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Eight-time Grand Slam champion Samantha Stosur is banking on a strong camaraderie within the Australia team to help topple Mexico in her debut as captain at the Billie Jean King Cup.

The day after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, theatre director Anatoliy Levchenko was due to stage an opening night in Mariupol.

Universal Pictures was crowned Hollywood's top studio last year, dethroning Disney at the box office for the first time in nearly a decade with a string of mega-hits like "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and the Oscar-winning "Oppenheimer."

A top Vietnamese property tycoon faces a potential death sentence Thursday as she and her co-accused await verdicts in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated $27 billion in damages.

French police have flooded the troubled Marseille district of La Castellane with forces since a crackdown on the drug trade started last month, and one mother told how she feels safer, for now at least.

European lawmakers will cast votes Thursday on a contested appointment to a plum Brussels job, with Ursula von der Leyen suspected of playing favourites to aid her own re-election as commission chief.

Electric cars are a key part of Europe's green transition plans but the road ahead remains littered with obstacles with 10 years to go before a crucial milestone.

Nikola Jokic scored 41 points as the Denver Nuggets reclaimed pole position in the Western Conference playoff race with a 116-107 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in their top-of-the-table clash on Wednesday.

Thunderstorms are forecast to disrupt the start of the 88th Masters at Augusta National on Thursday as world number one Scottie Scheffler and second-ranked Rory McIlroy tee off in a dream first-round pairing.

Few doubt Narendra Modi will win re-election in India's marathon polls starting this month -- the question is how far the prime minister will succeed in wooing the wealthier and better-educated south.

Mexican side Monterrey sent Lionel Messi and Inter Miami crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Wednesday after completing a 5-2 aggregate victory in their quarter-final clash.

Naomi Osaka returns to the BJK Cup for the first time in four years on Friday, optimistically hoping to force her way into the Olympic Games.

The Grand National remains an "iconic race", 2021 winning trainer Henry de Bromhead told AFP, despite recent reforms leaving the world's most famous steeplechase close to "the last chance saloon", a leading bookmaker warned.

Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain. The world's best football team -- statistically speaking -- might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan.

At a damaged temporary shelter in western Indonesia, Rohingya men slick their hair with gel while women apply make-up and colourful hijabs to look the part for prayers at the start of Eid-al-Fitr festivities.

Akebono, the first foreign-born sumo wrestler to become a grand champion, has died aged 54, US officials and Japanese media said Thursday.

Former world number one Naomi Osaka said Thursday that she was looking at "a bigger picture" and not just results since returning to tennis late last year after giving birth.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh insisted that the death of three of his sons in an Israeli air strike would not influence truce talks in Gaza, as bombardments on Thursday rocked the Palestinian territory.

Miners of bitcoin will soon face a halving of the reward for operating the most popular cryptocurrency, in a pivotal event that is a test of survival, industry commentators say.

Asian markets reversed Thursday after forecast-topping US inflation dealt a hefty blow to hopes for a June interest rate cut and forced traders to re-evaluate the outlook for monetary policy, with a warning that the next move could even be a hike.

A biopic of troubled British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse tracking her meteoric rise and very public downfall opens in UK cinemas on Friday amid a swirl of controversy.

When you want to impress guests, it helps to have Moon rockets and superstar singer-songwriters on call -- and US President Joe Biden has both.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol promised "reform" and the head of his ruling party resigned on Thursday after a disastrous election increased the opposition's stranglehold on parliament.

Mining superpower Australia will on Thursday announce a US-style scheme to pour public money into manufacturing and clean energy industries, joining the global race to build a cleaner and more resilient economy.

The Cannes Film Festival will unveil its line-up on Thursday, with the main competition entries seeking to win over a jury led by "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig.

Veteran NBA stars Patty Mills and Josh Ingles headlined an extended men's Australian basketball squad named Thursday for the Paris Olympics as the Boomers aim to better their bronze medal from Tokyo.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz travels to China this weekend, walking a fine line in shoring up economic ties with Germany's biggest trading partner at a time when the West is sharpening its tone towards Beijing.

The European Central Bank is expected to freeze its key interest rate at a record high again Thursday but pave the way for a first cut in June as inflation eases.

A US astrology influencer worried about the recent solar eclipse stabbed her partner to death, then pushed her two children out of her moving car before fatally slamming the vehicle into a tree, a report said Wednesday.

A lucky Japanese astronaut will become the first non-American to set foot on the Moon during one of NASA's upcoming Artemis missions, US President Joe Biden announced Wednesday.

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez hailed his side's 3-2 win away to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday, insisting it showed the Catalans could once again compete with the very best teams in Europe.

Rickie Fowler, competing at the Masters for the first time since 2020, won the Masters Par-3 Contest on Wednesday, making himself the target for the event's Masters curse.