- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
Beijing Olympic organisers hit out at Xinjiang 'lies'
Beijing Olympics organisers hit out at "lies" about Xinjiang on Thursday and reiterated the Chinese government's stance on Taiwan, while also railing against "politicising" the Games.
The United States has led a diplomatic boycott by some Western nations at the Games over rights concerns in China, especially the fate of the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Rights issues overshadowed the build-up to the Olympics in the Chinese capital and they roared back to the fore during a regular daily press conference featuring an IOC spokesman and officials from the local organising committee.
Campaigners say that at least one million Uyghurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims have been incarcerated in camps in Xinjiang, while there are also allegations of forced sterilisations of women and forced labour.
"These issues are irrelevant to the Winter Games but I still feel obliged to make a quick comment again," said Beijing 2022 Organising Committee spokeswoman Yan Jiarong, after foreign reporters twice asked about Xinjiang.
"The questions are based very much on lies. Some authorities have already disputed such false information with a lot of solid evidence."
Yan also criticised what she called "lies by deliberate groups" over Xinjiang.
China vehemently denies all charges over its treatment of Uyghurs and maintains the camps are vocational training centres aimed at reducing the appeal of Islamic extremism.
Yan was also bullish on the question of Taiwan. China claims the self-ruled democratic island as part of its territory to be re-taken one day, by force if necessary.
At all Olympic Games, athletes from Taiwan compete under the banner of "Chinese Taipei".
"This is something that we really have to take a solemn position on," said Yan, following a question about Taiwanese athletes at the Games and their attendance at Sunday's closing ceremony.
"What I want to say is that there is only one China in the world.
"Taiwan is an indivisible part of China and this is a well-recognised international principle and well recognised in the international community.
"We are always against the idea of politicising the Olympic Games."
D.Moore--AMWN