped that it should be $1 trillion.

The United States announced new sanctions Monday against Iran over its nuclear program, despite ongoing negotiations between the two countries over the sensitive issue.

After the first meetings between Washington and Beijing since Trump ratcheted up his trade war, the world's two biggest economies agreed in a joint statement to bring their triple-digit tariffs down to two figures and continue negotiations.

Calling the plane a "flying palace," ABC News, which first reported the story, said the Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet gifted from the Qatari royal family would possibly be the most expensive gift ever received by the American government.

In a joint statement Egypt and Qatar, who along with the US have mediated talks between Hamas and Israel, also welcomed the development as a "a gesture of goodwill and an encouraging step toward a return to the negotiating table".

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said ahead of Sunday's meeting that "the negotiations are progressing and, naturally, the further we go, the more consultations and considerations we need" and the more time is required "to review the issues raised".

Senior US and Chinese officials are in Switzerland this weekend for talks aimed at de-escalating a burgeoning trade war sparked by President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff rollout, and fueled by strong retaliatory measures from Beijing.

Washington, United States - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged India and Pakistan to restore direct communication to "avoid miscalculation" in a series of calls as the conflict neared all-out war, the State Department said early Saturday. Rubio placed telephone calls to the rivals' top diplomats and, for the...

Israel would not be involved in food distribution under a US-led plan for the Gaza Strip but would provide "necessary military security", Washington's ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said on Friday.

Israel has imposed a blockade for two months on Gaza, leading UN agencies and other humanitarian groups to warn of dwindling supplies of everything from fuel to medicine to the territory of 2.4 million Palestinians.

Paris, France - Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels have emerged bruised but defiant from a blistering US bombing campaign, cementing their role as one of the Middle East's most powerful non-state actors after a truce with Washington. US President Donald Trump said the rebels had "capitulated" after the intense, seven-week campaign...

Israel will do to Iran what it has done to Hamas in Gaza, Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Thursday, days after an attack on Ben Gurion airport by Iran-backed Huthi rebels.

Yemen's Huthi rebels will continue targeting Israeli ships in the Red Sea, an official told AFP on Wednesday, despite a ceasefire that ended weeks of intense US strikes on the Iran-backed group.

Israel drew international condemnation over its plans for an expanded Gaza offensive, as the country's far-right finance minister called Tuesday for the Palestinian territory to be "destroyed".

Tehran, Iran - Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of attempting to drag the United States into "disaster" in the Middle East, warning against any attempt to attack Iran. "Netanyahu is directly MEDDLING within the US Government to DRAG it into another DISASTER...

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu warned of future retaliation, saying Israel had acted against Iran-backed Huthis before and “will act in the future,” while international airlines suspended flights to Israel.

In a dizzying first three months, Trump wielded executive power like no other modern president, signing more than 140 orders on immigration, culture war issues and slashing the federal bureaucracy.

Los Angeles, United States - A cat that fell alongside a couple into a 115-meter-high canyon was the only survivor of the incident in the western United States, an animal protection organization said Thursday. The feline "was found in a black soft-sided carrier that was dirty and torn, but seemed...

Apple on Thursday reported first-quarter profit above expectations but warned that US tariffs could cost the company and were disrupting its supply chain.

The Israeli military said Friday it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen, where Huthi rebels recently claimed responsibility for a missile launch that targeted Israel.

Israel has since then attacked hundreds of Syrian military sites and on Friday announced its "fighter jets struck adjacent to the area of the palace" in the capital Damascus, a military statement said.

The United States said Wednesday it was imposing sanctions on seven companies involved in selling Iranian oil, tightening pressure despite new nuclear talks between the adversaries.

The United Nations expressed deep alarm on Monday at reports that US strikes on Yemen killed scores of people at a migrant detention centre in a stronghold of the Huthi rebels.

Before Putin's announcement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held new talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, having declared that this will be a crucial week in a US decision on whether to halt its peace efforts.

Beijing, China - President Xi Jinping said China must "overcome" the challenges of developing core AI technologies including high-end chips, state media reported Saturday, as Beijing seeks to become a world leader in the rapidly developing industry. China aims to dominate the artificial intelligence sector, a goal complicated by the...

Witkoff, a businessman friend of Trump who has become his globe-trotting negotiator, last met Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday in Rome, where they reported progress and called for talks among technical teams.

Saudi Arabia's top diplomat held talks in Washington earlier this month to lay the groundwork for a visit by Trump in a reprisal of 2017, when the oil-rich, conservative kingdom was the first destination of his first term in office.

A technical, expert-level nuclear meeting between Iran and the United States will be held on Saturday, coinciding with the third round of indirect talks mediated by Oman, Tehran announced Tuesday.

China on Monday hit out at other countries making trade deals with the United States at Beijing's expense, promising countermeasures against those who "appease" Washington in the blistering tariff war.

Washington, United States - The US Supreme Court, in a dramatic nighttime intervention Saturday, paused President Donald Trump's unprecedented use of an obscure law to deport Venezuelan migrants without due process. The emergency ruling, delivered in two terse paragraphs, noted that two of the most conservative of the nine justices...

Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons - an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.

The US military said it had destroyed a key Yemeni fuel port as it targets the country's Huthi rebels, who said Friday that 20 people had been killed in the strikes.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi warned on Wednesday that Iran was "not far" from possessing a nuclear bomb, shortly before he arrived in Tehran for talks.

The United States on Tuesday announced the approval of an $825 million sale of up to 600 Stinger anti-air missiles and related equipment to Morocco.

Nvidia on Tuesday notified regulators that it expects a $5.5 billion hit this quarter due to a new US licensing requirement on the primary chip it can legally sell in China.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said a Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy that killed at least 34 people was "a horrible thing."

Analysts had said the US would push to include on the agenda discussions over Iran's ballistic missile programme, along with Tehran's support for the "axis of resistance" -- a network of militant groups opposed to Israel.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who briefly spoke face-to-face with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff during the indirect meeting in Oman, said the talks would resume next Saturday.

Iran seeks a "real and fair" agreement with Washington on its nuclear programme, a senior aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday, setting the stage for a diplomatic showdown this weekend in Oman.

Leeuwarden, Netherlands - Fighter jets from the United States, France, Finland and Germany roar into the skies from a Dutch base as part of NATO's biggest air exercise this year. The aim: to practice stopping -- and then defeating -- an enemy attack against the alliance as Russia's war in Ukraine...

Last month, Trump sent a letter to Khamenei, who has the final say in matters of state in Iran, calling for direct negotiations but warning of military action if the diplomacy fails.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday renewed US support for Morocco's sovereignty and political plan for Western Sahara, a long source of contention with Algeria.

US President Donald Trump's punishing tariffs on dozens of economies came in force Wednesday, including over 100 percent in levies against Chinese goods, dramatically ramping up a devastating global trade war.

Trump made the surprise announcement that his administration would open talks with Iran during a White House meeting on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country is an arch foe of Tehran.

Yemen's Huthis said they targeted a military site in Israel and attacked two US destroyers in the Red Sea Monday, shortly after Israel's army said it intercepted a drone launched from the east.