Japan's Asahi Group Holdings Ltd added 22 percent to its annual profit forecast on Thursday, as eastern European brands bought in March from Anheuser-Busch InBev NV boosted a beer business struggling with falling demand at home.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday Washington's relationship with Russia is at an "an all-time and very dangerous low," and blamed Congress for the situation, a day after he grudgingly signed into law sanctions against Moscow.

China on Thursday welcomed comments by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the United States does not seek to topple the North Korean government and would like dialogue with Pyongyang at some point, saying China had always supported talks.

Iraq's Yazidis marked three years since Islamic State launched what the United Nations said was a genocidal campaign against them on Thursday, but their ordeal is far from over despite the ouster of the jihadist fighters.

Hassan Rouhani won the endorsement of Iran's supreme leader for his second term of president on Thursday after an easy election win, pledging to open Iran to foreign trade and investment but facing internal hardline resistance and renewed U.S. antagonism.

Wladimir Klitschko ruled the heavyweight scene with a steel glove for more than a decade yet it was a defeat by Anthony Joshua which ensured the Ukrainian retired on Thursday with the universal respect that eluded him for so long.