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"The Immortals" have spoken: the 388-year-old Academie Francaise, custodian and promoter of the French language, has a new leader in the form of author Amin Maalouf.

Thousands of excited spectators packed the grid-like streets of a usually quiet Hong Kong neighbourhood Thursday night, eager for the resurrection of the city's fire dragon dance after a three-year pandemic-spurred dormancy.

X-owner Elon Musk said that he had gutted the platform's team dedicated to preserving election integrity as key votes in many countries are approaching.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin replaced left-arm spinner Axar Patel on Thursday in India's squad for the Cricket World Cup on home soil after he failed to recover from a thigh injury.

World number one Scottie Scheffler will start the USA's bid to end a 30-year wait for Ryder Cup victory on European soil when he lines up with Sam Burns in the first foursomes match against Masters champion Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.

"The Immortals" have spoken: the 388-year-old Academie Francaise, custodian and promoter of the French language, has a new leader in the form of author Amin Maalouf.

"The Immortals" have spoken: the 388-year-old Academie Francaise, custodian and promoter of the French language, has a new leader in the form of author Amin Maalouf.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend said on Thursday he was looking for "freshness" as he made 13 changes to his side to face Romania in the Rugby World Cup this weekend.

President Joe Biden will warn that Donald Trump and his "extremist" allies pose a danger to US democracy in a speech Thursday, sharpening his attacks on his likely Republican challenger in the 2024 election.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend made 13 changes to his side to face Romania in the Rugby World Cup this weekend, Scottish Rugby announced on Thursday.

Fiji coach Simon Raiwalui stuck to a winning side on Thursday and made only one injury-enforced change in his XV to face Georgia in their World Cup Pool C match in Bordeaux.

Kosovo on Thursday called for international sanctions against Serbia, claiming that Belgrade had supplied the weapons used by gunmen suspected of having killed a Kosovo police officer at the weekend.

Electric Zhang Yufei collected her fifth swimming gold medal of the Asian Games on Thursday in Hangzhou as North Korea won their first -- their victorious shooters sobbing on the podium.

Marnus Labuschagne has been drafted into Australia's Cricket World Cup squad with spinner Ashton Agar left out on Thursday after picking up a calf injury.

Oil prices flirted with one-year highs on Thursday before falling back in a bout of profit-taking, with fears of high energy prices fuelling the inflation worries that have weighed on equity markets.

Australia and, to a lesser extent, New Zealand's Rugby World Cup struggles are down to a lack of pressure in the domestic game, Wallabies assistant coach Pierre-Henry Broncan said on Thursday.

Ethnic Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh on Thursday agreed to dissolve their government by the end of the year and become a full part of Azerbaijan in the wake of Baku's lightning offensive.

German inflation slowed in September to the lowest level since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, data showed Thursday, offering a glimmer of hope even as Europe's top economy struggles to emerge from a recession.

World-record holder Qin Haiyang barrelled to the Asian Games 200m breaststroke title on Thursday as Chinese teammate Zhang Yufei edged Siobhan Haughey in a blockbuster showdown to clinch her fifth gold in Hangzhou.

Heavily indebted property giant China Evergrande said Thursday its boss was suspected of "illegal crimes", after trading of its shares was suspended earlier in the day.

Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group said on Thursday they have sold a minority stake in the Premier League giants to US private equity group Dynasty Equity.

Namibia's head coach Allister Coetzee says had they secured their first ever win at a Rugby World Cup it could have had the same impact on them as Japan's stunning win over South Africa in 2015 had on the Asian country.

Police on Thursday raided Spain's football refereeing headquarters as part of a probe into claims FC Barcelona paid for favourable decisions in a fresh blow for Spain's scandal-hit football association.

Several shows are recognising Guenter Brus, the last surviving key member of Vienna's famed "actionists", who turned 85 this week and whose radical movement broke new ground using the body to make art.

Germany on Thursday signed a deal to acquire the Israeli-made Arrow 3 hypersonic missile system that will become a key part of Europe's defence against air attack.

Russia said Thursday that it plans to raise defence spending by almost 70 percent next year, funnelling massive resources into its Ukraine offensive to fight what it calls a "hybrid war" unleashed by the West.

British-Irish actor Michael Gambon, best known for playing Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight "Harry Potter" films, has died in hospital aged 82, his family announced Thursday.

Continuous has been given a plum draw boosting his bid to make history and become the first horse to win both the English St Leger and Europe's most prestigious race the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in the same season.

Oil prices on Thursday reached their highest levels in nearly a year, with Brent North Sea crude advancing towards $100 on tight supplies, an increase that has weighed on stock markets.

The fate of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh has poisoned relations between fellow ex-Soviet neighbours Armenia and Azerbaijan since the 1990s.

Europe and the United States will battle it out in the 44th edition of the Ryder Cup this weekend at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, the first edition to be held in Italy.

Viktor Hovland made a hole-in-one on the par-four fifth hole during Europe's practice session on Thursday ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup.