NEW YORK (AFP) -- Airbnb, the internet home stay company which disrupted the hotel and travel industry, said Thursday it plans to make its stock market debut next year but offered few details. Launched in 2008, the company is considered a "unicorn," a startup valued at more than $1 billion even before its initial public offering. The stock launch comes in the wake of other highly anticipated Wall Street launches for companies in the "gig" economy, which have not been resoundi

NEW YORK (AFP) -- US stocks went nowhere on Thursday as investors lost their appetite in afternoon trade, a day after the US central bank delivered a widely expected shot of stimulus.At the close, the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2 percent at 27,094.79, erasing earlier gains in the day.Meanwhile, the broader S&P 500 was flat, hovering near record levels at 3,006.79, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was 0.1 percent higher at 8,182.88.Disney led the Dow lower, shedding 2.6 perc

TOKYO (AFP) -- More than eight years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, a Japanese court will rule Thursday on the only criminal prosecution stemming from the worst nuclear accident in decades.Three former executives from Tokyo Electric Power Company, the firm that operated the Fukushima plant, face up to five years in prison if convicted of professional negligence resulting in death and injury.They are the only people to face criminal prosecution in the wake of the disaster, triggered w

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The US central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the second time this year on Wednesday, and Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell vowed to do whatever is needed to keep the economy growing.But the Fed's policy committee is divided, with three of 10 voting members dissenting from the decision, one because he wanted even more stimulus.Powell said policymakers do not expect a recession, but trade uncertainty is creating "cross winds" that are weighing on the econ

WELLINGTON (AFP) -- US-based streaming giant Amazon announced Wednesday its big-budget "Lord of the Rings" series will within months start filming in New Zealand, home to Peter Jackson's movies of the fantasy epic.Amazon is reportedly spending $1 billion-plus on the series as it seeks to emulate the runaway success enjoyed by "Games of Thrones".Showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay said the South Pacific nation offered the "primordial beauty" of Middle Earth, the s

HONIARA (AFP) -- Police maintained a strong presence on the streets of the Solomon Islands' capital Honiara Tuesday but reported no unrest following the troubled Pacific nation's decision to switch diplomatic allegiance to China from Taiwan.The move, revealed late Monday when officials in Taipei pre-emptively severed ties with Honiara, prompted a peaceful pro-Taiwan protest on the island of Malaita."We've spoken to the police chief there and there were no incidents," a police spokesman

MOSCOW (AFP) -- Three Russian coast guards were injured Tuesday in a clash with North Korean fishing boats in the East Sea, after which 80 fishermen were detained, Russia's FSB security service said.The FSB security service, which controls the border and coast guard, said in a statement that guards observed two fishing vessels and 11 motor boats while on duty in Russian waters of the Eas Sea.The larger boat's crew attacked coast guard officers who boarded the vessel, and three officers &quo

LUXEMBOURG (AFP) -- Six weeks after he took office and six weeks before he is due to lead Britain out of the European Union, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to meet Jean-Claude Junker.On Monday, after comparing himself to berserk comic book super-smasher Hulk, the British leader will enjoy a genteel working lunch with the EU Commission president.Downing Street has confidently billed the Luxembourg visit as part of efforts to negotiate an orderly divorce from the union before an October 17 EU sum

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Ric Ocasek, the frontman of synth-heavy new wave innovators The Cars, was found dead Sunday in New York, police said. He was 75 years old.The New York Police Department told AFP they had received a call at approximately 4:00 pm (2000 GMT) for an unconscious male at a townhouse in Manhattan.He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said, and the body was identified as Ocasek.There were no signs of foul play, according to US media. Under the leadership of the singer-songwriter

RIYADH (AFP) -- Saudi Arabia raced on Sunday to restart operations at oil plants hit by drone attacks which slashed its production by half, as Iran dismissed US claims it was behind the assault.The Tehran-backed Huthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is bogged down in a five-year war, claimed Saturday's strikes on two plants owned by state energy giant Aramco.But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pointed the finger squarely at Tehran, saying there was no evidence the &qu

HONG KONG (AP) -- Police fired chemical-laced blue water and tear gas at protesters who lobbed Molotov cocktails outside the Hong Kong government office complex Sunday, as violence flared anew after thousands of pro-democracy supporters marched through downtown in defiance of a police ban.A mixed crowd of hardcore protesters in black and wearing masks, along with families with children, spilled into the roads of the Causeway Bay shopping belt and marched for over 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) to the

RIYADH (AFP) -- Saudi Arabia said Saturday it was ready to respond to drone attacks claimed by Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels on two major oil facilities, which severely disrupted production as Washington blamed Tehran for the strike.The strikes sparked fires at the state-owned Aramco oil plants and prompted furious condemnation from the top US diplomat who blamed Tehran for the strike.Huge palls of smoke rose into the sky after the pre-dawn attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais, two key Aramco facilities i

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Fights erupted in Hong Kong on Saturday with political rivals trading blows in a mall and Beijing supporters using Chinese flags to assault opponents on a street, deepening the city's polarisation after months of pro-democracy protests.The once-stable international hub has been convulsed by weeks of huge, sometimes violent rallies calling for greater democratic freedoms and police accountability.The movement is the biggest challenge to China's rule since the city was hand

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The US Treasury on Friday placed sanctions on three North Korea government-sponsored hacking operations which it said were behind the theft of possibly hundreds of millions of dollars and destructive cyber-attacks on infrastructure.The Treasury said the three groups -- dubbed Lazarus Group, Bluenoroff and Andariel -- were behind major thefts from financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges, as well as the 2018 WannaCry hack that crippled Britain's National Health Serv

LONDON (AFP) -- Tottenham emphatically allayed concerns about their ability to break down teams at home with a 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday.Spurs had laboured in their previous home matches this season, having to come from behind to beat newly promoted Aston Villa and then falling to a 1-0 defeat against Newcastle.Tottenham fans may have feared another frustrating afternoon against London rivals Palace.Roy Hodgson's side arrived lying fourth in the league table and boasting the be

TOKYO (AFP) -- Japan's Shinzo Abe on Wednesday appointed new foreign and defence ministers and promoted a popular rising political star, in a cabinet reshuffle that fuelled speculation over the prime minister's successor.The spectacular appointment as environment minister of the telegenic Shinjiro Koizumi, the 38-year-old son of much-loved former PM Junichiro Koizumi, set tongues wagging in Tokyo political classes as the Abe era draws to a close."Abe intends to start an open race to pick th

CUPERTINO (AFP) -- Apple unveiled its iPhone 11 models Tuesday with a price cut for the most basic models while also laying out plans for streaming and gaming services as it bids to weather the slump in the global smartphone market.Price appeared to be a key consideration as the tech giant reduced the entry level price for the iPhone 11 to $699 and undercut rivals for its gaming and streaming television subscriptions.Apple unveiled three versions of the iPhone 11 including "Pro" models

Nuclear-armed North Korea said Monday it is willing to resume talks later this month with the United States, after a standstill in the denuclearisation process since the collapse of a February summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.The pair agreed to restart working-level dialogue during an impromptu meeting at the Demilitarised Zone dividing North and South Korea in June, but those talks have yet to begin."We are willing to sit face-to-face with the US around late September at a time

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Rafael Nadal captured his 19th career Grand Slam title in thrilling fashion on Sunday by winning the US Open final, outlasting Russia's Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4 to seize his fourth crown in New York.The 33-year-old Spanish left-hander moved one shy of Roger Federer's all-time men's record 20 Grand Slam triumphs and became the second-oldest New York champion in the Open era after Ken Rosewall in 1970 at age 35.World number two Nadal took the top prize of $3.85 mil

Iran's atomic agency chief hit out Sunday at European powers, saying their broken promises gave the Islamic republic little choice but to scale back its commitments under a nuclear deal.Ali Akbar Salehi was speaking to reporters alongside Cornel Feruta, the acting head of the International Atomic Energy Agency who was on a one-day visit to Tehran. The IAEA official's visit comes a day after Iran said it was firing up advanced centrifuges that enrich uranium at a faster rate -- the latest blow to