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G7 ministers on Thursday discussed imposing fresh sanctions on Russia on the eve of the first anniversary of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, as the UN General Assembly prepared to vote on a motion calling for "lasting" peace.

Famed British football commentator John Motson, who had a distinguished 50-year career with the BBC, has died at the age of 77, his family announced on Thursday.

Highly-rated fly-half Paolo Garbisi is fit to make his first start of the Six Nations when Italy host table-topping Ireland in Rome on Saturday.

Ministers have announced plans for an independent football regulator to oversee the financial sustainability of the men's game in England, with powers to prevent clubs from joining breakaway leagues.

American sprint star Fred Kerley kicked off his season Thursday with a comfortable 200m victory in Melbourne, easing up in the final stretch to cross in 20.32 seconds.

At least 96 people have been killed in more than two weeks of clashes between security forces and clan members in the breakaway Somali region of Somaliland, a hospital director said Thursday.

In the quiet Belarusian town of Zaslavl, families carefully tread an icy path under the winter sun to an Orthodox church.

The US defense department has released a high-altitude cockpit selfie of a U-2 spy plane pilot soaring over an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon the day before it was shot down.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday that sanctions were hurting Russia badly, as she and other G7 finance chiefs gathered to discuss further measures on the eve of the first anniversary of the Ukraine invasion.

God moves in mysterious ways, the Bible says. In eastern Ukraine, one of His representatives drives a Lada 1600, powered by petrol and prayer.

The death toll from a collapse at a coal mine in northern China rose to five on Thursday, state media reported, as rescuers searched for dozens still missing after a massive landslide hindered recovery efforts overnight.

The Israeli army and Palestinian militants traded air strikes and rocket fire in and around Gaza Thursday, a day after the deadliest Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank in nearly 20 years.

Hong Kong's stock exchange last year saw the fewest new listings in more than a decade, it said Thursday as the city struggles to emerge from pandemic isolation and kickstart an economic recovery.

Group of Seven finance ministers were due to discuss on Thursday possible fresh sanctions against Moscow and more support for Ukraine, a day ahead of the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka on Thursday announced its first major foreign investment since it declared bankruptcy, approving a $442 million wind power project by India's scandal-hit Adani group.

In the dead of night on a bridge in southern China, around two dozen livestreamers sat crooning and chatting into microphones, their identical ring lights spaced a few metres apart in glowing rows.

The death toll from a collapse at a coal mine in northern China rose to four on Thursday, state media reported, as the search for dozens still missing resumed after a massive landslide hindered progress overnight.

From a young age, Elena Martinez and other female residents of Aserradores, a small fishing community in eastern Nicaragua, learn to navigate the dense mangrove forest to extract a black mollusc from deep under the mud.

Disgraced movie industry tycoon Harvey Weinstein is due to be sentenced Thursday over the rape of a woman in a Beverly Hills hotel room a decade ago.

US President Joe Biden and European leaders in Warsaw vowed to strengthen defences "from the Baltic to the Black Sea", as the UN General Assembly prepared to vote Thursday for "lasting" peace on the eve of the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Mexican lawmakers on Wednesday passed a controversial electoral reform championed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that critics see as an attack on democracy ahead of key elections next year.

New Zealand fast bowler Blair Tickner wants to bring some cheer to the victims of Cyclone Gabrielle by helping the Black Caps win the second Test against England, starting Friday.

US attorneys asked a California judge on Wednesday to revoke the bail of former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo and prepare for his extradition to Peru, where he is wanted on corruption charges.

England have named an unchanged team for the second and final Test against New Zealand in Wellington on Friday, after captain Ben Stokes they had played "the perfect game" to go 1-0 up in the series.

In-form Mallory Swanson scored again as the United States beat Brazil 2-1 to clinch a fourth straight SheBelieves Cup crown Wednesday.

Reigning British Open champion Cameron Smith and two-time major winner Dustin Johnson are among the big names as the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf League opens its 2023 campaign on Friday.

Markets were mixed Thursday, with little buying enthusiasm after minutes from a Federal Reserve policy meeting indicated interest rates will likely keep rising longer than previously feared.

With rents soaring and properties selling fast, the expatriate hub of Dubai is in the throes of a housing boom bolstered by rich emigres that has buoyed investors and burdened tenants.

Search and rescue efforts at a coal mine in northern China's Inner Mongolia region have been put on hold after a massive landslide, state media reported Thursday, following a collapse that killed at least two people and trapped dozens.

The screech of chainsaws echoes through a Bosnian forest edged by snowy peaks, where lumber is to be crafted into high-end furniture to adorn European or South Korean homes.

On foot or by bike, visitors stream across the narrow path connecting the small island to the edge of Lake Garda, a symbol of the winter drought hitting northern Italy.

The World Bank said Wednesday it hopes to find a successor by early May to chief David Malpass, who has announced he will step down nearly a year early.