In yellow-and-green bikinis, Neymar jerseys and sparkling tops straight out of carnival, Brazilians dropped everything Thursday to watch the national team make their highly anticipated World Cup debut, exploding in celebration at their opening win.. He tweeted a picture of himself and his wife in national team jerseys, a TV in the background, with the message: "Congratulations Brazil.
Adidas said Thursday it was investigating claims against Kanye West after a report detailed alleged inappropriate behaviour, just weeks after the German sportswear giant ended its partnership with the rapper.. In its latest statement Thursday, Adidas said it has been and continues to be "actively engaged in conversations with our employees about the events that lead to our decision to end the partnership.
Lawmakers in the French parliament voted Thursday to add the right to abortion to the constitution in response to recent changes in Poland and the United States.. "The assembly is speaking to the world, our country is speaking to the world," said jubilant MP Mathilde Panot from LFI, dedicating the vote to women in Hungary, Poland and the United States.
The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said Thursday he would ask judges to confirm charges against Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, head of the notorious Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), even though Kony remains at large.. Khan said he had asked judges for authorisation to hold a hearing to confirm the charges against Kony in his absence.
Ghana's finance minister, Kenneth Ofori-Atta, presented the 2023 budget to parliament on Thursday, hiking tax and planning a debt swap as the country's negotiates an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.. Ofori-Atta said the IMF talks had made "substantial progress", with agreement on "fiscal adjustment path, debt strategy and financing".
From the Arab Spring uprisings to the MeToo movement in which women spoke up about sexual assaults, Twitter has proven itself a formidable ally for political activists and opposition groups, one whose reach and impact would be difficult to replace.. But its pithy, at-a-glance format allows the network to punch far above its weight for opposition groups, since anyone can become a "citizen journalist" who instantly shares images that government authorities don't want to be seen.
Russian lawmakers unanimously approved a bill banning all forms of LGBTQ "propaganda" in a final reading on Thursday, as Moscow presses ahead with its conservative drive at home while its troops fight in Ukraine. . This rhetoric has only strengthened since he sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, isolating Moscow and leading to an unprecedented crackdown at home.
Ukraine struggled Thursday to repair its battered power and water services after Russia targeted the electricity grid with dozens of cruise missiles and temperatures plunged.. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said more than two-thirds of the capital was still cut off on Thursday despite municipal workers in Kyiv restoring some water service overnight.
The UN Human Rights Council is holding an urgent meeting Thursday to discuss whether to launch a high-level international investigation into the deadly crackdown on mass protests rocking Iran.. Tara Sepehri Far, an Iran researcher with Human Rights Watch, urged the council to "shine a spotlight on the deepening repression and... hold those responsible accountable."
UK police on Thursday said their biggest ever counter-fraud operation had disrupted an international criminal network targeting hundreds of thousands of victims in millions of spam phone calls.. UK police believe organised crime groups are linked to the website and its tens of thousands of users, who could access software tools on it to help illicitly obtain victims' bank account funds and commit other fraud.
