Ghana almost halved its forecast for growth this year amid a sluggish economy, global headwinds and the impact

Match report & player ratings from Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 Barcelona in the Champions League.

Voting has started in the Maldives presidential election, a virtual referendum over which regional power, India or China, will have the biggest influence in the archipelago state

Hong Kong’s leader has cut taxes for some homebuyers and stock traders to boost markets as the city seeks to maintain its reputation as a global financial hub

Woody Allen's Coup De Chance premiere at Venice Film Festival was hit with a group of topless protestors, who were eventually led away from the event. The group of around 15 people were captured on video chanting "no rape culture" while standing outside the Palazzo del Cinema venue. Allen's daughter, Dylan, has previously accused him of sexually abusing her when she was a child – claims he denies. The protestors were reportedly from several Italian groups, said to include feminist groups Non Una Di Meno and smaller collectives: Cso Morion, Spina Collective, Squeert Collective and Cso Pedro. It comes after the 87-year-old dismissed cancel culture as "silly" before saying there was "nothing in" the allegations put against him. When asked by an audience in Venice whether he felt that he had been cancelled he said: "I just find that all so silly. I don’t think about it. I don’t know what it means to be cancelled." Allen went on to discuss the MeToo movement, saying: "I think any movement where there’s actual benefit, where it does something positive – let’s say for women – is a good thing." He added: "It’s silly when it’s not really a feminist issue or an issue of unfairness to women. When it’s being too extreme in trying to make it into an issue when, in fact, most people would not regard it as any kind of offensive situation." The director once again denied child abuse allegations put against him. "There was nothing in it," he said. "The fact that it lingers on always makes me think that maybe people like the idea that it lingers on." When asked when he had any contact with Dylan or her brother, Allen said: "No. Always willing to, but no." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

After massive layoffs earlier this year, technology giants have found one more item to slash: marketing budgets. Several

Ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, public health officials in Los Angeles are advising beachgoers to avoid sea lions that have been sickened by toxins from large algae blooms coating California beaches.

Mackenzie claimed that her father first raped her on the night before her wedding when she was 19

Michael O’Neill has said trying to qualify for Euro 2024 is no longer his primary concern as Northern Ireland’s injury crisis shows no sign of abating. Craig Cathcart was a late withdrawal ahead of Friday’s 1-0 defeat to Denmark in Copenhagen, taking the number of senior players missing through injury into double figures. A youthful line-up that included teenagers Conor Bradley, Shea Charles and Isaac Price handled the intimidating atmosphere of the Parken Stadium admirably and thought they had a stoppage-time equaliser to cancel out Jonas Wind’s goal, only for debutant Callum Marshall’s strike to be ruled offside by VAR. Defeat leaves Northern Ireland with one win from their opening three qualifiers, albeit still only three points off top spot with Denmark, Finland, Slovenia and Kazakhstan all on six points. When O’Neill, the man who guided Northern Ireland to Euro 2016, returned to the job in December, there was real hope that they could capitalise on what was seen as a favourable draw in Group H. But asked if Friday’s defeat put pressure on Northern Ireland to beat Kazakhstan at Windsor Park on Monday, O’Neill said: “We had six under-21s on the pitch. We’re not thinking about qualification. We’re thinking about putting points on the board. We have 10 senior players out injured. “We’re not in that place that the teams we’re playing against, the likes of Denmark, are. We’re building a team here that’s dealing with a difficult situation with the number of senior players we’ve lost. “We’re not in there before the game talking about qualification, we’re talking about a level of performance, to give a really good account of ourselves, which we did. Obviously if we can take points which we nearly did we’d be delighted but we’re not talking in that vein at the moment.” With the likes of Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas, Corry Evans and Shane Ferguson all out with long-term injuries, O’Neill was already relying on young players during March’s fixtures and was made to do so again for a trip away to the top seeds in the group. Cathcart could return in time for Monday’s fixture, but a huge amount of vital experience is missing from O’Neill’s ranks. “You know the players who are missing and you know the players we’re asking to play at this moment in time,” he said. “They’re not first-team players at their respective clubs on a regular basis and we’re playing against established international players who play at top clubs in Europe. “We have to be realistic with the level we can compete at on a consistent basis. “But the experience the players will have from nights like this, this is a brilliant place to play football, a brilliant stadium, brilliant home support, a fantastic pitch, and they will be better at the start of what is an international journey for a lot of these players. “A number of these players will have long and distinguished international careers, it’s nights like these they will really benefit from.” Northern Ireland left Copenhagen still frustrated by the disallowed goal, with VAR having taken five minutes to decide Jonny Evans’ heel was offside before he headed the ball on for Marshall to finish, but there was pride in a battling display. One mistake proved the difference, with Wind pouncing when Ciaron Brown failed to deal with Joakim Maehle’s cross into the box. “It’s disappointing to lose to a goal of that nature,” O’Neill added. “But we have to look at so much that was positive in our performance. We lost Craig Cathcart overnight with a back injury and I think what we got from our lads was terrific and as a manager you can’t really ask for much more.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Gareth Southgate wants England to retain winning mentality on road to Euro 2024 Josh Cullen admits Republic of Ireland have no excuses after Greece defeat Callum Wilson praises England for being clinical and ruthless in win over Malta

Why Man City are the Premier League's crisis club of the week.

Ukrainian forces are fighting off a new Russian military onslaught in the bombarded eastern city of Avdiivka where intense fighting has been concentrated this month, senior military officials said. "The enemy is not relenting in attempts to break through our defences and surround (Avdiivka)," Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhnyi said in a video posted on Telegram in which he is seen conferring with officers in Avdiivka and Kupiansk. The Ukrainian Army said they have continued to make gains in the southern part of the war-hit nation. The region has been hit by massive Russian attacks as the fighting has been intensified in recent weeks. "The enemy is actively bringing in assault units and large amounts of armoured equipment and using aircraft and artillery,” the Ukrainian general said. Ukrainian forces have faced constant pressure on Avdiivka where Russia has regrouped and launched new assaults, Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesperson for the southern group of Ukrainian forces, said on Thursday. The city, about 20km (12 miles) west of Russian-held Donetsk saw a lull in the fighting in the last few days after witnessing heavy shelling and missile attacks last week. Russia said its forces destroyed a command point near Avdiivka and repelled 11 Ukrainian attacks near Kupiansk. Ukrainian general Zaluzhnyi said Ukrainian forces around Kupiansk were "maintaining their defence in the most difficult of conditions". A town next on radar for Russian forces to recapture, Avdiivka has seen months of attacks since Russia’s full-scale military assault in February last year. Known for its large coking plant, Avdiivka held out in 2014 against Russian-backed separatists who secured swathes of eastern Ukraine and it. Only 1,600 residents remain from a pre-war population of 32,000, officials said. Kupiansk was recaptured by Ukrainian troops late last year in a lightning advance through the country’s northeast, but Russian forces have stepped up attacks in a bid to retake it. In continued signs of progress, Ukrainian spokesperson Shutpun said the troops had made a degree of headway in the southern part of the frontline.The Ukrainian troops have advanced 400m (a quarter mile) to the southwest village of Verbove in Zaporizhzhia region. The troops fighting off Russian attacks in the southern part are looking to advance to the Sea of Azov and sever a land bridge linking Russian positions in the east and south. In another gain this week, Ukrainian forces have broken through the eastern bank of the Dnipro river in southern Kherson region – in an offensive that can rupture Russia’s military lines across the critical river. When Ukrainian troops retook parts of Kherson region last year, Russian forces abandoned its biggest city, also called Kherson. They now shell the city from the opposite bank. Read More Ukraine makes ‘breakthrough’ on Dnipro river - latest updates Biden calls to maintain ‘American leadership’ with aid package for Ukraine and Israel Trump attacks Biden’s ‘incompetence and weakness’ ahead of presidential address

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