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Dubai will bid farewell to its extravagant Expo 2020 world fair on Thursday, leaving a multi-billion dollar mini-city in the desert and heightened expectations for future hosts.

Boosted by Western support, Morocco is working to impose its own settlement in the long-running Western Sahara conflict, even at the cost of a falling out with its allies, analysts say.

Mohamed Salah has stirred doubts about his future with the Egyptian national team following their failure to qualify for the World Cup.

Civilians trapped in dire conditions in Mariupol, a strategically important city in southeastern Ukraine besieged by Russian forces for the past month, were waiting Thursday for buses sent to rescue them after Moscow announced a local ceasefire.

FIFA is on target to reap record revenues of seven billion dollars on the back of this year's Qatar World Cup, president Gianni Infantino said Thursday as experts predicted a long-term financial boom for football.

Oil prices tumbled Thursday on reports that the United States is considering tapping reserves to combat a supply crisis sparked by the Ukraine war.

South African captain Dean Elgar scored a brisk half-century as his team made a solid start on the first day of the first Test against Bangladesh on Thursday.

Russia invaded Ukraine in the early hours of February 24, setting off the worst conflict in Europe in decades.

The sentencing of Australian journalist Cheng Lei by a Chinese court over accusations of supplying state secrets overseas was deferred on Thursday, with Canberra decrying the trial of a woman detained for 18 months so far as "closed and opaque".

Known as a pragmatic moderate with a knack for pouring oil on troubled waters, Alberto Nunez Feijoo promises to be a steady hand on the tiller for Spain's storm-tossed Popular Party (PP).

Retired teacher Vera Vranceanu is one of thousands of Moldovans who have taken those fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine into their own homes, but the strain is starting to show in one of Europe's poorest countries.

Liverpool and Manchester United will meet in a high-profile friendly in Bangkok in July, the clubs said on Thursday, as Premier League teams resume lucrative pre-season tours which stopped when Covid hit.

Israeli security forces on Thursday raided a West Bank town after three deadly attacks rocked the Jewish state in a week, with two Palestinians shot dead and a third killed after he launched a knife attack on a bus.

Their "extremely noisy" YouTube videos usually show them playing Mario Kart and goofing around, but two Ukrainian brothers are now using their popular Japanese-language channel to speak out against war.

A top Shanghai official conceded Thursday that the Chinese financial hub had been "insufficiently prepared" for its latest Covid outbreak, as criticism mounts over lockdowns that have caught residents off guard.

England continued their fairytale revival at the Women's World Cup Thursday when Danni Wyatt's century set up a 137-run semi-final thrashing of South Africa to set up a final showdown with Australia.

Japan has no plans to withdraw from a joint Russian oil and gas project, despite joining tough sanctions on Moscow over its Ukraine invasion, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday.

A Cuban man who staged a rare protest over the detention of a dissident rapper has been slapped with a five-year prison term for disobedience and "enemy propaganda," according to a sentencing document seen by AFP on Wednesday night.

Weeks after returning from Russia amid sanctions triggered by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Emomali Safarov has swapped construction tools for a video camera and his old low-paid journalism job in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe.

Ukraine said Thursday it was sending dozens of buses to evacuate civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol after a Russian ceasefire announcement, but dismissed Kremlin promises to scale back attacks on the capital saying forces were simply regrouping to target the east.

Swedish clothing giant H&M said Thursday its revenue increased in the first quarter, but its closure of Russian stores has started to impact growth.

Syaiful Arifin loved football as a child but feared his playing days were over when he lost his left leg aged 12 after falling off a train.

Diesel was no longer on sale across Sri Lanka on Thursday, crippling transport as the crisis-hit country's 22 million people endure record-long power blackouts.

Britain's foreign secretary was in India Thursday to press for tougher action on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, ahead of a visit by Moscow's top diplomat likely aimed at urging Delhi to do the opposite.

The Solomon Islands on Thursday said it had inked a wide-ranging security pact with Beijing, an agreement Western allies fear will pave the way for the first Chinese military foothold in the South Pacific.

A rising TikTok star from a Mennonite community in Mexico that once shunned rubber tires and electricity is embracing technology to give a glimpse of her life through social media.

President Vladimir Putin is being misled by fearful advisers as his Ukraine invasion goes awry, with mutinous Russian troops sabotaging equipment and even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft, US and British intelligence agencies claim.

The door chime is as idle as the owner of the souvenir shop, who bides his time behind the counter worried he will barely make ends meet.

At the entrance to a school in Berlin, multicoloured letters spell out "welcome" for nine Jewish children from Ukraine above a drawing of the German, Ukrainian and Israeli flags surrounded by red hearts.

Pope Francis may be about to drop in, but 91-year-old Friar Dionysius Mintoff is more concerned his migrant centre in Malta is ready for the imminent arrival of young Ukrainians.

Pope Francis heads Saturday for a two-day trip to Catholic-majority Malta where he will again highlight the plight of migrants, as the Ukraine war sends a stream of refugees across Europe.

Ukraine's president warned Russian troops are regrouping in preparation for a renewed assault in the east Thursday, as he dismissed Kremlin promises to scale back attacks on the capital Kyiv.