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Wimbledon will allow female players to wear dark-coloured undershorts from next year's tournament to ease anxiety over playing during their period, the All England Club announced on Thursday.

Oscar-winning actor Charlize Theron has sparked a firestorm in her native South Africa for suggesting that Afrikaans, a language descended from Dutch settlers, was heading for oblivion.

England defender Conor Coady said Gareth Southgate's team would "embrace" the sweltering conditions in Qatar as they prepare for their World Cup opener against Iran on Monday.

Rafael Nadal saved some honour on Thursday, beating Casper Ruud 7-5, 7-5, as he bowed out of the ATP Finals in Turin at the pool stage.

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador, the first country to make bitcoin legal tender, said Thursday the nation would buy one unit of the currency every day, doubling down in the face of public criticism of his embrace of the crypto money.

Collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX suffered a "complete failure of corporate controls" under founder Sam Bankman-Fried, the company's new chief executive said Thursday, calling the situation "unprecedented."

Olivier Giroud is hoping to break Thierry Henry's record and become France's all-time leading goalscorer at this year's World Cup as he comes into the tournament in Qatar after a fine run of form with AC Milan.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias snubbed his Libyan counterpart on Thursday, abandoning a planned visit to Tripoli to avoid being welcomed by the top diplomat of a government allied with arch rival Turkey.

Government action to curb global warming should be a top concern despite inflation, an energy crisis and nuclear sabre-rattling by Russia, according to a YouGov survey in wealthy nations published exclusively by AFP.

Nancy Pelosi, the veteran Washington powerbroker and longtime leader of the Democrats in Congress, was set to "address her future plans" Thursday, one day after Republicans secured a slim majority in the House of Representatives.

Sadio Mane is still in Munich recovering from injury while Senegal prepare for their opening match of the World Cup, a source from the country's football association told AFP on Thursday.

Thousands of people demonstrated in Athens on Thursday in a yearly protest marking the anniversary of a deadly crackdown on a 1973 student revolt against a US-backed junta.

A British austerity budget hit the pound and gilts on Thursday, with stocks suffering worldwide on the glum economic outlook and the prospect of painfully high interest rates to curb inflation.

A Dutch court convicted three men and acquitted one on Thursday over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 above Ukraine in 2014, as tensions soar over Russia's invasion eight years later.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday pressed Chinese leader Xi Jinping on regional security issues including North Korea, as Pyongyang fired the latest missile in a record blitz that has sent nuclear fears soaring.

Jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah's health has "deteriorated severely", his sister said Thursday after the first family visit since he ended a seven-month long hunger strike.

UN climate talks were deadlocked Thursday over calls to create a special fund to cover the losses suffered by vulnerable nations hit by natural disasters, raising the risk that negotiations could collapse.

New Zealand coach Ian Foster hailed Brodie Retallick as the "heart and soul" of the All Blacks as the lock prepared to win his 100th Test cap.

Hundreds of mourners poured onto the streets of a flashpoint Iranian city Thursday, defying a lethal crackdown on protests over Mahsa Amini's death that shows signs of turning even bloodier.

A French hunter told a court Thursday that he was sorry and "marked for life" after killing a man he mistook for a wild boar, an accident that has sparked calls for tighter restrictions on shooting in rural areas.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino will stand unopposed for a third term as head of world football's governing body next year, FIFA confirmed on Thursday.

A former British envoy, an Australian economic adviser and a Japanese journalist arrived in Thailand late Thursday after being freed by Myanmar's junta in an amnesty involving almost 6,000 prisoners.

The world is in danger of blasting past its goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, said climate champion Laurence Tubiana, slamming a "flagrant" lack of global leadership.

Britain on Thursday unveiled a painful budget with £55 billion ($65 billion) of tax hikes and spending cuts despite confirming its economy was in recession.

World player of the year Antoine Dupont has received an eight-week ban reduced to four for his red card in France's fractious 30-26 Test win over world champions South Africa last weekend.

Mick Schumacher plans to fight back and return to Formula One, he said Thursday after Haas confirmed that fellow-German Nico Hulkenberg will take the seat next season.

Cult Australian soap opera "Neighbours" is to return to television screens next year after being cancelled by Britain's Channel 5, streaming site Amazon Freevee said Thursday.

Wales defender Ethan Ampadu on Thursday said the team want to prove "how good" they are as the country returns to the World Cup for the first time since 1958.

The leaders of China and Japan held their first face-to-face talks in three years on Thursday, after North Korea fired the latest in a record missile blitz that has sent nuclear fears soaring.

Britain on Thursday unveiled an austerity budget with £55 billion ($65 billion) of tax hikes and spending cuts despite confirming its economy was in recession.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba on Thursday reported a loss of 20.6 billion yuan ($2.89 billion) for the third quarter, as the company grapples with an economic slowdown and an anti-monopoly crackdown.

Owen Farrell will become only the third player to win a hundred caps for England when he leads out the team against New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday.