The Middle East war has created an "unprecedented shock" for the region's economies with no guarantee of a quick recovery, a senior International Monetary Fund official has told AFP.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Thursday his country was "ready" for a possible US attack on the communist island following months of mounting pressure from President Donald Trump.
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday criticised the "tyrants" ransacking the world, on a high-security visit to a "bloodstained" region of Cameroon following a war of words with US President Donald Trump.
- Vessels cross Hormuz destined for Iran despite US blockade
- Doncic, Cunningham eligible for MVP race: NBA
Sports
Former Arsenal goalkeeper Alexander Manninger, who played for Austria at Euro 2008, died on Thursday after his car was hit by a train, his former club Red Bull Salzburg said.
April 16, 2026
RECENT NEWS
- Iran's shadow oil trade endures near Singapore despite war
- South Africa's firebrand Malema handed jail term on gun charges
- Clock ticking on Chelsea's top five bid warns Rosenior
- US threatens to resume strikes if Iran spurns peace offer
Bayern Munich supporters have apologised after several photographers were injured when fans stormed over barriers at the end of Wednesday's home Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid.
April 16, 2026
RECENT NEWS
Stock markets advanced Thursday on expectations that a Mideast ceasefire would soon let oil and gas tankers resume transmit through the Strait of Hormuz, easing inflation pressures that have upended economies worldwide.
April 16, 2026
A South African court sentenced radical left-wing opposition leader Julius Malema to five years in jail on Thursday for firing a rifle into the air at a rally eight years ago.
April 16, 2026
Iran was the top exporter of commodities through the Strait of Hormuz in March, as shipments from other countries fell off a cliff with Tehran's blockade of the vital waterway, data by analytics firm Kpler showed.
April 16, 2026
Sports
Bernardo Silva will leave Manchester City when his contract expires at the end of the season, the Premier League club announced Thursday as they hailed his "incalculable" contribution to our "greatest sustained period of success".
April 16, 2026
RECENT NEWS
A massive Russian drone and missile barrage killed at least 19 people in cities across Ukraine, more than four years into the war with talks on ending the conflict stalled.
World Athletics on Thursday refused the applications of 11 elite athletes seeking to transfer their allegiance to Turkey in a hammer blow to the country's medal chances at the 2028 Olympics.
A South African court sentenced radical left-wing opposition leader Julius Malema to five years in jail on Thursday for firing a rifle into the air at a rally eight years ago.
Bernardo Silva will leave Manchester City at the end of the season, the Premier League club announced Thursday as they hailed his "incalculable" contribution to our "greatest sustained period of success".
April 16, 2026
Politics
Pope Leo XIV condemned "an endless cycle of destabilisation and death" on a visit Thursday to a "bloodstained" region of Cameroon that has been gripped by an English-speaking separatist conflict for nearly a decade.
April 16, 2026
RECENT NEWS
A crackdown on India's performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) production -- the biggest globally -- is key to tackling the doping menace and protect the athletes, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chief Witold Banka told AFP on Thursday.
The Tokyo stock market reached a record high Thursday on heightened optimism that the United States and Iran would extend their ceasefire, hold fresh talks on ending their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil and gas traffic.
Crowds gathered for the funerals of eight children and a teacher in southern Turkey on Thursday, killed when a 14-year-old opened fire at a school in a crime that has plunged the country in to shock and the community into grief.
Ronnie O'Sullivan will face Chinese debutant He Guoqiang when he begins his bid to win an eighth World Snooker Championship title on Tuesday.
April 16, 2026
- Pakistani army chief in Iran to discuss new round of US talks
- England's Botterman and Campbell out of Women's Six Nations
- Leading economists call for windfall profit taxes on energy firms
- Meghan Markle claims to be 'most trolled person' in world
- Israel minister says Netanyahu to talk to Lebanon leader Thursday
- Liverpool confirm Ekitike out for season, will miss World Cup
- Teachers protest as Turkey buries school shooting victims
- UK PM tells social media bosses to step up child online safety