Canada, which is in the midst of a trade war with the United States, opened talks with Türkiye on Thursday on a free trade agreement during a landmark visit by Prime Minister Mark Carney. Carney, a former central banker, has made reducing dependence on Washington and diversifying Canada's partnerships one of the cornerstones of his term, which began in March 2025. "We decided to begin negotiations for a free trade agreement, which includes increasing trade and investment, before the end of the year," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a joint address to reporters. Carney is the first Canadian prime minister to pay an official visit to Türkiye. "We hope to increase our trade volume, which is currently around US$3 billion, to US$5 billion and then US$10 billion. We will approximately double direct flights between our countries," Erdogan said. Carney said Canadian negotiators would come to Ankara next month for the first round of free trade talks. "Our goal is not self-sufficiency, it is collective resilience," said Carney. "And that's why Canada is building deeper partnerships with reliable partners that create new opportunities for us both. And in Türkiye, we have an exceptional partner." Canada and Türkiye have also identified potential for cooperation in nuclear energy. They also announced a partnership agreement in the defence industry. "Today's new Agreement on Defence Industry Partnership will connect Canadian and Turkish companies to work together, creating good jobs at home, export opportunities abroad, greater security for our citizens, and contributing to a stronger Nato alliance," Carney said. The two sides issued a joint statement after the talks pledging to expand trade in energy supply, defence production, aerospace, and AI, and to boost cooperation in the energy sector. The leaders also underlined their "intent to deepen bilateral and multilateral cooperation" on defence and security, the joint statement said. Carney has multiplied overseas trips, renewing ties with nations such as China, Saudi Arabia, and India with which relations had been strained or even broken under his predecessor Justin Trudeau. Carney has also drawn closer to Europe. (AFP) Edited by Cecil Wong

Etsy also laid out clearer rules around AI usage on its platform, including barring sellers from creating bot-generated listings without any human involvement.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had restored Ukraine's Starlink access but the US president declined to comment when asked whether he had spoken to the billionaire about the matter. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Thursday that Trump had called Musk and asked him to lift restrictions on Ukraine's use of Starlink. "I don't want to comment on it, whether I called or whether somebody else called, doesn't make any difference, I guess. The bottom line – he put it back," Trump told reporters when asked if he spoke to Musk. Trump did not elaborate further. Ukraine uses Starlink for battlefield communications and drone operations. Restricting the satellite service hampered the country's attack and air defense drone missions against Russia. The Starlink system was working more normally on Thursday, shortly after the Trump-Musk conversation, the WSJ reported earlier, citing US and Ukrainian officials. Some Ukrainian officials told the newspaper the system had not been restored to full functionality but was working at higher speeds than under the cap. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier on Thursday that speed on Starlink systems had not been restored for Ukraine, adding that he hoped for talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the coming days. Trump told Musk he was frustrated the system's speeds remained capped, according to the newspaper. Trump has denied being involved in the decision concerning the slowdown. Rubio told reporters on Wednesday that decisions regarding Ukraine's access to Starlink were up to its parent company SpaceX and Musk, not the White House. Zelensky's relations with Washington have sunk to new lows after Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel and waived new sanctions on Moscow. Trump has also told Kyiv to stop attacking Russian refineries and urged Ukrainians to replace Zelensky. Russia pounded Kyiv with ballistic missiles and Ukraine sent hundreds of drones towards Moscow on Thursday, as the warring sides kept up a barrage of attacks despite the latest US push to end the conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin, interviewed on Russian television a day after meeting US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, confirmed that Russia was ready to resume US-mediated talks with Ukraine next month. Putin said the aim of the talks was to ensure the security of Ukraine and Russia after the conflict was resolved. Witkoff, he said, had stressed that discussions had to extend to "the architecture of European security". "And I agree with that too. Well, let's see how things develop in the coming days." Zelensky said he hoped negotiations, which would be the first since February, would take place early in November. (Reuters) Edited by Cecil Wong

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Waze on Thursday rejected Malaysia’s claims that it collects sensitive government information or allows any entity to exploit personal user data, after the government banned civil servants from using the navigation app, citing its Israeli connection. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s office, in a statement Wednesday, said the decision took into account the status of Waze Mobile Limited as a data controller incorporated in Israel and operating under Israeli law.