AFP

AFP

AI, chips boom sent South Korea exports soaring in 2025

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Total exports last year were valued at over $700 billion, according to data from Seoul's industry ministry, up 3.8 percent from the previous year.

TSMC says started mass production of 'most advanced' 2nm chips

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Taiwanese tech titan TSMC has started mass producing its cutting-edge 2-nanometre semiconductor chips, the company said in a statement.

Bulgaria readies to adopt the euro, nearly 20 years after joining EU

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Bulgaria will wave goodbye to both 2025 and its lev currency, which has been in use since the late 19th century.

World bids farewell to 2025, a year of Trump, truces and turmoil

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It was one of the warmest years on record, the stifling heat stoking wildfires in Europe, droughts in Africa and deadly rains across Southeast Asia.

Tehran shopkeepers shut stores over economic conditions

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Price fluctuations are paralysing the sales of some imported goods, with both sellers and buyers preferring to postpone transactions until the outlook becomes clearer, ...

South Korea's ex-first lady accused of taking over $200,000 in bribes

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Kim Keon Hee, the wife of disgraced ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol, was arrested in August and is under investigation for alleged stock manipulation and receiving gifts ...

Chilean firms partner to form giant company to exploit lithium

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The partnership between the firms will allow them to jointly ramp up the exploitation of lithium in the Atacama salt flat region of northern Chile.

Beyonce declared a billionaire by Forbes magazine

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The 44-year-old entertainer joins a select club that includes her husband, rapper Jay-Z, as well as Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and Rihanna, according to the ...

China's BYD poised to overtake Tesla in 2025 EV sales

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The two groups are expected soon to publish their final figures for 2025, and based on sales data so far this year, there is almost no chance the American company ...

Nvidia expands AI empire with Groq talent grab

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Under the agreement, Groq founder Jonathan Ross and president Sunny Madra, along with other team members, will join Nvidia to help develop and scale the Groq's technology. ...

China sanctions 20 US firms over Taiwan arms sales

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The United States has long been Taiwan's biggest arms supplier despite China viewing the democratic island as part of its territory and refusing to rule out using ...

Upstart gangsters shake Japan's yakuza

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Yakuza have long occupied a particular place in Japanese society. Technically not illegal, each group even has its own official headquarters.

'Happy milestone': Pakistan's historic brewery cheers export licence

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Murree, founded in 1860 to quench the thirst of British soldiers and the colonial community during the Raj, has survived Islamist opposition and strict regulations ...

From predator to plate: Japan bear crisis sparks culinary craze

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Although far from an everyday dish, bear has long been eaten in mountainous villages across Japan.

Pets, pedis and peppermints: When the diva is a donkey

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The donkey pulls the colorful cart of Parpignol, who peddles toys to children in the spectacular street market scene that also literally features a horse-drawn carriage. ...

Judge upholds Trump's $100k fee to process US tech visas

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The $100,000 application fee announced in September gave companies just 36 hours notice before it went into effect, triggering chaos and confusion over how it would ...

'We are ghosts': Britain's migrant night workers

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In the last decade, Britain's nine-million-strong nighttime workforce has become increasingly reliant on migrants like Cristovao, as the number of UK-born workers ...

Amazon says blocked 1,800 North Koreans from applying for jobs

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The North Koreans typically use " laptop farms" - a computer in the United States operated remotely from outside the country, Amazon's Chief Security Officer said. ...

Trump admin halts US offshore wind projects citing 'national security'

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The Republican president has long expressed opposition to windmills, particularly over their appearance, and his administration has made multiple attempts to limit ...

Sri Lanka cyclone caused $4.1 bn damage: World Bank

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The natural disaster killed more than 640 people, and affected more than 10 percent of Sri Lanka's population. Floods and landslides caused by the cyclone left extensive ...

Billionaire Ellison offers personal guarantee for son's bid for Warner Bros

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Warner Bros last week described the Paramount offer as risky, saying it was backed by " an unknown and opaque revocable trust" and involved " no Ellison family commitment ...

Cape Town's housing crisis meets Airbnb boom

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According to the Inside Airbnb data project, Cape Town counted more than 26,870 listings on the platform.

As US battles China on AI, some companies choose Chinese

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Despite considerable geopolitical tensions, Chinese open-source AI models are winning over a growing number of programmers and companies in the United States.

Asian markets rally with Wall St as rate hopes rise, AI fears ease

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Investors were back in the saddle for the final business days before Christmas, having had a minor wobble earlier in the month on concerns that the Federal Reserve ...

TikTok's billion-user milestone and new US joint venture secure its future

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TikTok's surge from niche video-sharing tool to global powerhouse is one of the biggest shifts in digital entertainment since the advent of social media.