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Oil prices extended their gains Thursday on growing fears of further Russia sanctions that could hit already thin supplies, while most equity markets retreated owing to surging inflation and central bank plans to sharply hike interest rates.

Ashleigh Barty said Thursday that she will remove herself from the WTA rankings after announcing her retirement, opening the door for Poland's Iga Swiatek to become world number one.

The Indian Premier League returns for its biggest season on Saturday, with a galaxy of top names and two new franchises expanding the world's richest cricket competition to 10 teams for its 15th edition.

Allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to sit with other world leaders at this year's G20 summit would be "a step too far", Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday.

With the war in Ukraine halting deliveries of crucial car parts, Volkswagen and its suppliers are scrambling to find solutions abroad, while trying to reassure Ukrainians they aren't abandoning the country.

In a muddy car park in Norway's Far North, Finnish troops show off their military might, lining up rocket launchers, artillery and snowmobiles as they prepare to train alongside their NATO brothers-in-arms.

Russia's war on Ukraine has drawn unprecedented sanctions that have seen it banned from most international sports in a Western-led break with the long-standing convention against politics mixing with sport.

Lauded by President Joe Biden and bolstered by recent triumphs at Starbucks, the US labor movement has had reasons to cheer as attention focuses on upcoming unionization votes at Amazon.

From a bumper 2021 in which sprawling blockbusters finally hit reopened movie theaters, and streaming platforms released more prestige flicks than ever, 10 films remain in contention for the Academy Award for best picture.

With the Oscars set for Sunday, Hollywood is weighing how or whether to address Russia's bloody assault on Ukraine, trying to thread the needle between showing support for Kyiv and being seen as too preachy.

Toshiba shareholders will vote Thursday on a plan to split the embattled Japanese conglomerate into two that has already faced staunch opposition from key investors.

World number one Jon Rahm got off to a smooth start at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play tournament in Texas on Wednesday, romping to a convincing victory over Colombia's Sebastian Munoz.

Substitute Agnese Bonfantini fired Juventus to a 2-1 comeback victory over Lyon in the first leg of their Women's Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday while Arsenal needed a last-gasp goal to secure a 1-1 home draw with Wolfsburg.

An air raid siren blares and tears fill Vasiliy Kravchuk's eyes as he surveys the wreckage of the school his six-year-old son was meant to start at next year.

Another US state passed a law allowing abortion providers to be sued in civil court Wednesday, as conservatives across the country ramp up their effort to overturn long-held reproductive rights.

French car giant Renault announced Wednesday it was immediately suspending operations at its Moscow factory after Kyiv called for a boycott of the company for remaining in Russia.

For the first time, two black Colombians will stand as running mates in May's presidential elections.

Tributes poured in Wednesday from diplomatic players around the world remembering Madeleine Albright, the first female US secretary of state and one of the most influential stateswomen of her generation, who has died at age 84.

Ukraine figure skaters Sofiia Holichenko and Artem Darenskyi, who travelled six days to reach the world championships in France, said Wednesday they undertook the exhausting trip "to show that Ukrainian athletes are fighting for their country".

Critically endangered black rhinos in South Africa will get help from an unusual source: Wall Street, where institutional investors have expressed a willingness to buy a new type of bond being issued by the World Bank that will pay for successful efforts to save the animals.

Double Olympic champion Caster Semenya won a 3,000m race in a personal best time of eight minutes and 54.97 seconds on Wednesday as she eyes qualifying for the 5,000m at the 2022 world championships.

Covid is making its latest comeback in parts of the northeastern United States as the BA.2 coronavirus variant becomes dominant in the country, officials said Wednesday, while urging Congress to pass new funding or risk the supply of future treatments and vaccines.

The UN General Assembly was debating on Wednesday a new non-binding resolution which, if adopted by a majority of member states, will "demand" that Russia stop the war in Ukraine "immediately".

President Joe Biden arrived in Europe Wednesday on a mission to bolster Western unity and ramp up unprecedented sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and brutal bid to upset the post-Cold War balance of power.

A bloodied but defiant Ukraine appealed Wednesday ahead of a major NATO summit for more Western weapons to fight what the United States formally labelled Russian "war crimes."

The US government announced Wednesday it will reinstate tariff exemptions for 352 Chinese products first hit with punitive duties in 2018, when then-president Donald Trump started a trade war with Beijing.

Former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker offered up his wedding ring as he tried to pay off his debts, a London court heard on Wednesday on the third day of the German's trial on charges relating to his bankruptcy.

The United States said Wednesday that public information and intelligence it has collected amounts to strong evidence that the Russian military has committed war crimes in Ukraine.

Naomi Osaka regained her composure to breeze into the second round of the Miami Open on Wednesday before revealing she has begun working with a therapist to deal with the issues which saw her make a tearful exit at Indian Wells earlier this month.

Chelsea fans will be able to attend Champions League and FA Cup matches for the rest of the season under the terms of a new licence granted to the club by the UK government.

Madeleine Albright, who came to the United States as a child refugee and rose to be the first female secretary of state, shaping American foreign policy at the end of the 20th century, has died at the age of 84.

YouTube on Wednesday began streaming some 4,000 television episodes from shows like "Hell's Kitchen" and "Heartland" to US viewers as the site tries to capture viewers in a fiercely competitive market.