
Saudi Arabia's Economic Crisis

Orban and Putin's Shadow Deal

California's Economy: Not Broken

Ukraine's Drones Bleed Russia

SpaceX Starship explodes during routine test

Belgrade show plots path out of Balkan labyrinth of pain

Thailand's 'Yellow Shirts' return to streets demand PM quit

Stocks drop after Fed comments as Mideast fears lift crude
Politics
Govts scramble to evacuate citizens from Israel, Iran
Governments around the world are attempting to evacuate thousands of their nationals caught up in the rapidly spiralling Israel-Iran conflict, organising buses and planes and in some cases assisting people crossing borders on foot.
Sports
'Moving Great Wall': China unleash towering teen basketball star
China look set to unleash their 2.26m (7ft 5in) "moving Great Wall" at the Women's Asia Cup after teenager Zhang Ziyu put in another towering display days after her debut.
Last news

New York City set to fire 3,000 staff for defying vaccine mandate
New York City was poised to sack roughly 3,000 municipal workers on Friday for failing to meet a deadline to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

Eriksen 'bubbling' with Brentford but no date set for debut
Christian Eriksen is "bubbling" and training well after arriving at Brentford, but manager Thomas Frank said he would not set a date for the Danish playmaker's debut.

US ships nearly 1.9 mn more Covid vaccine doses to African nations
The United States on Friday shipped nearly 1.9 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Mozambique and four other African countries in the latest surge of donations, a US official told AFP.

Edgy Austrian director holds mirror up to 'ugly' Europe
Austrian director Ulrich Seidl has shocked arthouse audiences for two decades with hard looks at society's seedy underbelly and said Friday Europeans must be willing to confront the continent's "ugly" side.

Man City need 'incredible' points total to win title: Guardiola
Pep Guardiola has warned his Manchester City players they will need an "incredible" points total to retain the Premier League title.

US court reinstates gray wolf endangered species protections
A US court has struck down a Trump-era decision to remove federal protections for gray wolves across much of the country, in a move hailed by conservationists who said the listing was vital for the species' recovery.

Man Utd need cutting edge as Rangnick urges Ronaldo to end drought
Ralf Rangnick admits Manchester United need to show a sharper cutting edge as the interim boss urged Cristiano Ronaldo to end his barren run in front of goal.

Yan earns China's first ever Olympic sliding medal
Yan Wengang won China's first-ever medal in a Winter Olympics sliding event Friday as Germany continued their domination of the high-speed disciplines with Christopher Grotheer winning the men's skeleton gold.

Biden seeks to split Afghan assets between aid and 9/11 victims
President Joe Biden seized $7 billion in assets belonging to the previous Afghan government on Friday with the aim of splitting the funds between victims of the 9/11 attacks and desperately needed aid for post-war Afghanistan.

Iyer, Pant help India sweep ODI series against West Indies
Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant hit half-centuries to set up a thumping 96-run victory for India in the third one-day international against the West Indies and sweep the series on Friday.

Western leaders to confer on Ukraine amid war fears
Western leaders are to hold talks on Friday over the Ukraine crisis, German sources said, as the United States warned that a Russian invasion of its ex-Soviet neighbour could be days away.

Yan earns China's first sliding medal as Grotheer wins skeleton gold
Yan Wengang won China's first-ever medal in a Winter Games sliding event Friday as Germany continued their domination of the Olympic high-speed disciplines with Christopher Grotheer winning the men's skeleton gold.

Del Potro, eying retirement, pulls out of Rio Open
Argentine great Juan Martin del Potro has pulled out of the Rio Open, organizers said on Friday a decision that could signal the end of his career.

Yorkshire regain right to host England matches after racism scandal
England cricket chiefs lifted a ban on Yorkshire staging international matches on Friday following the club's handling of a racism scandal that rocked the game.

Stocks rattled by US inflation surge
European and Asian stock markets fell Friday on fears the Federal Reserve will move more aggressively to tighten monetary policy to tame decades-high inflation.

Eight killed in Rio police raid on slum
A police raid on a Rio de Janeiro slum erupted into an intense firefight Friday, leaving eight alleged drug traffickers dead, authorities said.

Don't just blame climate change for weather disasters
As a pioneer in so-called attribution science -- establishing a link between extreme weather and climate change -- Friederike Otto is adamant that the rising toll of heatwaves and hurricanes cannot be explained by global warming alone.

UN science report to sound deafening alarm on climate
Nearly 200 nations kick off a virtual meeting Monday to finalise what promises to be a harrowing scientific overview of accelerating climate impacts that will highlight the urgent need to cut emissions -- and prepare for the challenges ahead.

Defections sap rightwing hopeful in French presidential race
The conservative right-wing challenger to Emmanuel Macron in the looming French presidential vote grappled Friday with a wave of defections, while hoping former president Nicolas Sarkozy would finally offer his full-throated support.

West Ham's Zouma available to face Leicester despite cat abuse video
West Ham manager David Moyes says Kurt Zouma will be available for Sunday's Premier League match at Leicester despite the controversy over the defender's cruel treatment of his cat.

England cricket chiefs lift international match ban imposed on Yorkshire after racism scandal
England cricket chiefs on Friday lifted a ban on staging international matches imposed on Yorkshire after a racism scandal that rocked the game.

Original 'Cool Runnings' racer has big plans for Jamaican bobsleigh
One of the pioneering Jamaican bobsleigh team which first competed at the 1988 Winter Games and inspired the movie "Cool Runnings" has big plans for racers from the Caribbean island at future Olympics.

Jorginho sounds Chelsea warning over Palmeiras threat
Chelsea midfielder Jorginho says it would be the "greatest mistake" to underestimate Palmeiras in the Club World Cup final as they bid to become the third English winners of the trophy.

Jones says much-changed England won't underestimate Italy
England coach Eddie Jones is adamant that Italy are making "rapid progress" even though his much-changed side will be overwhelming favourites to inflict more Six Nations misery on the Azzurri.

Italy's Crowley makes three changes for England
Italy head coach Kieran Crowley has made three changes for this weekend's Six Nations game with Italy, the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) announced on Friday.

EU seeks to deploy border agency to Senegal
European Commissioner Ylva Johansson on Friday offered to deploy the EU's border agency to Senegal to help combat migrant smuggling, following a surge in perilous crossings to Spain's Canary Islands.

Paris braces for Canada-style convoys against Covid rules
Thousands of protesters in convoys were heading to Paris from across France on Friday, with some hoping to blockade the capital in opposition to Covid restrictions despite police warnings to back off.

Son of a refugee, Belgium's migration minister is no 'token Ali'
In Europe, the minister overseeing migration is one of the hardest jobs in politics. In Belgium, the job is held by Sammy Mahdi, the son of an Iraqi political refugee.

Ryan just the man to lead Ireland against France, says Fogarty
Ireland fans can take heart for this weekend's Six Nations clash with France that Johnny Sexton's replacement as captain James Ryan "grows as a person when things get tough", scrum coach John Fogarty said on Friday.

Italy ditches Covid masks outside
Italy took another step towards normality Friday with the reopening of nightclubs and the end of a requirement to wear masks outside, as the number of coronavirus cases eases.

Bahrain extends Formula One contract to 2036
Bahrain will host Formula One until at least 2036 after signing a 10-year contract extension, officials said on Friday.

Youngs waits to equal England record as Randall starts against Italy
Ben Youngs has been kept waiting to equal the England cap record after coach Eddie Jones named him among the replacements for Sunday's Six Nations match away to Italy.

Klopp impressed by Diaz's Liverpool impact
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has hailed Luis Diaz's dynamic Premier League debut as one of the best he has seen from a new player.

Global stocks sink on US inflation surge
World stock markets fell Friday on fears the Federal Reserve will move more aggressively to tighten monetary policy to tame decades-high inflation.

Iranians get behind wheel to mark Islamic revolution
Thousands of Iranians drove through Tehran on Friday to mark the 43rd anniversary of the country's Islamic Revolution, staying in vehicles rather than marching on foot amid Covid restrictions.

Google agrees competition, privacy pledge over online ads
Britain on Friday said it had accepted changes proposed by Google to address competition and customer privacy concerns linked to online advertising, with the US tech giant vowing to apply them globally.

Shunned by French studios, 'Amelie' director turns to Netflix
He made perhaps the most famous French film of the century so far in "Amelie", but Jean-Paul Jeunet was forced to turn to Netflix after failing to find a traditional backer for his new movie.

Macron kept at distance from Putin after refusing Covid test
Russia on Friday said French President Emmanuel Macron was made to sit at an enormously long table for his talks with Vladimir Putin because he refused to take a Kremlin-performed Covid test.

Paris braces for Canada-style 'Freedom Convoys'
Thousands of protesters in "Freedom Convoys" were heading to Paris from across France on Friday, hoping to blockade the capital in opposition to Covid restrictions despite police warnings to back off.