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Most markets rose Thursday after the Federal Reserve decided against hiking interest rates while China's central bank cut borrowing costs to kickstart the struggling economy.

The US military can develop and operate out of bases in Papua New Guinea, according to a landmark security pact underpinning Washington's efforts to outflank China in the Pacific.

TikTok's chief executive said Thursday the company would pour billions of dollars into Southeast Asia in the coming years, as a report showed its nascent venture into online shopping is paying off.

Europe's top football leagues have emerged strongly from the coronavirus pandemic but must get their financial house in order to stay ahead of rivals, an expert has warned.

Indian police said Thursday they had charged the country's wrestling federation president with sexual harassment and stalking, following a protest by the sport's top figures demanding his arrest.

Markets were mixed Thursday after the Federal Reserve decided against hiking interest rates while China's central bank cut borrowing costs to kickstart the struggling economy.

The world's first international treaty on the high seas, set to be adopted by the United Nations on Monday, contains landmark tools for the conservation and management of international waters.

Bangladesh's fast bowlers destroyed the Afghan top order to leave the tourists 35-3 at lunch on the second day of the one-off Test, after the hosts suffered a first-innings collapse.

Greece on Thursday maintained a search for survivors a day after a fishing boat overloaded with migrants capsized and sank in the Ionian Sea, with the number of victims feared to reach into the hundreds.

Howling gales and crashing waves pounded the coastline of India and Pakistan on Thursday hours before a powerful cyclone was due to make landfall, with those unable to flee seeking shelter where they could.

Flamingos and Dalmatian pelicans laze in the azure waters of a shallow lagoon near Albania's Adriatic coast.

The Swiss, feeling the impact of global warming on their rapidly melting glaciers, are expected Sunday to approve a new climate bill aimed at swiftly steering the country towards carbon neutrality.

An injury-hit Canterbury Crusaders missing All Blacks forwards Sam Whitelock and Ethan Blackadder are anticipating a bruising encounter when they host the Auckland Blues in the Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals on Friday.

The European Central Bank is expected to again hike interest rates on Thursday and signal that the fight against inflation is not over yet, analysts said, even as the eurozone falls into recession.

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck the Philippines on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

Messi mania gripped Beijing ahead of a sell-out friendly on Thursday evening between world champions Argentina and Australia in the Chinese capital.

Unzipping a tent in a damp alleyway behind Ireland's International Protection Office, Salman Akahel reveals a sleeping bag, a pillow and a thin, white blanket to protect him from the hard concrete.

Suspended Wallabies playmaker Kurtley Beale said Thursday "the truth will come out" after he pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a woman at a Sydney pub, reports said.

Canada has said it is freezing its participation in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, after a former executive alleged that Beijing wields "undue" influence over the multilateral organisation.

China's ruling Communist Party dominates the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and uses it to further its interests, a former executive has alleged in claims that prompted Canada to suspend participation in the institution.

Asian markets rose Thursday after the Federal Reserve decided against hiking interest rates and China's central bank cut borrowing costs as officials look to kickstart the struggling economy.

China's central bank cut a key interest rate and injected $33 billion into financial markets Thursday, as data showed the world's second-largest economy was flagging.

Syrian refugees languishing in camps in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley for years say their hopes for the future are evaporating as their host country loses patience and international support dwindles.

Three former Wallabies and five All Blacks make Tonga's squad its best ever and will give the Pacific nation a "massive X-factor" at the Rugby World Cup, coach Toutai Kefu has said.

Trevin Brownie's first day as a content moderator for Facebook is etched in his memory, working out of a subcontractor's nondescript office in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

She never dances with her husband, but when the bandages were peeled from her eyes after a double cataract operation to cure her blindness, Nepali farmer Santi Maya leapt up to clasp his hands.

In a cloud of gray dust, a heavy-duty excavator loads a truck with stone blocks containing lithium, the "white gold" of the clean-energy revolution, which some hope will transform this parched, impoverished region of Brazil.

Refreshed by a Mediterranean break since winning in Spain, defending world champion Max Verstappen will be seeking to continue his dominant run and stretch his title-race lead in this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.

Both England and Australia will need several fast-bowling options for a busy Ashes schedule due to ageing attacks and recent injury scares.

England face Australia in the first Test of the five-match Ashes series starting at Edgbaston on Friday.

Colette Julien, like thousands of sick Canadian compatriots each year who seek an end to their suffering and dignity in death, requested medical assistance in dying -- a regime that Quebec province this month moved to expand so as to cover more ailments.

Two newborn pumas and a convalescing porcupine share a room in the home of the Zapata family, which has renounced livestock farming to focus on stewardship of the Colombian Amazon and its animals uprooted by deforestation.