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As Chancellor Olaf Scholz travels to Beijing, policymakers and businesses at home are grappling with an existential question: how can they reduce their reliance on China and can they survive without the world's second-largest economy?

World number one Carlos Alcaraz swatted aside Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets on Thursday to reach the Paris Masters quarter-finals, while Lorenzo Musetti dumped out third seed Casper Ruud.

In the eastern DR Congo city of Goma, fears are rising of an imminent assault by a bloody rebel group whose resurgence has stoked diplomatic tensions in central Africa.

Conor Murray will become the eighth Irish player to reach the 100 caps landmark when he starts against world champions South Africa in Saturday's autumn international Test match at Lansdowne Road.

Canada's trade surplus doubled to Can$1.1 billion (US$800 million) in September from the previous month as wheat shipments rebounded strongly, the national statistical agency said Thursday.

The US trade gap widened in September after five straight months of decline, government data showed Thursday, on cooling food and energy exports while imports of products like semiconductors and consumer goods picked up.

Guinea's ruling junta on Thursday ordered prosecutors to take legal action against former president Alpha Conde, whom it overthrew in a 2021 coup, and more than 180 other officials and ex-ministers, notably for alleged corruption.

DP World Tour players will be guaranteed minimum earnings of $150,000 next season in the latest response from the established tours to the threat from the lucrative rebel LIV Golf series, it was announced on Thursday.

Stock markets around the world sank Thursday while the dollar rallied after the Federal Reserve warned US interest rates would go higher than previously expected in its fight against decades-high inflation.

The Bank of England on Thursday announced its biggest interest rate hike since 1989 to combat sky-high inflation that it warned was pushing Britain into a recession set to last until mid-2024.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was in stable condition after being shot in the leg at a political rally on Thursday in what the country's president deemed "a heinous assassination attempt".

Migrant rescue group SOS Mediterranee said Thursday that it had called on the governments of France, Greece and Spain to help find a port for 234 people rescued while trying to reach Europe, after Italy and Malta failed to respond.

President Joe Biden was embarking Thursday on a final push to try and save Democrats from defeat in next week's midterms, hours after he gave a dramatic speech casting the election as a make-or-break moment for US democracy.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday rejected Colombian Nairo Quintana's appeal against his disqualification during the last Tour de France for using a banned painkiller.

Climate change impacts battering vulnerable countries threaten to outstrip efforts to adapt to global warming, the UN warned Thursday, with a "significant" amount of international funding help recycled from other purposes.

Uncapped Dragons winger Rio Dyer faces a baptism of fire after being named in the Wales team to play New Zealand at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on Saturday.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was in stable condition after being shot in the foot Thursday at a political rally in what the country's president deemed "a heinous assassination attempt".

The Bank of England delivered Thursday its biggest interest rate hike since 1989 to combat soaring inflation and warned that Britain faced a recession set to last until mid-2024.

Experienced scrum-half Nic White will start Australia's Autumn Nations Series Test with France this weekend in four changes from the Scotland victory, the Wallabies announced on Thursday.

Europe must act immediately to prevent a shortage of natural gas next year as Russia slashes deliveries in the wake of the Ukraine war, the International Energy Agency warned Thursday.

Pakistan kept their slim Twenty20 World Cup hopes alive with a 33-run win over South Africa in a dramatic rain-affected match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday.

South Korean football fans have subjected Marseille's Chancel Mbemba to a torrent of abuse online, some of it racist, and demanded he apologise to Son Heung-min with the forward's World Cup in doubt.

France head coach Fabien Galthie said on Thursday Romain Ntamack was "ready" to start their Autumn Nations Series opener with Australia this weekend despite last playing for his club in September.

Scrum-half Aaron Smith was named in New Zealand's team to play Wales on Saturday, when he will surpass Dan Carter as the most capped back in All Blacks history.

Older residents of Saint-Firmin can recall learning to ski on slopes served by one of the first lifts above the village, one that will now be seen only in pictures of days when winter meant abundant snow.

In six months of Russian occupation and eight months of fighting, Izyum hospital in eastern Ukraine never stopped working, operating on wounded civilians in its basement while awaiting liberation.

Fly-half Romain Ntamack will start France's Autumn Nations Series opener with Australia this weekend despite last playing for his club in September, Les Bleus head coach Fabien Galthie announced on Thursday.

Asian and European stock markets sank and the dollar rallied Thursday after the Federal Reserve warned US interest rates would go higher than previously expected in its fight against decades-high inflation.

Iranians staged new protest actions Thursday in defiance of a crackdown by the authorities as a rights groups said an 18-year-old became the latest teen killed in clashes in the northwest.

Rassie Erasmus stirred things up in Ireland in 2019 when he labelled their Rugby World Cup team 'softies' but South Africa's director of rugby says the present team are quite the opposite.

Tropical Storm Lisa slowed on Thursday after making landfall in Belize, causing flooding and plunging parts of the country into darkness as it churned westwards toward Mexico.

Norway, the largest oil producer in Western Europe, on Thursday announced it intended to cut 1990 emissions levels "at least 55 percent" by 2030, in line with EU goals.