Pakistan and Afghanistan are holding talks in China to end months of conflict, two officials from Islamabad told AFP on Wednesday.
Marc Guehi said England needed to "stick together" after Tuesday's World Cup warm-up defeat by Japan.
A generation of Italian children are yet to see their national team take part in a World Cup as the beleaguered Azzurri delivered another qualification disaster which was met with horror by fans and media.
- Australian journeyman emerges as India's unlikely football saviour
- Germany growth forecasts slashed as Mideast war hits economy
Sports
Police in Spain said on Wednesday that they were investigating "Islamophobic and xenophobic" chants heard during the Spain-Egypt international football match in Barcelona.
April 01, 2026
RECENT NEWS
Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the World Cup on Tuesday, defeating Bolivia 2-1 in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico to seal their first appearance at the finals in 40 years.
April 01, 2026
RECENT NEWS
Russian women say the idea of "therapising" them into having children is coercive, cruel and unworkable, and will do little to reverse declining birth rates -- currently at their lowest in 200 years.
April 01, 2026
Three men with alleged ties to a German extremist group that plotted to overthrow the government and kidnap a minister will go on trial in Munich on Wednesday.
April 01, 2026
Pope Leo XIV is preparing to celebrate Easter for the first time as pontiff a year after his predecessor's death, as concerns grow among Christians over the Middle East war.
April 01, 2026
Economy
A string of self-driving robotaxis owned by Chinese internet giant Baidu stalled in central China, stranding passengers after an apparent "system malfunction", police said Wednesday.
April 01, 2026
RECENT NEWS
Captain Son Heung-min admitted South Korea have work to do after losing two friendlies in Europe without scoring a goal and with his own form under scrutiny ahead of the World Cup.
Divorcing parents in Japan can opt to share custody starting Wednesday, ending a system both criticised for encouraging parental child "abductions" and defended as a safeguard for domestic abuse survivors.
The NFL will not scrap pro-diversity policies that require teams to interview minority candidates, despite legal pressure from Florida's Republican attorney general, commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday.
Delirious football fans took to the soaked streets of the capital Kinshasa and danced into the night in the rain after the Democratic Republic of Congo reached the World Cup for the first time in 52 years.
April 01, 2026
Boulevard
Super Mario's creator Shigeru Miyamoto told AFP he had never imagined that the "little character I drew would become so big", bouncing through the decades from pixellated New York sewers to a silver-screen space epic.
April 01, 2026
RECENT NEWS
President Donald Trump will watch the US Supreme Court hear a landmark case Wednesday weighing the constitutionality of his contentious bid to end birthright citizenship -- an extraordinary and possibly unprecedented move for the nation's highest office.
Young opening batsman Sam Konstas and veteran all-rounder Glenn Maxwell were axed Wednesday as Cricket Australia announced a list of 21 nationally contracted players for the 2026-27 season.
Brazil bounced back from last week's friendly defeat to France to score a 3-1 victory over Croatia in their World Cup warm-up game in Orlando on Tuesday.
Asian stocks rallied Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said the Middle East war would be over in up to three weeks and his Iranian counterpart said Tehran had "the necessary will" to bring it to an end.
April 01, 2026
- Spanish FA condemns anti-Muslim chants that marred Egypt friendly
- Hong Kong's 'hero trees' lose their glory as climate warms
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- The reality of restarting North Sea oil drilling
- 'I'm really proud': first Black astronaut candidate reflects on historic Moon mission
- Supreme Court weighing Trump challenge to birthright citizenship
- US auto sales seen falling as car market awaits war impact