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TikTok's CEO Shou Zi Chew, who will represent the Chinese company in a US congressional meeting Thursday, is a former banker turned tech boss whose soft-spoken persona belies his meteoric rise.

Crisis-hit Lebanon is "at a very dangerous moment", a visiting International Monetary Fund delegation said Thursday, criticising slow progress on reforms needed to unlock billions in loans.

Wall Street rose but European stock markets fell Thursday after the Bank of England and other central banks joined the US Federal Reserve in hiking rates despite turmoil in the banking sector.

In the end it was neither beauty, nor gymnastic mating rituals that won the public over.

French government plans to trial surveillance cameras upgraded with artificial intelligence at the 2024 Paris Olympics have opponents fuming at what they say is unnecessary and dangerous security overreach.

European football's governing body UEFA said on Thursday it was launching an investigation into claims Barcelona paid for favourable refereeing decisions.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will fight for the survival of the hugely popular video-sharing app in the United States on Thursday, as he faces skeptical Washington lawmakers over the company's alleged ties to the Chinese government.

Liton Das and Tamim Iqbal breezed past Ireland's dismal 101-run total in less than 14 overs for Bangladesh's first-ever 10-wicket win, sealing a 2-0 series victory during Thursday's final one-day-international in Sylhet.

The Bank of England joined Norway and Switzerland in hiking interest rates Thursday to tackle stubbornly-high inflation, though banking-sector turmoil could soon lead to a pause in US tightening as hinted by the Federal Reserve.

World Athletics is likely to tighten rules governing the participation of transgender women in female competition on Thursday after a meeting that is also expected to decide to lift the ban imposed on Russia for mass doping.

There is no sign the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow will rein in President Vladimir Putin in his war on Ukraine, even if it again highlights a lopsided relationship where Russia is clearly the junior partner, analysts say.

Japan's defending champion Shoma Uno said he "gave everything" to overcome an injury scare and take the lead after the men's short programme at the world figure skating championships on Thursday.

Manchester United's owners were Thursday awaiting fresh bids from a Qatari banker and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe after the deadline passed for revised offers to buy the Premier League giants.

Defending champion Shoma Uno shrugged off an injury scare and the challenge of "QuadGod" Ilia Malinin to lead after the men's short programme at the world figure skating championships on Thursday.

A burgeoning row between France and Germany fired by differences over nuclear energy and combustion engines threatened to spill over into a gathering of the 27 European Union leaders Thursday.

European stocks sank Thursday after the US Federal Reserve and other central banks in Europe hiked interest rates despite turmoil in the banking sector.

Troubled Japanese conglomerate Toshiba said Thursday it will "support" a $15 billion takeover bid by a consortium led by investment fund Japan Industrial Partners.

When Marta Synchina was first sent to Ukraine's war-ravaged east as a military nurse, she and her father -- deployed in the same brigade -- decided not to tell her mother.

Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo, Bayern Munich defender Matthijs de Ligt and three other Netherlands players have a virus and will miss the Euro 2024 qualifier against France, the Dutch federation said Thursday.

A controversial gold mine in Thailand restarted operations on Thursday, more than six years after the government forced it to close over health and environmental concerns.

Switzerland and Norway hiked interest rates Thursday to tackle inflation despite banking-sector turmoil, with the Bank of England next in line after the US Federal Reserve also lifted borrowing costs.

The Ethiopian government said Thursday it has appointed a senior official in the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) as head of an interim government for Tigray after a peace deal ended a brutal two-year conflict.

Troubled Japanese conglomerate Toshiba on Thursday accepted a $15 billion takeover bid by a consortium led by investment fund Japan Industrial Partners, major local media outlets reported.

Three years after Luxembourg declared all public transport free in a bid to clear its roads of jams and cut pollution, the car is still king of the congested Grand Duchy.

Switzerland and Norway hiked interest rates Thursday to tackle inflation despite banking-sector turmoil, with the UK's central bank next in line after the US Federal Reserve also lifted borrowing costs.

A massive new gas pipeline to China could help reduce Russia's reliance on European buyers, but analysts say the project reveals a growing imbalance between the longtime strategic allies.

An Indian court Thursday found opposition leader Rahul Gandhi guilty of defamation for a three-year-old campaign trail remark implying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a criminal.

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara said they wanted to inspire a new generation after becoming Japan's first ever figure skating pairs world champions on Thursday.

Taiwan recalled on Thursday its ambassador to Honduras over a visit by Tegucigalpa's foreign minister to China, Taipei's government said in a statement.

Asian markets mostly rose Thursday and the dollar retreated, brushing off a Wall Street retreat on hopes the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate hike would be one of its last.

Hempstone Monari's taxi business was just getting going when the wheels fell off his financial future and a Kenyan bank auctioned off his car over the non-payment of a $9,900 loan.

Almost 50 years after his famed tight-rope walk between the Twin Towers in New York, Philippe Petit still has his head in the clouds.