World news, also known as international news or foreign coverage, is the term for the branch of journalism that deals with international events and issues, as opposed to domestic or national ones. At the birth of modern journalism in 17th century Europe, most news was foreign, as recorded in courants (newspapers that registered current events in London, Antwerp and other cities). Since the invention of telecommunications, the bulk of world news has come from news agencies like Reuters, AP, DPA, and Wolff. The news agencies prepare hard and soft news stories and provide them in bulk to news outlets via wire services that originally used telegraphy and, now, the Internet. News agencies may also be subscribed to by corporations, governments, analysts and intelligence agencies. This is known as paid subscription news.