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The British Museum Thursday vowed to protect the Bayeux Tapestry, after renowned UK artist David Hockney warned that sending it across the Channel from France for an exhibition this year was "madness".

Britain's main opposition Conservative Party was on Thursday caught up in a top-level row over allegations another senior Tory was planning to join Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform UK party.

Syrians began fleeing an area east of Aleppo city on Thursday after the army gave civilians a deadline to leave amid fears of an escalation in clashes with Kurdish forces.

More governments vowed crackdowns Thursday to prevent Grok, the AI chatbot on Elon Musk's X platform, from undressing or sexualizing images of real people in their jurisdictions, in a face of a growing backlash against the deepfakes.

The first solo exhibition in India by Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei opened Thursday, featuring sculpture, installation and mixed media spanning his career, as well as his "homage" to the country.

In the space of just four days, Real Madrid lost a final to bitter rivals Barcelona, sacked coach Xabi Alonso and were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by a second division team, leaving them hurtling into a crisis.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Thursday sacked a senior official after their leading men's cricketers went on strike, escalating a crisis that has already seen the nation refuse to tour India for next month's T20 World Cup.

Iran vowed on Thursday to defend itself against any foreign threat, after US President Donald Trump said he would "watch it and see" about military action over the crackdown on protesters.

A record 97 million foreign tourists visited Spain in 2025 as the economically vital sector set a new benchmark for the second year running, the tourism minister said on Thursday.

The collapse of a highway construction crane killed two people near Bangkok on Thursday, with Thailand's leader vowing to blacklist the building firm which was also involved in a crane failure the day before that left 32 dead.

French double Olympic swimming gold medallist Yannick Agnel will face trial on charges of rape and sexual assault after his appeal was rejected on Thursday.

Oil prices slumped Thursday after US President Donald Trump appeared to dial down threats of imminent military action on crude producer Iran.

Washington's ambition to take control of Greenland remained intact, Denmark said on Thursday, as a European military mission arrived on the mineral-rich strategic Arctic island, drawing a sharp rebuke from Russia.

Michel Tama Sadiakhou's future dramatically changed course some 15 years ago thanks to a clan of spear-wielding apes: instead of the dangerous work in informal gold mines that is the fate of many in Senegal’s far southeast, he now researches rare chimpanzees.

A shriek broke the dawn on the savannah, followed by more screeches and the rustle of branches: The wild Fongoli chimps were bidding each other good morning in the dry, scraggly Sahel.

Russia said Thursday it was expelling a British diplomat, calling him an undercover spy in an accusation blasted by London as "malicious" and "baseless."

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni admitted even he had problems voting as technical issues disrupted Thursday's election, in which he hopes to extend his 40-year rule, amid an internet blackout and a police crackdown.

Germany's economy eked out meagre growth in 2025 and dodged a third straight year of recession, data showed Thursday, but Europe's languishing industrial powerhouse still faces huge challenges to return to long-term health.

Elon Musk's platform X announced measures to prevent its AI chatbot Grok from undressing images of real people, but the Philippines on Thursday said it would become the latest country to block the online tool in a growing global backlash.

An Iranian protester who the United States feared faced imminent execution will not be sentenced to death, the judiciary said Thursday, while Donald Trump said he would "watch it and see" about threatened military action.

Four International Space Station crewmembers splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, NASA footage showed, after the first ever medical evacuation in the orbital lab's history.

Uganda's opposition said voting had been deliberately delayed in Thursday's election as President Yoweri Museveni seeks to extend his 40-year rule amid an internet blackout and a police crackdown.

Oil slid Thursday after US President Donald Trump appeared to dial down threats of imminent military action on Iran, while Asian markets were mixed after Wall Street edged lower the previous day.

The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, starts on Sunday in Melbourne.

Roger Federer said on Thursday that Carlos Alcaraz winning the Australian Open to complete the career Grand Slam aged just 22 would be "crazy".

Ugandans found polling stations still not open hours after voting was due to start Thursday, as President Yoweri Museveni seeks to extend his 40-year rule amid an internet shutdown and a police crackdown on the opposition.

An erratic Madison Keys struck nearly 50 unforced errors Thursday as the Australian Open champion crashed out of her final warm-up for this year's opening Grand Slam to teenager Victoria Mboko.

France superstar Antoine Dupont says six-time Champions Cup winners Toulouse "do not have a choice" apart from beating Sale and scoring four tries or more on Saturday if they hope to reach the last 16.

South Korea's state health insurer lost an appeal on Thursday in its lawsuit seeking damages from the country's three largest tobacco companies over their alleged responsibility for smoking-related harms.

The Cell Production Centre at Lausanne University Hospital is working flat out trying to grow new skin for badly-burned survivors of Switzerland's New Year bar fire tragedy.

Jade comes home from school each day to feed the chickens at her home in the Central American nation of El Salvador with her classmates' taunts ringing in her ears.

US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Thursday with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whose pro-democracy movement he has sidelined since toppling her country's leader, and whose Nobel Peace Prize he openly envies.

Taiwanese chipmaking titan TSMC announced Thursday a forecast-busting net profit for the fourth quarter in a sign of sustained global demand for AI technology.

For almost a decade, Nikolay Gentchev has faced a strange question: "You're not dead, are you?"

China's top diplomat said Thursday that a visit by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to Beijing marked a "turning point" in the two countries' long acrimonious relationship.

A "shadow fleet" of 19 tankers suspected of smuggling oil for Russia and Iran was flagged by New Zealand with Cook Islands authorities in 2024, according to a confidential list obtained by AFP.

The collapse of a highway construction crane killed two people near Bangkok on Thursday, with a Thai minister saying the building firm was also involved in a crane failure the day before that left 32 dead.

Jannik Sinner was drawn Thursday against France's Hugo Gaston to start his Australian Open defence and is on a collision course to meet 10-time champion Novak Djokovic in a blockbuster semi-final.

Japan will bid to host the Rugby World Cup again in 2035, more than 15 years after becoming the first Asian country to stage the event.