Tokyo, Japan | AFP | The US military will this year conduct its first ever missile drill around the Japanese island of Okinawa, according to a report Thursday, as Washington seeks to counter an increasingly assertive China. The US military has told its Japanese counterpart it plans to deploy surface-to-ship …

Los Angeles, United States | AFP | “Aquaman” displayed a powerful kick in North American theaters over the weekend, taking in an estimated $52.1 million to help close a record year for the movie sector, final figures showed Wednesday. With hunky and heavily tattooed Jason Momoa in the lead role, …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo’s election commission may have to postpone publication of provisional results for a long-awaited presidential vote, the panel’s chairman told AFP on Thursday. “We are working around the clock. We are doing our best to publish the results on January …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Former South African president Jacob Zuma’s plan to record an album of apartheid-era struggle songs sparked off a political row Thursday as opposition politicians slammed the project as a taxpayer-funded waste of money. Zuma, ousted from power last year amid multiple fraud scandals, is …

Perth, Australia | AFP | Serena Williams completed a clean sweep of her singles matches at the mixed teams Hopman Cup in Perth Thursday as she prepares for her bid to make Grand Slam history at the Australian Open. The winner of 23 Slam singles titles, Williams was made to …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | Apple cut its revenue outlook for the latest quarter Wednesday, citing steeper-than-expected “economic deceleration” in China and emerging markets. The rare revenue warnings from Apple suggested weaker-than-anticipated sales of iPhones and other gadgetry, in part because of trade frictions between Washington and Beijing. …

Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Disney posted its second best year at the box office ever, raking in $7.325 billion worldwide for everything from “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity War” to hit animated sequel “Incredibles 2” and the latest “Star Wars” film. Disney remains the only studio to …

Manchester, United Kingdom | AFP | Pep Guardiola is convinced Premier League leaders Liverpool will drop points between now and the end of the season as the Manchester City boss prepares for Thursday’s huge title clash with the Reds. Guardiola’s City side have been unable to keep pace with unbeaten …

Newcastle, United Kingdom | AFP | Ole Gunnar Solskjaer joined Matt Busby in the Manchester United record books in his team’s 2-0 win at Newcastle on Wednesday and admitted he does not want to leave the club in the summer. The United interim manager, in charge until the end of …

Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump met top Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday, but they failed to hammer out an agreement that would end a partial government shutdown over his demand for billions of dollars to build a border wall with Mexico. One day before Democrats take …