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Unstoppable world number one Iga Swiatek racked up her 30th successive victory at the French Open on Thursday as Karolina Pliskova became the sixth top 10 women's seed to exit Roland Garros when she was knocked out by world number 227 Leolia Jeanjean.

The BBC is to axe 1,000 jobs and scrap some broadcast channels in traditional form as it prioritises digital and copes with a funding freeze, the British public service broadcaster said on Thursday.

Black Panther star Letitia Wright says she got so close to co-lead Tamara Lawrance in "The Silent Twins", competing at Cannes, that both actors began to behave exactly like the siblings in the drama based on the true story of two black sisters in 1970s Wales.

Belgian Dries De Bondt won stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia on Thursday as a quartet of escapees defied a frantic bid from the sprinters to reel them in over the final kilometre.

The Swiss Alpine village of Davos greeted the world's political and corporate A-listers again, but it was not business as usual.

The United States said Thursday it will not invite representatives of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro or Nicaragua to next month's Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, despite Mexican-led threats to boycott if they and Cuba are excluded.

Sporting success runs in the family of Sebastian Korda, the American who hopes to spoil Carlos Alcaraz's attempt to become just the eighth teenager to win a men's Grand Slam men's title at Roland Garros.

Former Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone was arrested at an airport in Brazil when security officers found an unlicensed handgun in his luggage, but released shortly after on bail, media reports and police said Thursday.

World number one Iga Swiatek racked up her 30th successive victory on Thursday with a 6-0, 6-2 demolition of Alison Riske of the United States to reach the French Open third round.

Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey is facing sexual assault charges in the UK, police and prosecutors said on Thursday, after a review of allegations against him.

Ukraine said Thursday the war in the east of the country had hit its fiercest level yet as it urged Western allies to match words with support against invading Russian forces.

Witnesses to the Texas school shooting rampage on Thursday questioned the early police response to the massacre, as bereaved parents said they pleaded for officers to storm the building and stop the bloodshed -- to no avail.

Australian director Baz Luhrmann's long-awaited fever dream of a biopic about the King of Rock'n'Roll, "Elvis", split Cannes down the middle on Thursday between cheering admirers and barb-throwing critics.

President Joe Biden will receive the K-pop megastars BTS next week as part of a series of events celebrating Asian-Americans and denouncing racism against them, the White House said Thursday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Thursday for vigorous competition with China to preserve the existing global order but said the United States did not seek a "Cold War."

Broadcom announced Thursday a $61-billion deal to purchase cloud computing firm VMware in a giant tech transaction that expands the chipmaker's software offerings.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said Thursday its profit fell 59 percent in the last fiscal year, joining other tech firms that reported lacklustre results while grappling with Covid-19 restrictions and a sector crackdown.

European and US stock markets rose Thursday after a mixed Asian showing, as traders assessed chances of a global recession in the wake of runaway inflation.

Acclaimed Japanese film-maker Hirokazu Kore-eda, in competition for the Cannes Film Festival's top prize, said Thursday he felt pressure to succeed because his all-star South Korean cast probably made him the envy of Korean directors.

Eleven newborn babies have perished in a hospital fire blamed on an electrical short circuit in the western Senegalese city of Tivaouane, authorities said Thursday.

Sri Lankan seamers cut through the Bangladesh top order in the second innings after centuries from Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal gave the visitors a commanding lead in the second Test in Dhaka on Thursday.

A former director of the Louvre Museum in Paris has been charged with conspiring to hide the origin of archaeological treasures that investigators suspect were smuggled out of Egypt in the chaos of the Arab Spring, a French judicial source said Thursday.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said Thursday its profit fell 59 percent in the last fiscal year, joining other tech firms that reported lacklustre results while grappling with Covid-19 restrictions and a sector crackdown.

Swedish veteran Zlatan Ibrahimovic said Thursday he endured six months of sleepless nights due to a painful knee because he was determined to fulfil his promise to AC Milan of delivering their first Serie A crown in 11 years.

Japan announced Thursday it will reopen to tourists from 36 countries starting June 10, ending a two-year pandemic closure, but travellers will only be allowed in with tour groups.

Sri Lankan seamers cut through the Bangladesh top order in the second innings after centuries from Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal gave the visitors a commanding lead in the second Test in Dhaka on Thursday.

Portuguese rider Joao Almeida's hopes of finishing on the podium in the Giro d'Italia ended on Thursday as he withdrew due to testing positive for Covid-19, his team UAE said.

South African star Cheslin Kolbe will start on the wing for Toulon in their European challenge Cup final against Lyon on Saturday.

As wedding season gets under way in Ukraine despite months of war, couples are faced with a difficult choice -- celebrate their unions in style or stay discreet so as not to upset anyone.

Silvio Berlusconi dreamed of finishing his career as Italy's president, but the billionaire former premier is instead again facing the threat of criminal sanction over his notorious "bunga-bunga" sex parties.

A critically endangered Sumatran elephant and its unborn baby were found dead from suspected poisoning in western Indonesia, a conservation official said on Thursday.

Seventy-five-year-old Hanganani Gideon Dube has walked with a slight limp and his speech been laboured since he miraculously survived being trampled by an elephant in northwestern Zimbabwe.