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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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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'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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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 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, known for her deceptively simple novels drawing on personal experience of class and gender, won the Nobel Literature Prize on Thursday, the jury announced.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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".

A James Bond sale in London featuring the fictional superspy's Aston Martin cars, suits and wristwatch has raised £6.9 million ($7.8 million) for charity -- more than all previous 007 sales at the auction house combined.

From Ukraine to Chile, protesters worldwide have long rallied to the stirring Italian anthem "Bella Ciao", now being sung by demonstrators in solidarity with women in Iran.

The dancers are a blaze of colour, swirling amid a deafening, pounding noise.

A former police officer stormed a nursery in Thailand on Thursday, shooting dead at least 30 people, most of them children, before killing himself and his family.

Four years ago Yuki Tsunoda was watching the Japanese Grand Prix from the stands -- now giant pictures of his face welcome him to the Suzuka circuit as he prepares to drive in Sunday's race.

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles Thursday and claimed its recent blitz of sanctions-busting tests were necessary countermeasures against joint military drills by the United States and South Korea.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said Thursday that any team breaking Formula One's cost cap must be punished, after governing body FIA pushed the findings of an investigation back to next week.

Art experts in the Netherlands said Thursday they had discovered an important painting by the French Cubist Fernand Leger that had been hidden for more than a century on the back of another canvas.

Six-time major winner Phil Mickelson on Thursday backed moves to award world ranking points for events on the breakaway LIV Golf circuit, saying it would help maintain the "credibility" of the global leaderboard.

Equity markets rose Thursday as traders fought to extend this week's global rally, though concerns about the impact of a huge oil output cut on inflation tempered hopes that central banks could soon ease their rate hike campaigns.