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

A record number of Japanese players are in the Premier League this season, with clubs attracted by their proven quality, value for money and the "very little risk" involved in signing them.

Japanese Asian Games organisers said Wednesday they were holding "regular discussions" with Asian Olympic chiefs after a report claimed they had asked for the ballooning number of participants to be scaled back.

Asian stocks edged higher Wednesday as oil prices extended a decline on receding concerns about another military flare-up between the United States and Iran, while traders were also nervously awaiting Nvidia's earnings and key US inflation data.

Mathieu Comijn inspected rows of potatoes in a field of cracked earth and browned leaves, pulling from the ground tubers barely the size of ping-pong balls.

Sweat trickling down her face, aspiring teenage boxer Hoorain Zahra works on a punch combination, eager to follow in the footsteps of her idol Aliya Soomro.

Volunteers scanned the dried-up bank of the Danube in northern Bulgaria, close to where receding waters laid bare mammoth bones last month, hoping to find more fossilised fragments exposed by Europe's parching drought.

Anthropic, the OpenAI rival that bet everything on computer coding, is expected to go public within weeks in a listing that could eclipse SpaceX's record Wall Street debut in June.

When President Donald Trump returned to power last year, Julia Curlee, a longtime CIA analyst and transgender woman, opted to continue serving as a senior official at the White House despite right-wing attacks on trans issues.

Australian under-16s are increasing their use of social media apps such as Instagram and Tiktok despite a world-leading ban, data provided by a parental control software company showed Wednesday.

The video game industry is notoriously tight-lipped about its numbers, filled with members-only metrics like wishlists, pre-orders and player numbers, so it can be hard to know which games have actually proven popular and turned a profit.

Adam Mosseri, who oversees Instagram at Meta, admitted in a California court on Tuesday that he touted newly launched safety tools for teens without disclosing low adoption rates from early testing several years ago.

The dream team of Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz made a winning start but could not progress to the final stages of US Open's mixed doubles tournament.

Europe's biggest video games show, Gamescom, opened Tuesday with the spotlight on two hit series, "Final Fantasy" and "The Witcher", with the industry seeking a boost in an era of job cuts and fierce competition.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is more seasoned as a banker than a politician but has shown a confident touch in standing up to US President Donald Trump and navigating a trade war that threatens his nation's economy.

The leader of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the Washington-backed group at the forefront of the battle against the Islamic State jihadist group, announced their dissolution on Tuesday under a deal with the government.

Loose forward Anton Segner will not play again on the New Zealand tour of South Africa, head coach Dave Rennie said on Tuesday after a 41-35 win over the Lions franchise in Johannesburg.

President Donald Trump's administration suggested Tuesday that the Kennedy Center in Washington could be demolished if courts block his plans to overhaul the performing arts landmark.

Meta knew that its tools for protecting teenagers on Instagram were largely ineffective, witnesses testified at the trial in California where 29 US states are accusing the social media giant of lying about the platform's dangers.

The PGA Tour season from 2028 will culminate in a new matchplay tournament that pits the world's top golfers against one another across two weeks, chief executive officer Brian Rolapp announced Tuesday.

The superstar pairing of Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz made a winning debut Tuesday, shrugging off early cobwebs in the opening round of the US Open's mixed doubles tournament.

The death of country music icon Dolly Parton, who kept her distance from the political debates gripping America, offered a rare moment of unity to a divided nation on Tuesday.

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes was crowned the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) player of the year on Tuesday as Manchester City's Khadija Shaw scooped the women's award for the second time.

The PGA currently has no plans to offer LIV Golf stars like Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm a pathway back from the struggling breakaway tour, chief executive officer Brian Rolapp said Tuesday.

Country music legend Dolly Parton, who has died at the age of 80, was certainly never at a loss for words -- she estimated that she wrote 3,000 songs over the course of her long career.

Golf equipment giant Callaway issued an apology on Tuesday for a now-cancelled advert which showed a male golfer shoving a female player to the ground when she reaches for his new driver.

Brazil's data protection agency on Tuesday fined TikTok nearly $30 million for failing to implement child safety measures in what it said was a "powerful signal" to social media companies.

Centre Rieko Ioane played a key role as New Zealand came from 18 points behind to defeat the Lions franchise 41-35 in Johannesburg on Tuesday and maintain a perfect tour record.

Manchester United further bolstered their midfield with the signing of Carlos Baleba from Brighton for a reported £70 million ($95 million) fee on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian city of Izyum has been splintered by Russian bombs -- but 21-year-old Violetta Dezhyna's job is to find beauty in those broken places and help keep the city alive, even as Russia advances once more.

Dolly Parton, the American country music singer who rose from poverty in Tennessee to become a US cultural giant with hits like "Jolene" and "Coat of Many Colors," has died at 80, her family said Tuesday.

Back in 2008 at age 62, Dolly Parton released a single proclaiming she was "just a backwoods Barbie, too much makeup, too much hair."

Siya Kolisi has recovered from a hamstring injury and will captain South Africa against New Zealand on Saturday in the second Test in Cape Town, head coach Rassie Erasmus said.