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The US economy contracted for a second straight quarter between April and June, government data showed Thursday, fueling recession fears just months before key midterm elections in a blow for President Joe Biden.

President Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping spoke by phone Thursday on mounting tensions over Taiwan, a festering trade dispute and their bid to keep the superpower rivalry in check.

Australian rugby league side Manly Sea Eagles sported a rainbow-trimmed Pride jersey to loud applause Thursday as the club's owner said the players who refused to wear it were now open to the idea.

JetBlue Airways plans to acquire low-price carrier Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion, the companies announced Thursday, in what would establish the fifth largest US airline.

German auto giant Volkswagen said Thursday that it was able to overcome global economic headwinds and supply chain issues to put in a "robust" performance in the first six months of 2022.

During his trip to France to meet President Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is staying at a lavish chateau dubbed "the world's most expensive home" when he purchased it in 2015.

President Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping were set to talk Thursday, amid questions over whether their long distance exchanges can defuse mounting tensions around Taiwan and trade.

European stock markets ran out of steam Thursday as investors digested another hefty Federal Reserve interest rate hike and awaited vital US economic growth data and key results from big-hitters Amazon and Apple.

Most of South Africa is wallowing in endless power cuts, but a remote whites-only farming town in the country's sun-drenched centre is close to producing enough electricity to be self-sufficient.

China's minister for industry and information technology is being investigated for alleged corruption, state media reported Thursday, the latest senior cadre to be snared by Beijing's sweeping crackdown.

Four-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel will retire at the end of the 2022 season, he announced on Thursday.

Spinner Prabath Jayasuriya grabbed another five-wicket haul as Sri Lanka thumped Pakistan by 246 runs in the second Test to end the series 1-1 on Thursday.

Three foreign climbers are missing and feared dead on Pakistan's treacherous Karakorum mountain range in the country's far north, an official said Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday was to host Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for talks in Paris, defying criticism the invitation is deeply inappropriate barely four years after the murder by Saudi agents of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The unmistakable boom of shellfire echoed around the bomb-scarred buildings of western Kharkiv as the mayor of Ukraine's one-time Soviet capital prepared for his interview.

British energy giant Shell said Thursday that its net profit soared more than five-fold to $18 billion in the second quarter, fuelled by resurgent oil and gas prices, and rewarded shareholders with another bumper buyback.

The US Senate passed a bill on Wednesday to boost domestic production of semiconductors, the in-demand microchips that power everything from smartphones to cars to weapons.

Spinner Prabath Jayasuriya grabbed five wickets as Sri Lanka thumped Pakistan by 246 runs in the second Test to end the series 1-1 on Thursday.

Ukraine's envoy to Turkey on Thursday expressed "sadness" over a chant of "Vladimir Putin" that rang out at a Champions League qualifying round football match in Istanbul involving Dynamo Kyiv.

Sea levels are increasing around Britain at a far faster rate than a century ago while the country is warming slightly more than the global average, leading meteorologists said Thursday.

Japanese car giant Nissan said on Thursday that net profit sank nearly 60 percent in the three months to June as pressures including a lockdown in Shanghai and chip shortages weighed on business.

"House of the Dragon" creators and stars were eager to leave behind the difficult final season of "Game of Thrones" as they launched its prequel at a glittering world premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Asian and European markets rose Thursday following a surge on Wall Street fuelled by hopes that the Federal Reserve could slow its pace of inflation-fighting interest rate hikes.

At least 42 people have died and nearly 100 others have been hospitalised in western India after drinking toxic alcohol, police said on Thursday, with authorities ordering a crackdown on bootleggers.

Troubled Chinese property developer Evergrande has found a potential buyer for its Hong Kong headquarters, reports said Thursday, days before an expected announcement of the firm's long-awaited restructuring plans.

The United States is set to release key data on economic growth Thursday and global investors are watching closely as the world's largest economy flirts with recession -- while President Joe Biden walks a political tightrope.

As a familiar campaign jingle brings the Kenyan crowd to their feet, Hellen Atieno joins her compatriots and sways to the catchy tune at a political rally in the lakeside city of Kisumu.

Throngs of 18-wheelers are the clearest sign of brisk activity at the Port Newark-Elizabeth marine terminals in northern New Jersey, defying talk of a US economic slowdown.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country was "ready to mobilise" its nuclear deterrent in any future military clash with the United States and South Korea, state media said Thursday.

Former All Blacks boss Sir Steve Hansen slammed New Zealand Rugby bosses on Thursday for "not doing their job" and failing to publicly back under-pressure coach Ian Foster.

Zoila Lecarnaque Saavedra sealed her fate when she agreed to transport a package from Peru to Hong Kong -- a decision that landed her more than eight years in prison.

Nicaraguan opposition leader Yubrank Suazo, who took part in protests against President Daniel Ortega's government in 2018, was sentenced on Wednesday to 10 years in prison, his group said.