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Nearly 5.4 million Ukrainians have fled their country since Russia invaded two months ago, the United Nations said Thursday, with more than 55,000 leaving in the past 24 hours.

Millions of workers staged a crippling strike in Sri Lanka on Thursday, adding to pressure on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his ruling family to quit over the country's worst-ever economic crisis.

Stock markets powered higher Thursday, extending a recovery on bargain hunting after sharp losses at the start of the week.

Millions sweltered in an early summer heatwave across India and Pakistan on Thursday, leading to power and water shortages as annual furnace-like temperatures hit South Asia.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday visited sites of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine, decrying war as "an absurdity in the 21st century" and urging Russia to cooperate with an international investigation into atrocities.

Star all-rounder Ben Stokes was named as England's new Test captain on Thursday, replacing Joe Root, who stood down earlier this month after a string of defeats.

Talismanic all-rounder Ben Stokes was named as England's new Test captain on Thursday, replacing Joe Root, who stood down earlier this month after a string of damaging defeats.

Behind an unmarked gate, on a residential street in South Africa's Soweto township, Thami Mazibuko makes his way down a corridor and up a stairwell, all lined with books.

China will slash coal import tariffs to ensure energy security, the finance ministry said Thursday, the latest move to cast doubt on the country's environmental promises.

Top seed Akane Yamaguchi was given a scare by 317th-ranked qualifier Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi before battling into the quarter-finals of the Badminton Asia Championships on Thursday.

Pakistan's new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif begins his maiden foreign trip Thursday to Saudi Arabia, seeking financial support from a country where he spent years in exile.

A general strike crippled Sri Lanka on Thursday, as demands grew for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family members to resign over the country's worst-ever economic crisis.

A French policeman has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after shooting dead a driver who sought to evade police and a passenger in Paris Sunday, hours after Emmanuel Macron celebrated re-election nearby, a judicial source said.

The death and destruction caused by Hurricane Ida in the United States last year has prompted the World Meteorological Organization to remove the name from a rotating list of storm titles.

Pele, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Neymar: Brazil has a long list of legendary black and mixed-race football stars. But the coach's bench remains a largely white domain.

Multiple PGA Tour winners Im Sung-jae and Kim Si-woo will tee up for South Korea at this year's Asian Games in China, where gold medals could potentially spare the pair from compulsory military service.

Israel came to a standstill on Thursday, halting the morning bustle for two minutes as sirens blared to honour millions murdered during the Holocaust.

The head of the UN arrived in Ukraine Thursday, calling war "an absurdity", after Brussels warned Russia it will not bend to "blackmail" over its support for Kyiv over the Kremlin's decision to cut gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland.

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics posted a near 60 percent rise in first-quarter net profits on Thursday, largely driven by steady memory chip demand and brisk smartphone sales.

Markets enjoyed some much-needed gains Thursday having so far suffered a troubled week, with sentiment lifted by bargain-buying, a positive lead from New York and Europe, and further pledges of economic support for China's economy.

Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia on Thursday announced a 17 percent fall in quarterly profits due to its withdrawal from Russia and supply problems but said it would meet this year's target.

Rural peasant Eliecer Ortega was on his own at his farm when soldiers burst onto his property to first kidnap and then murder him.

The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks and resurgent Golden State Warriors completed 4-1 series victories to advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs on Wednesday.

John Fithian, head of the movie theater industry's trade body, is used to shrugging off claims that Netflix will spell doom for the big-screen, popcorn-munching experience.

Nicolas Lodeiro scored two second-half penalties as the Seattle Sounders stunned Mexican side Pumas UNAM to snatch a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final on Wednesday.

The Chinese megacity of Guangzhou cancelled hundreds of flights Thursday and launched mass testing of 5.6 million people after one suspected Covid case, as the battle to contain the coronavirus sweeps across the country.

The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks and resurgent Golden State Warriors completed 4-1 series victories to advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs on Wednesday.

Kateryna Grybinichenko chose to sign up after rockets fell on her home city of Sloviansk, in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.

Japan's central bank hiked its full-year inflation forecast on Thursday but cautioned that it sees rising prices, driven by a surge in commodity costs cause by the Ukraine war, as a volatile and temporary trend.

The fossils of three ichthyosaurs -- giant marine reptiles that patrolled primordial oceans -- have been discovered high up in the Swiss Alps, and include the largest ever tooth found for the species, a study said Thursday.

Indonesia began imposing a complete ban on palm oil exports Thursday, as the world's largest producer of the commodity risked destabilising a global vegetable oil market already hitting peak prices.

The former Australia Test batsman Michael Slater has had domestic stalking and intimidation charges against him dropped under mental health laws.