Turkey's central bank left its key interest rate unchanged at 45% on Thursday, pausing a series of aggressive rate hikes aimed at taming high inflation.

The central bank said it was keeping the benchmark one-week repo rate on hold, according to a statement. It was the bank's first interest rate decision under its newly appointed governor, Fatih Karahan.

Photographer Matt McDonald had lived on Puget Sound for years, but had never seen a whale, so he was elated when he spotted a giant marine mammal just off Seattle's waterfront one evening.

The excitement was short-lived. As McDonald tracked the whale in his camera's viewfinder, a state ferry that dwarfed the animal came into the frame. The next morning he saw on the news that the humpback whale had died in the collision he witnessed.

For as long as schools have policed hairstyles as part of their dress codes, some students have seen the rules as attempts to deny their cultural and religious identities.

Nowhere have school rules on hair been a bigger flashpoint than in Texas, where a trial this week is set to determine whether high school administrators can continue punishing a Black teenager for refusing to cut his hair. The 18-year-old student, Darryl George, who wears his hair in locs tied atop his head, has been kept out of his classroom since the start of the school year.

Albania's Parliament approved a deal for the country to hold thousands of asylum seekers for Italy in a Thursday vote, despite protests from opposition lawmakers and human rights groups.

Under the five-year deal, Albania would shelter up to 3,000 migrants rescued from international waters at any one time. With asylum requests expected to take around a month to process, the number of asylum-seekers sent to Albania could reach up to 36,000 in a year.

After a dry start to winter, California's rainy season is finally well under way.

December downpours sent water racing through streets in coastal Ventura County and the city of Santa Barbara. Flash floods hit San Diego in late January, and back-to-back atmospheric river-fueled storms arrived earlier this month, causing wind damage in Northern California and hundreds of mudslides in Los Angeles. Yet another storm blew through over Presidents Day weekend.

Just a few years ago, someone who wanted to install a rooftop solar connection in India faced getting multiple approvals, finding a reliable company to install the panels and spending heavily before seeing the first surge of clean energy.

But that's changing. The government has streamlined the approvals process, made it easier for people to claim subsidies and pushed mountains of cash — including $9 billion announced this month — to encourage faster adoption of technology that's seen as critical for India to reach its clean-energy goals.

Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr moved into the quarterfinals of the Asian Champions League on Wednesday with a 3-0 aggregate win over Al-Fayha in an-all Saudi Arabian matchup.

Ronaldo scored the only goal in the first leg and then found the net in the return match in Riyadh with four minutes remaining of the second leg. Otavio had opened the scoring to ensure that Al-Nassr progressed.

The Dubai-based budget carrier FlyDubai saw record profits of $572 million in 2023, boosted by carrying the most passengers ever across its network, the company announced Thursday.

The state-owned carrier, based in the business and tourism hub of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, reported revenue of $3 billion, compared to $2.5 billion the year before. It also carried 13.8 million passengers, beating its prior pre-pandemic record of 11 million in a year.

When the Russian army mounted a full-scale invasion two years ago, Ukrainian men zealously rushed to recruitment centers across the country to enlist, ready to die in defense of their nation.

Today, with Russia in control of roughly one-quarter of Ukraine and the two armies virtually deadlocked along a 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, that spirit to enlist has faded: Many Ukrainian men are evading the draft by hiding at home or trying to bribe their way out of the battle.

Yulia Navalnaya used to avoid the cameras, staying in the background while her husband, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, rose to become President Vladimir Putin's greatest foe.

But following his death in prison last week, she stepped onto a stage normally reserved for senior politicians in Munich and vowed that Putin and his allies would be brought to justice over his death. Later she solemnly vowed: "I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny."