Monaco Journal - News from Monaco, Monte-Carlo and the world

An Afghan activist who campaigned for girls' education was released after seven months in detention on Thursday, his family said, the latest high-profile detainee to be released by Taliban authorities this month.

The US economy heated up in the third quarter, government data showed on Thursday, as a resilient job market helped boost consumer spending, holding off the prospect of a recession.

New Zealand and South Africa meet in Saturday's Rugby World Cup final at the Stade de France with the All Blacks holding a three-two head to head advantage in previous meetings at the sport's quadrennial showpiece event.

The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at its meeting on Thursday, bringing an end to a series of hikes that started in July last year.

Police in the US state of Maine waged a sprawling manhunt Thursday for a gunman who killed at least 16 people at a bowling alley and a bar in the deadliest mass shooting this year in America.

If the World Cup represents Quinton de Kock's farewell to one-day internationals, then the South Africa opener is bowing out in style.

The Palestinian Authority's foreign minister on Thursday said Israel's offensive in Gaza was a "war of revenge", as he called for a ceasefire in the conflict.

Manchester United on Thursday reported a Premier League record revenue figure of £648.4 million ($784 million) for the year ending June 30.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Thursday he hoped to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan in the coming months, after Baku recaptured Nagorno-Karabakh from ethnic-Armenian separatists in September.

Sri Lanka pushed England closer to the World Cup exit door on Thursday when they bowled out the defending champions for just 156.

The clocks in pensioner Mukaddes Kokeralp Cirak's house still show the moment modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk died in 1938.

A plaque designating the narrow alleyway in South Korea's capital where nearly 160 people were crushed to death during Halloween festivities last year was unveiled by victims' relatives on Thursday.

Newcastle United's Italian international midfielder Sandro Tonali has been banned for 10 months for betting, the Italian football federation (FIGC) said on Thursday.

Turkey's central bank sharply lifted its policy rate for the fifth month running on Thursday as part of its politically charged battle against historically high inflation rates.

World stock markets dived Thursday on mounting global worries and with investors on tenterhooks before a European Central Bank interest rate decision and key US data.

Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan insisted Thursday that his under-performing teammates believe "miracles can happen" as the former champions enter a "do-or-die" battle to rescue their faltering World Cup campaign.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Thursday that governments must be "honest" about the risks posed by artificial intelligence, as he prepares to host a global summit on the issue in Britain next week.

It looks like any other scrappy Tel Aviv tech start-up, with staff in hip clothing huddled around laptops and downing espressos, but they are the volunteers in a "war room" assembled to help Israel bring home the hostages.

Swiss prosecutors announced Thursday they have dropped their three-year criminal proceedings against FIFA president Gianni Infantino over suspected collusion with officials concerning the corruption scandal that engulfed world football's governing body.

Siemens Energy said Thursday it was in talks with the German government about receiving financial help as it battles problems in its wind power unit, sending the firm's shares crashing.

Moran Betzer Tayar, wracked by anguish about the kidnapping of her nephew and his wife by Hamas fighters on October 7, summed up her feelings during a press conference: "On Saturday morning, our lives stopped."

A Stockholm court on Thursday acquitted a Russian-Swede accused of passing Western technology to Russia's military, ruling that while he did export the material his actions did not amount to espionage.

EU leaders will on Thursday debate calling for humanitarian "pauses" in Israel's war with Hamas, as the bloc weighs how to respond to another conflict as fighting rages in Ukraine.

South Korea, Japan and the United States "strongly condemn" North Korea supplying arms to Moscow, the allies said in a joint statement Thursday, adding that "several" such deliveries have been made by Pyongyang.

Ukrainian explosives expert Valeriy Onul lost his lower right leg after stepping on a landmine, but it hasn't stopped him returning to his job clearing mines.

Iconic Springbok captain Siya Kolisi insisted Thursday that rugby does not come any bigger than a World Cup final against old rivals New Zealand.

The Rugby Football Union says it is "deeply disappointed" that South Africa hooker Bongi Mbonambi has been cleared of a racial slur and will play in Saturday's World Cup final.

In a sandy ravine outside Kyiv, a group of soldiers in camouflage were learning the basics of warfare -- in Russian.

With a drone camera, a survivor is spotted in the rubble. A robot on tracks brings him water while rescuers in exoskeletons clear an escape route for an autonomous stretcher to take her to safety.

A South Korean professor who challenged the consensus view of Japan's wartime sex slaves was acquitted of defaming the victims on Thursday, overturning an earlier verdict.

Asian stocks sank Thursday, tracking a retreat on Wall Street fuelled by a surge in US Treasuries and worries over a possible escalation of the Middle East crisis.

South Africa have named half-backs Handre Pollard and Faf de Klerk as well as hooker Bongi Mbonambi in their starting XV for the Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand on Saturday.