It's the story that keeps on giving -- but what happens next could shape the future of football for years to come.

Legislators in the capital of China's restive far-western Xinjiang province passed a law Wednesday to prohibit residents from wearing burqas in public, state media reported Thursday, highlighting the government's continued campaign against religious extremism.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has "red flagged" Thailand over what it sees as significant safety concerns within the country's aviation sector.

At Fusahiro Shimojima's workshop, in the industrial city of Saitama, fires rage in small pits and an earthen floor absorbs the din of hammering. The 44-year-old Japanese swordsmith pounds the nascent blade of his newest creation, sending molten sparks flying majestically into air.

The U.S. government is preparing to name North Korea as the culprit behind the Sony hack that downed a movie and made public confidential data of the company.

An Australian aid worker who was abducted in Afghanistan in April has been freed, according to Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

The grim investigation begins after the siege at a Sydney cafe left two hostages and the gunman dead in an incident the Australian PM describes as "tragic beyond words."

An Indonesian ship equipped with a metal detector finds two large objects about 30 meters below the Java Sea in the search for lost AirAsia Flight QZ8501, a top search official says.