Rights groups accused Iranian security forces of shooting at protesters as the death toll mounted on Thursday from a crackdown on a movement sparked by anger over the rising cost of living that has now spread across the Islamic republic.
The Miami Dolphins became the latest NFL team to axe their head coach on Thursday, firing Mike McDaniel after four seasons in charge.
Three of 11 vessels chartered by Chevron were Thursday transporting oil from Venezuela to the US, according to an AFP analysis of ship-tracking data, as export sanctions raised concerns over the South American country's storage capacity.
- Trump says US could run Venezuela and its oil for years
- French researcher back in France after prisoner swap with Russia
Weather
Europe was set to be buffeted by weather ranging from severe winds to snow and freezing temperatures with the arrival of Storm Goretti on Thursday, with forecasters issuing warnings from Britain to Germany.
January 08, 2026
RECENT NEWS
Brazil's Lula vetoes law reducing Bolsonaro's sentence
Politics
January 08, 2026
Between US demands for its crude, tankers threatened with seizure, storage tanks at overflow risk and bewildered local authorities, the outlook for Venezuela's oil industry has never been murkier.
January 08, 2026
RECENT NEWS
Stock markets pulled back Thursday as an early-year rally ran out of steam, with investors locking in profits ahead of the release of key US jobs data this week.
January 08, 2026
The US trade deficit made a sharp and unexpected pullback in October, reaching its lowest level since 2009 as goods imports dropped while President Donald Trump's tariffs took hold, government data showed Thursday.
January 08, 2026
Russia has exchanged jailed French researcher Laurent Vinatier for a Russian basketball player who was being held in France, state media reported on Thursday, citing Russia's FSB security service.
January 08, 2026
Economy
The Spanish government and the Catholic Church signed a landmark agreement Thursday to compensate victims of sexual abuse by clergy, aiming to settle what officials described as a "moral debt".
January 08, 2026
RECENT NEWS
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that the United States was "breaking free from international rules" and "gradually turning away" from some of its allies.
The United States could run Venezuela and tap into its oil reserves for years, President Donald Trump said in an interview published Thursday, less than a week after toppling Nicolas Maduro.
England will limp home from Australia after a humbling 4-1 Ashes defeat but appear likely to stick with the regime of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, who have vowed to learn lessons from a painful tour.
Nobel winner and Belarusian dissident Ales Bialiatski told AFP on Thursday that it was "very important" to keep up pressure on Belarus in order to free political prisoners after his first meeting with the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
January 08, 2026
Politics
Russia on Thursday slammed a plan for European peacekeepers to be deployed to Ukraine as "dangerous" and dubbed Kyiv and its allies an "axis of war", dousing hopes the plan could be a step towards ending the almost four-year-war.
January 08, 2026
RECENT NEWS
Bordeaux-Begles's South African back-rower Jean-Luc du Preez says that Northampton will be desperate for revenge for last season's Champions Cup final defeat when the teams meet in the pool stage on Sunday.
Cristian Romero added to the mounting crisis at Tottenham as the Argentine appeared to take a swipe at the club's hierarchy after apologising for their latest dismal defeat.
Former Premier League referee David Coote was given a suspended prison sentence on Thursday after admitting making an indecent image of a child, with the judge describing his "spectacular fall from grace".
Security forces used tear gas and live fire to disperse protesters in Iran, rights groups said Thursday, as people angered by economic crisis kept up their challenge to the authorities and exiled opposition groups urged new protests as well as strikes.
January 08, 2026
- Stocks retreat as traders eye geopolitics, US jobs data
- 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' to be shown in Japan, in rare trip abroad
- Syria tells civilians to leave Aleppo's Kurdish areas
- Farmers enter Paris on tractors to rage against trade deal
- 'Sign of life': defence boom lifts German factory orders
- China confirms extradition of accused scam boss from Cambodia
- Japan's Fast Retailing raises profit forecast after China growth
- Olympic champion Zheng out of Australian Open