WORLD

A brief look at the six countries which will be admitted in January 2024 to the club of large and populous emerging economies known as the BRICS:

Sudan's army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was seen outside his headquarters Thursday for the first time since fighting with paramilitaries erupted more than four months ago, army videos showed.

Russian supporters of Yevgeny Prigozhin gathered outside the Wagner headquarters in Saint Petersburg on Thursday to pay their respects to the mercenary group's boss, presumed dead after a mysterious plane crash.

Dozens of Afghan women granted scholarships to study in the United Arab Emirates have been blocked from leaving Afghanistan, one of the women told AFP on Thursday, following outcry from their Emirati sponsor.

Ukraine said on Thursday its forces had flown the country's flag in Russian-annexed Crimea during a "special operation" to mark its second wartime Independence Day, as Norway announced fighter jets for Kyiv.

The exact circumstances of the death of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin remained unclear Thursday, although most experts believe it marks President Vladimir Putin's vengeance for his short-lived rebellion in June.

The BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- agreed at their annual summit to make Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates full members from January 1.

"Congratulations to our friends in India for the successful landing on the moon. Nations are built through perseverance, India continues to make history," Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum wrote.

Asian markets rose again Thursday after soft US and European economic data soothed recent fears that central banks will hike rates further, while tech firms were given a boost by forecast-busting earnings from AI chip titan Nvidia.

The vintage beige Mercedes would be eye-catching anywhere in the world, but it is especially so on the streets of impoverished Gaza City.

Global warming is driving leafy tropical canopies close to temperatures where they can no longer transform sunlight and CO2 into energy, threatening total collapse if the thermometer keeps climbing, according to a study Thursday.

The head of the Wagner mercenary group, which in June attempted to topple Russia's military leadership, was on board a plane that crashed on Wednesday, with all passengers killed, Russian officials said.

Tearful Ukrainian families mourned their loved ones killed by a Russian strike on the northern city of Chernihiv, with many venting anger at the organisers of a drone conference inside a theatre that was hit.

A high-ranking civil servant buried Wednesday in Israel is the latest victim of a crime wave that has killed almost 160 members of Israel's Arab minority this year.

Norway inaugurated the world's biggest floating wind park in the North Sea on Wednesday, an emerging technology considered promising for the transition from fossil fuels to green energy.

Thailand's new prime minister vowed to bring four years of change to the kingdom as he took office Wednesday at the head of a controversial coalition including pro-military parties linked to former coup-makers.

BRICS leaders on Wednesday will debate admitting new members to their five-nation bloc as it pursues a bigger role in shaping world affairs it sees as dominated by western powers.

Ukrainian professor-turned-soldier Fedir Shandor shot to fame when he taught his students remotely from the trenches.

The head of Russia's aerospace force General Sergei Surovikin has been sacked, state media said Wednesday, after he disappeared from public view following a failed mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group in June.

Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister, General Li Shangfu said the UAE and China relationship has witnessed rapid, stable, and healthy development, noting that China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and UAE's "Designing the Next 50" development plans are highly consistent with each other.

Rusted Russian tanks, which the Kremlin had hoped would parade victorious through Kyiv days after it invaded Ukraine, have instead been lined up as war trophies ahead of Ukraine's independence day.

Military helicopters and ziplining commandos rescued eight people, including six schoolboys, who were trapped for hours on Tuesday in a stricken cable car high above a remote Pakistani valley.

Straddling the frontier between Lebanon and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, the picturesque village of Ghajar has become a lightning rod for tensions between the hostile forces on either side.

The world's biggest digital companies will have nowhere to hide starting Friday, when the toughest EU rules on online content since social media first burst onto the scene enter into force.

The United States said Tuesday it was imposing visa sanctions on Chinese officials pursuing "forced assimilation" of children in Tibet, where UN experts say one million children have been separated from their families.

PGA Tour chief executive Jay Monahan said Tuesday he is confident of meeting a December 31 deadline to hammer out details of the tour's merger with Saudi-backed LIV Golf.

BRICS leaders meeting in South Africa this week will consider expanding the five-nation bloc at a time of great interest in the group that accounts for a quarter of global wealth.

US tech giant Meta on Tuesday asked a Norwegian court to defer a ban on behavioural marketing based on users' personal information, which has landed it a heavy fine in the country.

The African Union said Tuesday that it had suspended Niger's membership in the wake of a military coup, but responded cautiously to a threatened military operation to restore its ousted president, as Nigerien TV said 12 soldiers were killed in a new attack by suspected jihadists.