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IMF chief urges action as global recession risks rise
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva urged global policymakers Thursday to take concerted action to avoid a "dangerous 'new normal,'" as the risks of a worldwide recession are driven ever higher by repeated economic shocks.
Ukraine says recaptured vast tracts of key Kherson region
Ukraine said Thursday that it had wrested Russian troops out from swathes of the southern Kherson region, pushing a counter-offensive that has undermined the Kremlin's claim to have annexed the territories.
LIV Golf suffers blow as players denied ranking points
LIV Golf players will not receive world ranking points for this week's event in Bangkok or the tournament in Jeddah later this month, the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) organisation said on Thursday.
Barcelona predict record revenues, rising profits
Barcelona on Thursday forecast profits of 274 million euros (270.7 million dollars) this season and record revenues of 1.255 billion euros.
At 34, Burkina's new junta chief is world's youngest leader
Just a week ago, 34-year-old Ibrahim Traore was an unknown, even in his native Burkina Faso.
Six charged over Indonesia stadium disaster
Indonesia's police chief on Thursday said six people had been charged over a football stadium disaster that killed 131 at the weekend.
Five key books by Annie Ernaux
Here are five books that secured Annie Ernaux's place as one of the leading voices of her generation in France and on Thursday, the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Gunman murders at least 37 in Thai nursery attack
A former police officer shot dead at least 37 people, most of them children, when he stormed a nursery in Thailand on Thursday in one of the kingdom's deadliest mass killings.
Spain to relocate remains of Franco allies to more discreet graves
Spain is planning to relocate the remains of two far-right figures linked to its 1936-1939 civil war who are buried in grandiose sites, a minister said Thursday.
Kenya lobby groups protest lifting of ban on GM crops
Activists and agriculture lobby groups on Thursday urged Kenya's government to reverse its decision to lift a long-standing ban on genetically modified crops as the country struggles with a crippling drought.
'Gold dust': Liberians queue for rice
In the Clara Town suburb of Liberia's capital Monrovia, Aminata Kanneh stands sweating under the hot midday sun, queueing in a 100-metre-long line to buy rice.
UN Human Rights Council rejects holding Xinjiang debate
The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday voted against holding a debate on alleged abuses in China's Xinjiang region in a major setback for Western nations.
US targets 'senior' IS jihadist in Syria's northeast: Centcom
American forces targeted a "senior" member of the jihadist Islamic State group Thursday in a pre-dawn raid on northeastern Syria, the US military's Central Command said.
Kevin Spacey faces court over 1980s sex misconduct claim
Kevin Spacey was to appear in a New York court Thursday to face a civil lawsuit brought by US actor Anthony Rapp, who has accused the disgraced Hollywood star of sexual misconduct towards him when he was 14.
Nearly 200 dead in Niger floods
Flooding caused by heavy rains in the West African state of Niger has claimed nearly 200 lives and affected more than a quarter of a million people, the Civil Protection Service said on Thursday, describing the toll as one of the highest on record.
UK government talks tough on immigration -- again
Accusing asylum seekers of "abusing the system" and urging the need to "take back control", the UK government is once again talking tough on immigration.
England pledge support for US women's team after abuse scandal
England's players will join forces with the US women's team to show solidarity with victims of the abuse scandal that has rocked football in America ahead of Friday's sell-out match at Wembley.
European 'community' meets in face of Russia's war
Leaders from Ukraine, Britain and Turkey joined their EU counterparts on Thursday for an inaugural summit of the "European Political Community" aimed at bringing the continent together in the face of Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
Annie Ernaux: 'I'm just a woman who writes'
A feminist icon for generations in France and beyond, the newly crowned Nobel literature laureate Annie Ernaux described herself to AFP earlier this year as "a woman who writes -- that's all".
Exhausted Ukrainian soldiers say 'only death' awaits Russians
Exhausted and caked in mud, Ukrainian paratroopers fly their blue and yellow national flag from tanks, fresh from recapturing the strategic city of Lyman from the Russians.
Russian elite voice growing anger as losses mount in Ukraine
A growing list of failings and defeats in Ukraine have spawned angry outbursts from Russia's elite, who still support the "military operation" but have gone as far as to suggest army chiefs should face the firing squad.
Nobel winner Ernaux: godmother of French grit lit
Hugely popular for her deceptively simple novels drawing on personal experience of class and gender, the Nobel Literature Prize winner Annie Ernaux is a kind of French working-class Marcel Proust.
England's Walker in World Cup fitness race after groin surgery
England defender Kyle Walker faces a race to be fit for the World Cup after Manchester City revealed he had undergone groin surgery.
French author Annie Ernaux wins Nobel Literature Prize
French author Annie Ernaux, known for her deceptively simple novels drawing on personal experience of class and gender, won the Nobel Literature Prize on Thursday, the jury announced.
N.Korea fires missiles, flies warplanes as it blames US for 'escalation'
North Korea fired two ballistic missiles Thursday and flew warplanes, while claiming its recent blitz of sanctions-busting tests were necessary countermeasures against joint military drills by the United States and South Korea.
Stocks mostly retreat, pound drops
Equity markets mostly fell Thursday and the pound retreated once more against the dollar on lingering recession fears despite hopes that the US Federal Reserve will tame the pace of aggressive interest rate hikes.
Lebanon far from gas riches even if Israel deal agreed: analysts
Lebanon is grappling to strike a deal with Israel over contested maritime gas fields, but even with an agreement the cash-strapped country faces multiple hurdles before tapping potential hydrocarbon riches, analysts say.
West bracing for defeat against China at UN rights vote
Western countries trying to pass an unprecedented resolution at the UN's top rights body targeting China for widespread abuses were scrambling Thursday for votes and bracing for possible defeat.
Gunman murders at least 35 in Thai nursery attack
A former police officer shot dead at least 35 people, most of them children, when he stormed a nursery in Thailand on Thursday in one of the kingdom's deadliest mass killings.
Kyrgios 'weathers storm' to reach Japan Open quarter-finals
Nick Kyrgios roared back from a "frustrating" first set on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the Japan Open, defeating Polish player Kamil Majchrzak 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Qatar hopes World Cup flying headdress will be 2022 vuvuzela
Qatar wants the 2022 World Cup mascot of a flying white headdress to symbolise football's showcase tournament, just as the noisy vuvuzela horn did when South Africa hosted it in 2010.
Ukraine troops eye 'light at end of tunnel' on southern front
They lived for months in fox holes, pounded by Russian artillery, on a frontline frozen in stalemate. But with a counter-offensive reaping results in the south, Ukrainian soldiers were eyeing "light at the end of the tunnel".