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Politics
Trump rebrands housing supplement as $1,776 bonuses for US troops
The $1,776 payments to US troops announced by President Donald Trump will come from funds already allocated by Congress to supplement military housing allowances, officials said on Thursday.
Things to know
Harrison Ford to get lifetime acting award
Harrison Ford is to be given a lifetime achievement award from the main union representing Hollywood actors, the organization announced Thursday.
Economy
Trump health chief seeks to bar trans youth from gender-affirming care
The US health department on Thursday announced proposed measures that would effectively ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth, a major escalation of the Trump administration's efforts to roll back protections for trans people.
Economy
Argentine unions in the street over Milei labor reforms
Thousands of Argentines demonstrated on Thursday against President Javier Milei's plans to drastically overhaul the country's labor laws to make work more flexible, restrict the right to strike and make it cheaper to fire workers.
Politics
Trump signs order reclassifying marijuana as less dangerous
US President Donald Trump said Thursday he was signing an executive order reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug, in one of America's biggest shifts in drug policy for years.
Politics
Famed Kennedy arts center to be renamed 'Trump-Kennedy Center'
The White House announced Thursday that Washington's iconic John F. Kennedy arts center is to be renamed the "Trump-Kennedy Center" after President Donald Trump.
US accuses S.Africa of harassing US officials working with Afrikaners
Washington on Thursday accused South Africa of harassing US government employees working with Afrikaners, the white minority to whom President Donald Trump is granting refugee status, in the latest escalation of tensions.
Economy
Brazil open to EU-Mercosur deal delay as farmers protest in Brussels
Police fired teargas at farmers protesting the EU's planned trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur in Brussels Thursday, as Brazil opened the door to postponing its signature to win over reluctant Europeans.
Politics
Wounded Bangladesh youth leader dies in Singapore hospital
A leader of Bangladesh's 2024 uprising who was wounded in an assassination attempt and flown to Singapore for treatment has died in the city-state, officials said on Friday.
Boulevard
New photo dump fuels Capitol Hill push on Epstein files release
US House Democrats on Thursday published a fresh batch of photographs from Jeffrey Epstein's estate, stepping up pressure on Donald Trump's administration on the eve of its deadline to release federal files on the late financier and convicted sex offender.
Politics
Brazil, Mexico seek to defuse US-Venezuela crisis
The leaders of Brazil and Mexico on Thursday offered to step in to try and avert the risk of war between the United States and Venezuela.
Politics
Assange files complaint against Nobel Foundation over Machado win
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has filed a criminal complaint in Sweden against the Nobel Foundation after Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the Peace Prize.
Politics
Private donors pledge $1 bn for CERN particle accelerator
Europe's physics lab CERN on Thursday said private donors had pledged $1 billion towards the construction of a new particle accelerator that would be by far the world's biggest.
Boulevard
Russian court orders Austrian bank Raiffeisen to pay compensation
The largest Western bank still operating in Russia was on Thursday ordered to pay nearly $400 million in compensation for losses incurred by Russian company Rasperia due to European sanctions.
Politics
US, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt to hold Gaza talks in Miami
US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff will hold talks with senior officials from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey in Miami on Friday on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, a White House official told AFP.
Politics
Lula open to mediate between US, Venezuela to 'avoid armed conflict'
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Thursday he was willing to mediate between the United States and Venezuela to "avoid armed conflict."
Economy
Brussels farmer protest turns ugly as EU-Mercosur deal teeters
Protesters lit fires and hurled potatoes at riot police who responded with teargas and water cannon in Brussels Thursday, as tensions boiled over at a farmer demonstration against the EU's planned trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur.
Boulevard
US imposes sanctions on two more ICC judges for Israel probe
The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on two more judges of the International Criminal Court after they rejected a challenge by Israel which sought to end a war crimes probe in Gaza.
Economy
US accuses S. Africa of harassing US officials working with Afrikaners
Washington on Thursday accused South Africa of harassing US government employees working with Afrikaners, the white minority to whom President Donald Trump is granting refugee status, in the latest escalation of tensions.
Technology
ECB holds rates as Lagarde stresses heightened uncertainty
The European Central Bank held interest rates steady Thursday for its fourth meeting in a row but was tight-lipped on the future rate path as it stressed lingering geopolitical uncertainty.
Economy
Trump Media announces merger with fusion power company
Trump Media & Technology Group, the struggling company that owns the US president's Truth Social platform, announced Thursday a $6 billion merger with fusion power company TAE Technologies, in an unexpected pivot into energy technology.
Economy
Stocks rise as US inflation cools, tech stocks bounce
Equity markets climbed on Thursday as investors welcomed cool US inflation data and tech stocks bounced.
Economy
Zelensky presses EU to tap Russian assets at crunch summit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told EU leaders Thursday they had the "moral" and legal right to use frozen Russian assets to fund Kyiv -- as pressure grew on key player Belgium to drop its opposition at a summit showdown.
Pope replaces New York's Cardinal Dolan with pro-migrant bishop
Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of New York's conservative Archbishop Timothy Dolan and named a little-known, pro-migrant bishop from his native Chicago to replace him, the Vatican said Thursday.
Sports
Odermatt takes foggy downhill for 50th World Cup win
Marco Odermatt secured his 50th World Cup win when he took a fog-hit men's downhill at Val Gardena on Thursday.
Politics
France exonerates women convicted over abortions before legalisation
French lawmakers on Thursday unanimously approved a bill exonerating women punished for abortion before it was legalised in 1975, a moved praised by feminist groups as a stand for reproductive rights.
Boulevard
UK teachers to tackle misogyny in classroom
UK teachers will be trained to tackle misogyny in the classroom under a new strategy aimed at halving violence against women and girls over the next decade, a minister told parliament Thursday.
Culture
Historic Afghan cinema torn down for a mall
A renowned Kabul cinema that for decades attracted the city's film fans is being demolished to make way for a shopping mall, AFP journalists saw Thursday.
Politics
US consumer inflation cools unexpectedly in November
US consumer inflation slowed unexpectedly in November, delayed government data showed Thursday, although levels remained higher than earlier in the year before President Donald Trump's tariffs flowed through the economy.
Economy
Danish 'ghetto' residents upbeat after EU court ruling
The European Court of Justice on Thursday said it was up to Denmark's courts to decide whether a Danish law requiring authorities to redevelop poor urban "ghettos" with high concentrations of "non-Western immigrants and their descendants" was discriminatory.
Economy
ECB holds rates but debate swirls over future
The European Central Bank held interest rates steady Thursday for its fourth meeting in a row and raised growth forecasts for this year and next.
Boulevard
Pope replaces New York's Cardinal Timothy Dolan with little-known bishop
Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of influential New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, a leading figure of the US church's conservative wing, the Vatican said Thursday.