WHO pandemic agreement talks face deadline crunch

Major League Soccer said Thursday it will conduct a second phase of study into proposals to bring its season into line with the European calendar.
Trains and planes were grounded in Argentina Thursday as a 24-hour general strike against President Javier Milei's austerity measures paralyzed some services, even as the country awaits news on a fresh IMF loan.
Reigning US Amateur champion Jose Luis Ballester received a huge ovation from spectators at the par-five 13th hole in Thursday's first round of the Masters.
Ange Postecoglou's bid to end Tottenham's long trophy drought is delicately poised after a 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday.
Grief-stricken Dominicans on Thursday began holding funerals for loved ones who were among more than 200 people killed in a nightclub rooftop collapse, even as dozens remained unaccounted for.
The head of South American football's governing body CONMEBOL called on FIFA to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 nations on Thursday in a one-off gesture as the tournament celebrates its 100th anniversary.
A hard-fought win for former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina moved Kazakhstan a step closer to the Billie Jean King Cup finals as they overcame Australia 2-1 in Brisbane on Thursday in the opening match in their qualifying pool.
Former Real Madrid coach Leo Beenhakker has died aged 82, the Spanish club said Thursday.
English veteran Justin Rose used a pair of birdie bursts to build an early lead in the first round of the Masters Thursday with defending champion Scottie Scheffler leading the chase two strokes back.
Two-time champion Bernhard Langer was overjoyed with the start of his 41st and final Masters on Thursday before fading to a two-over par 74 at Augusta National.
Washington and Tehran waged a war of words Thursday ahead of key talks in Oman after US President Donald Trump said military action was "absolutely" possible if the talks fail.
President Donald Trump claimed victory over Europe in the US tariffs war but acknowledged a "cost" to his surging trade offensive against superpower rival China as markets plunged again Thursday.
Files related to the assassinations of former US attorney general Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr will be released in the coming days, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Thursday.
Relevent sports, the marketing company with growing influence in global soccer, has settled its antitrust legal case with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) increasing the chances of foreign league games being held in the USA.
Two orcas, Wikie and Keijo, and 12 dolphins are stuck in a shuttered French Riviera marine park after Spanish authorities refused to let them move to their country, an official told AFP on Thursday.
KL Rahul smashed an unbeaten 93 as Delhi Capitals beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six wickets to maintain their winning streak in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.
Family members bade a tearful farewell Thursday to merengue singer Rubby Perez, who died this week when the roof of a Dominican Republic nightclub crashed down on him as he did what he loved best: perform for an adoring crowd.
Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe on Thursday unleashed a legal offensive against Paris Saint-Germain in a bid to obtain the 55 million euros ($61 million) in unpaid wages and bonuses he says his former club owes him.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler held a share of the lead through 12 holes at Augusta National on Thursday as Rory McIlroy teed off in the first round of the Masters.
The government of the Dominican Republic has vowed an exhaustive investigation into why the roof of a nightclub caved in on revellers, killing more than 200.
Tanzania's main opposition leader Tundu Lissu was charged on Thursday with treason, which carries the death penalty, a day after being detained following a rally, one of his lawyers told AFP.
TikTok's international revenue boomed last year as China-based parent ByteDance faced a deadline to sell the app or have it banned in the United States, The Information reported on Thursday.
An Iranian court has handed two Iranian film directors suspended jail terms over a film that angered authorities in the Islamic republic but was acclaimed in Europe and the United States, rights groups said on Thursday.
Ferrari are seeking an uptick in their fortunes at the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend after a lacklustre start to the season.
Heartbroken Dominicans on Thursday began burying loved ones who were among more than 200 victims of a nightclub rooftop collapse, even as dozens of people remained unaccounted for.
A man convicted of the 2004 murder of an off-duty police officer is to be put to death by firing squad Friday in South Carolina, the second such execution in the US state this year.
A census of brown bears using DNA for the first time has revealed that up to 13,000 of the protected species are living in Romania, much more than the 8,000 previously estimated, the government announced on Thursday.
Prada said Thursday that it had reached a deal to buy Versace for 1.25 billion euros ($1.38 billion), building a new Italian fashion powerhouse and hoping to insert much-needed "spark" into its smaller, flashier rival.
The US-China trade war intensified Thursday, sending the global economy into unknown territory and dampening relief after President Donald Trump's earlier climbdown from a wider tariff onslaught against the rest of the world.
A French court on Thursday sentenced eight people to up to five years for smuggling eel larvae destined for Asian markets, in a scheme worth about two million euros that prosecutors likened to cocaine trafficking.
Sudan told the International Court of Justice Thursday that the United Arab Emirates was the "driving force" behind what it called a genocide in Darfur, a charge the UAE said "couldn't be further from the truth".
Mercedes' Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli spoke on Thursday about his encounter with the man whose name he shares - Kimi Raikkonen.