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Uniqlo's parent company Fast Retailing on Thursday announced "a record high performance in fiscal 2024" with domestic profits in Japan boosted by hot summer weather and a tourism boom.

Chinese markets get back into winning ways Thursday after China's central bank unveiled a facility to boost liquidity for firms to buy stocks, while most other markets tracked another record day on Wall Street.

Indonesia's push to add wood-burning to its energy mix and exports is driving deforestation, including in key habitats for endangered species such as orangutans, a report said Thursday.

When Madagascar host Gambia in a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Friday they will play in Moroccan city Casablanca -- 8,250 kilometres (5,125 miles) from the Indian Ocean country.

Two months into Ukraine's offensive on Russian territory, questions are growing in Ukrainian ranks over the long-term strategy as Russian troops advance steadily in other areas.

Rugby Australia said Thursday it was preparing a counter-claim against axed Super Rugby club Melbourne Rebels, alleging misleading and deceptive conduct in an increasingly bitter legal dispute.

Crowds of mourners gathered in India's financial capital Mumbai on Thursday for the funeral of industrialist Ratan Tata, hailed as a "titan" who led one of the country's biggest conglomerates.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos challenged Chinese Premier Li Qiang over recent clashes in the South China Sea at regional summit talks on Thursday, as fears grow that conflict could erupt in the disputed waterway.

The New York Mets, fueled by Francisco Lindor's grand slam, beat Philadelphia to advance in the Major League Baseball playoffs on Wednesday as the Los Angeles Dodgers stayed alive with an 8-0 victory over San Diego.

Australian Open chief Craig Tiley expressed confidence Thursday that injury-ravaged Nick Kyrgios will be back on court at the season-opening Grand Slam.

Panathinaikos and Greece international footballer George Baldock has died, his family confirmed Thursday.

European countries are to discuss "innovative" ways to increase deportations of irregular migrants and rejected asylum seekers on Thursday, including controversial plans to set up dedicated return centres in non-EU nations.

Death, detention and dissolution have decimated Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, easing the way for groups backed by Myanmar's ruling military to claim victory at elections expected next year, analysts say.

The cold corridors of South Africa's once-mighty Komati coal-fired power plant have been quiet since its shutdown in 2022 in what was trumpeted as a pioneering project in the world's transition to green energy.

China's central bank boosted support for markets Thursday by opening up tens of billions of dollars in liquidity for firms to buy stocks as part of a raft of measures by Beijing to kickstart the country's flagging economy.

Francisco Lindor belted a grand slam in the sixth inning to propel the New York Mets to a 4-1 victory over Philadelphia on Wednesday and into Major League Baseball's National League Championship Series.

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te vowed Thursday to "resist annexation", as China exerts growing military and political pressure on the self-ruled island it claims as part of its territory.

Strong state support and huge private investment have made China's solar industry a global powerhouse, but it faces new headwinds, from punitive tariffs abroad to a brutal price war at home.

Asian markets tracked a record day on Wall Street Thursday, with Shanghai and Hong Kong supported by a Chinese central bank move to boost liquidity for major stock-buyers.

Chika Ezure faced gender bias from her own family when deciding to do a master's degree at Japan's top-ranked university. After arriving on campus, she realised the resistance she faced as a woman was commonplace.

China's central bank boosted support for markets on Thursday as it launched a "swap facility" offering firms access to $70.6 billion in liquidity as Beijing seeks to raise confidence in the country's flagging economy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to visit Britain, France and Italy on Thursday, part of a whirlwind tour of European leaders aimed at securing aid ahead of pivotal US elections next month.

Young people are facing an unprecedented wave of violence and sexual abuse driven by war, climate change, hunger, and displacement, the UN's special representative on violence against children has warned.

Fernanda, a cleaner from Rio de Janeiro, lists off the items she sold to feed her online gambling addiction, one of millions of Brazilians caught in a betting craze that has swept the nation.

Whether it's battling tumors or breaking down plastic, American scientist David Baker, co-recipient of this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry, has an answer: engineering proteins that don't naturally exist -- a concept once dismissed as "crazy."

Hurricane Milton blasted ashore in Florida Wednesday night with furious winds, life-threatening rain and storm surge, as people who endured another hurricane just two weeks ago braced for a long, violent night.

Francisco Lindor belted a grand slam in the sixth inning to propel the New York Mets to a 4-1 victory over Philadelphia on Wednesday and into Major League Baseball's National League Championship Series.

Wild populations of monitored animal species have plummeted over 70 percent in the last half-century, according to the latest edition of a landmark assessment by WWF published on Thursday.

Hundreds of apparent pro-Russian bot accounts on X are pushing US election misinformation and amplifying false narratives about Democratic contender Kamala Harris, a research group said Thursday, calling them "sleeper agents" for having evaded detection for years.

The death toll from a brutal gang attack in Haiti last week has risen to 109 people with around 40 more injured, a local government official said Wednesday.

Hurricane Milton closed in on Florida Wednesday, unleashing tornadoes and threatening a wide swath of the state with life-threatening flooding, as residents made last-minute preparations for impact and the country's top politicians sparred over relief efforts.

Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson drove in runs with hits and Detroit blanked Cleveland 3-0 on Wednesday to reach the brink of advancing in the Major League Baseball playoffs.