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Most stock markets rallied Friday after the White House confirmed President Donald Trump would meet China's Xi Jinping next week, stoking optimism for a cooling of trade tensions between the economic superpowers.

Beijing and Washington "can totally find ways to resolve each other's concerns", China's commerce minister said Friday, as officials from both sides were set to meet in Malaysia for trade talks.

US President Donald Trump said Thursday he was ending trade talks with Canada over an anti-tariff advertising campaign, a sudden about-face soon after a cordial White House meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Friday she will bring US ties to "new heights" in talks with President Donald Trump, while taking a swipe at China and vowing a stricter stance on foreigners.

Women in Australia's defence forces launched a class action lawsuit Friday alleging widespread and systematic sexual violence, harassment and discrimination.

South Korea's unification minister said Friday he believed there was a "considerable" chance that US President Donald Trump will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a visit to the peninsula next week.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Friday he would tell US leader Donald Trump in any meeting at a summit in Malaysia starting this weekend that tariffs on his country were a "mistake".

US President Donald Trump's trip to Asia which begins Sunday carries significant economic stakes for countries around the region, with multiple tariff deals still pending and a trade dispute simmering between Washington and Beijing.

In a factory in southern Ivory Coast, where machines hum to produce chocolate bars and spreads, twin brothers dream of becoming "giants of cocoa processing".

More than 1,000 people, mostly Chinese, have fled from Myanmar into Thailand this week, Thai authorities said on Friday, after the Myanmar military raided one of the country's largest scam centres.

Nnimmo Bassey, a prominent figure in the decades-long environmental struggles in Africa's largest oil-producing country, will next month attend yet another UN climate summit, this time in Brazil.

Drastic aid cuts, notably by the United States, have made it vital for Europe to better manage health resources, the director of WHO Europe told AFP.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded Thursday against a "crazy war" as an escalating US military campaign sent tensions soaring.

Major US and Japanese animation studios including HBO Max and Amazon unknowingly hired North Korean IT workers, a joint government report has found.

British clockmaker Ian Westworth is bracing for a wave of concern this weekend from Londoners convinced the country's most famous clock Big Ben has broken down.

False claims that Japan's new prime minister has created a ministry for "mass deportations" have been widely spread online, as immigration misinformation swirls after a "Japanese first" party did well in elections earlier this year.

Alaska Airlines said Thursday it had temporarily suspended all flights due to a tech outage, three months after a similar incident.

Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa said Thursday that an unknown assailant had attempted to poison him with chocolate and a jam laced with chemicals, gifted to him at a public event.

Elena Rybakina clinched the eighth and last spot at next month's WTA Finals when she beat Victoria Mboko 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) on Friday to reach the Pan Pacific semi-finals in Tokyo.

Spanish rookie Fermin Aldeguer was fastest at a rain-interrupted Malaysian MotoGP first practice on Friday as compatriot Alex Marquez crashed.

Justin Herbert threw for 227 yards and three touchdowns to spark the Los Angeles Chargers over the Minnesota Vikings 37-10 in the NFL on Thursday.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 55 points to lead reigning champion Oklahoma City over Indiana 141-135 in double overtime on Thursday in a historic rematch of last season's NBA Finals.

After 14 years of destruction, Syria must be swiftly rebuilt to bring stability to the country and the wider region, a top UN official in the war-ravaged nation told AFP.

India trialled cloud seeding over its smog-filled capital for the first time, spraying a chemical from an aeroplane to encourage rain and wash deadly particles out of the air.

La Rochelle's Nolann Le Garrec, Bordeaux-Begles' Maxime Lucu and Clermont's Baptiste Jauneau have one last opportunity to push their case to stand-in for Antoine Dupont for France during the Autumun Nations Series, when they feature in the French Top 14 this weekend.

Last season Barcelona romped to four Clasico victories over Real Madrid but led by in-form striker Kylian Mbappe, Los Blancos are aiming to redress the balance on Sunday in La Liga.

England take on world champions Australia in the first Test of the long-awaited best-of-three Rugby League Ashes series in Wembley on Saturday keen to banish a repeat of agonising late defeats.

Just seven rounds into the Bundesliga season, a Harry Kane-powered Bayern Munich are already threatening to pull away from the chasing pack.

Liverpool must halt their three-game Premier League losing streak with Saturday's visit to Brentford to remain in touch with Arsenal and in-form Manchester City.

Asian markets rallied Friday after the White House confirmed President Donald Trump would meet China's Xi Jinping next week, stoking optimism for a cooling of trade tensions between the economic superpowers.

Japanese inflation accelerated last month, official data showed Friday, ahead of a maiden policy speech by new Prime Minister Sakae Takaichi who has promised to ease pressure on households.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky heads to London Friday for a meeting of its key backers, where Britain's prime minister has said he will call on Europe to deliver more long-range missiles.

A 13-year-old boy in New Zealand swallowed up to 100 high-power magnets he bought on Temu, forcing surgeons to remove tissue from his intestines, doctors said on Friday.

Car bombings, massacres, extortion, and a security force outgunned by drug gangs: the mayor of Ecuador's most violent city says residents are living through a "collective psychosis" -- and suggests the president's hardline policies bear some of the blame.

Composer William Barnett started his YouTube channel as an outlet for his music -- but today he also uses it to debunk the steady stream of White House rhetoric on autism while sharing his own experience living with it.

At the White House earlier this month, US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney were asked about Canadians who, furious over tariffs and annexation threats, had canceled travel to the United States.

Nick Champion de Crespigny admitted he was surprised to be named Australia captain for Saturday's Test against Japan in only his third international appearance.

Demolition workers have finished tearing down the White House's entire East Wing to make way for US President Donald Trump's giant new $300 million ballroom, satellite pictures showed Thursday.

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were arrested Thursday for alleged involvement in illegal gambling schemes that rocked the NBA.