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Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter was named on Thursday in the United States squad for next month's friendly internationals against Turkey and Switzerland.

Italy's highest court ruled Thursday that women in same-sex couples who become mothers through IVF have the right to be recognised on the birth certificate even if they are not the biological parent.

A state-approved Iranian movie featuring women constantly in headscarves premiered at the Cannes film festival on Thursday, with director Saeed Roustayi defending his decision to bend to the diktats of national censors.

Anti-doping bodies on Thursday condemned plans for the first edition of the Enhanced Games in Las Vegas, an Olympics-style event where athletes will be free to use performance-enhancing drugs.

Dutch sprinter Olav Kooij won the dash to the line at Viadana on Thursday after a powerful lead out from teammate Wout Van Aert to take stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia.

G7 finance leaders played down their differences Thursday, despite turmoil from US President Donald Trump's wide-ranging tariffs, and sought common ground on Ukraine as talks in Canada entered the final hours.

Stock markets were sluggish and US long-term borrowing costs surged Thursday as investors fretted over the US debt pile after President Donald Trump's sweeping spending and tax cut plan passed the House of Representatives.

Tariff wars will hinder trade in green technologies such as solar panels and electric vehicles, and hamper the fight against climate change, says Ana Toni, CEO of the UN's COP30 climate conference.

Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Luis Campos has extended his contract with the French giants in a boost to the club ahead of the upcoming Champions League final.

Plumes of smoke rose Thursday over the northern Gaza Strip where Israel's military urged civilians to evacuate, as rescuers said Israeli strikes across the territory killed more than 50 people.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's "dictatorship" is doomed, exiled novelist Sergio Ramirez has told AFP, predicting the population will eventually rebel against the elderly ex-guerrilla.

Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot dead at a Jewish museum in Washington by a gunman who shouted "free Palestine" as he was arrested, sparking new international tensions over anti-Semitism.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Thursday he had signed a contentious deal to return the remote Chagos Islands to Mauritius after a judge paved the way for the deal to proceed.

Bath head coach Johann van Graan said on Thursday this week's Challenge Cup final against Lyon is a "one-off" that will have no consequence on their English Premiership aspirations.

Antarctica's icy wilderness is warming rapidly under the weight of human-driven climate change, yet a new study points to an unlikely ally in the fight to keep the continent cool: penguin poo.

Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley piled on the agony for Zimbabwe as they launched England's home season with a double-century stand in a one-off four-day Test in Nottingham on Thursday.

Tech giant Xiaomi unveiled a new advanced in-house mobile chip on Thursday, a significant milestone for the company as Chinese firms shift resources towards home-grown technology against a bleak international trade backdrop.

The Trump administration is expected to release as soon as Thursday a highly anticipated report outlining Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s priorities to "Make America Healthy Again," with a likely focus on processed foods, environmental toxins, and vaccines.

Pope Leo XIV singled out the challenges of artificial intelligence as he took office this month, underscoring religious leaders' hopes to influence a technology freighted with both vast hopes and apocalyptic fears.

Carlos Alcaraz will begin his French Open title defence against Japan's Kei Nishikori as Iga Swiatek faces a difficult route to a fourth successive Roland Garros title after a year-long trophy drought.

Real Madrid's Croatian midfielder Luka Modric said Thursday he would leave the Spanish giants after the Club World Cup this summer.

This year's Eurovision Song Contest winner Austrian singer JJ called for Israel to be excluded from next year's competition in an interview published Thursday.

Mixed martial arts superstar Zhang Weili said on Thursday she was confident of the sport's future in China after Ultimate Fighting Championship announced its first event in the mainland since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Stock markets mostly fell and US long-term borrowing costs surged Thursday as investors fretted over the US debt pile after President Donald Trump's sweeping spending and tax cut plan passed the House of Representatives.

Daring provocateurs to their fans, dangerous extremists to their detractors, Belfast rappers Kneecap court controversy and divide opinion like few contemporary bands.

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said on Thursday that the Netherlands's agenda was to have "as free as possible" international trade, following the recent trade talks between China and the United States.

Irish actor Paul Mescal on Thursday balked at critics comparing the latest film he stars in, a gay romance competing at the Cannes Festival, to "Brokeback Mountain".

Fifty-five men were arrested in France this week as part of an operation to dismantle a suspected paedophile ring operating via the Telegram messaging app, authorities said Thursday.

Carlos Alcaraz will begin his French Open title defence against Japan's Kei Nishikori and Jannik Sinner plays home hope Arthur Rinderknech in his first Grand Slam match since serving a doping ban.

Whether or not Russia and Ukraine peace talks actually take place at the Vatican, the mere suggestion it could play host reflects a fresh diplomatic impetus under new pope Leo XIV.

Former world number one golfer, Ernie Els, declared himself a "proud South African" as he was dragged into the ambush of his country's leader Cyril Ramaphosa by US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned Thursday that Russia threatened security in Europe as he visited Lithuania to mark the official formation of Germany's first permanent overseas military unit since World War II, aimed at bolstering NATO's eastern flank.