Kabul - Negotiations between the Taliban and US officials in Qatar entered a fourth straight day Thursday, according to the insurgents, as the two sides pursue a potential deal to bring an end to Afghanistan's 17-year conflict.

Davos - UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday appealed for dialogue in Venezuela to avoid the political crisis spiralling out of control, after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president.

Paris - Arrested car boss Carlos Ghosn resigned his position as chief executive and chairman of Renault, ending his leadership roles in the auto industry and signalling the start of new era for the French manufacturer.

Khartoum - Sudanese anti-government protesters plan to make a new attempt to march on the presidential palace as they step up pressure on President Omar al-Bashir to resign with nationwide rallies on Thursday.

Taipei - A retired Taiwanese entertainer could face jail after she slapped a minister to protest government moves to address the controversial legacy of late leader Chiang Kai-shek, officials said Thursday.

Davos - UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday warned that the world is "losing the race" on climate change as he demanded that governments make bolder commitments beyond the Paris accord."Climate change is the defining issue of our time.

Islamabad - Pakistan's Supreme Court will decide on January 29 whether to allow an appeal against its acquittal of a Christian woman at the centre of a blasphemy row, a lawyer involved in the case said Thursday.

Seoul - The woman who started South Korea's #MeToo movement said Thursday she hoped other victims will take heart from the jailing of the senior prosecutor she accused of assault.

Atenas - Greek lawmakers are expected to vote Thursday on a deal to change the name of neighbouring Macedonia and end one of the world's longest diplomatic disputes.

Washington - US President Donald Trump backed down late Wednesday in a spat with Democrats over his State of the Union address, agreeing to delay it until a government shutdown ends, although the more than month-long impasse dragged on.

Skopje - Supporters of Macedonia's name-change deal with Greece are "on the right side of history" and their critics will eventually agree, Macedonia's foreign minister told AFP as the accord approaches the final step of ratification.

Ottawa - Library and Archives Canada announced Wednesday it had acquired a rare 1944 book that once belonged to Adolf Hitler.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's royal families on Thursday picked a sports-loving sultan as the country's new king after the last monarch abdicated in a historic first following his reported marriage to a Russian ex-beauty queen.

Jakarta - Jakarta's ex-governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who was released from prison Thursday after serving nearly two years for blasphemy, won praise for his efforts to clean up the traffic-choked megacity and clamp down on corruption.

Paris - Renault is expected Thursday to appoint a new leadership duo to drive the French carmaker into an era without lynchpin Carlos Ghosn, who remains in a Japanese jail on financial misconduct charges.

Apo - The rollercoaster saga of former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn has gripped Japan and the business world since the tycoon was arrested out of the blue on November 19 as his private jet taxied into a Tokyo airport.

Apo - Felix Tshisekedi is to be sworn in on Thursday as president of Democratic Republic of Congo, marking the country's first-ever peaceful handover of power after chaotic and bitterly-disputed elections.

Country singer-songwriter John King chatted with Digital Journal about his new single "Try Saying Goodbye," which will be released on January 25, 2019.

Juicy news and rumors don't take long to spread on the Internet, so when the first reports came out that Tesla had signed a preliminary agreement with Chinese battery maker Tianjin Lishen, they reverberated rather quickly.

Sanktpeterburg - Plans for a military parade in Saint Petersburg marking the 75th anniversary of the end of the siege of Leningrad have provoked an outcry in the city, including among survivors.