Egypt qualified for the knockout stage at the African Cup of Nations on Wednesday and put a stop for now to the run of surprise results that has shaken the tournament over the last few days.

Egypt saw off Sudan 1-0 in their final Group D game in Yaounde, confirming its place in the round of 16 after qualifying second in the group behind Nigeria.

When the coronavirus pandemic was first declared, Spaniards were ordered to stay home for more than three months. For weeks, they were not allowed outside even for exercise. Children were banned from playgrounds, and the economy virtually stopped.

But officials credited the draconian measures with preventing a full collapse of the health system. Lives were saved, they argued.

President Joe Biden is not planning to answer a further Russian invasion of Ukraine by sending combat troops. But he could pursue a range of less dramatic yet still risky military options, including supporting a post-invasion Ukrainian resistance.

The rationale for not directly joining a Russia-Ukraine war is simple. The United States has no treaty obligation to Ukraine, and war with Russia would be an enormous gamble, given its potential for expanding in Europe, destabilizing the region, and escalating to the frightening point of risking a nuclear exchange.

Top American and European diplomats are meeting in Berlin on Thursday as the allies seek to project a united front to Russia over concerns that it may be planning an invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has massed an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraine, and U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday he thinks Moscow will invade. He warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that his country would pay a "dear price" in lives lost and a possible cutoff from the global banking system if it does.

Russia accused the West on Thursday of plotting "provocations" in Ukraine and disguising its alleged intentions by fomenting concerns about Moscow planning aggressive military action in the neighboring country.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova alleged that Ukrainian and Western claims of an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine were a "cover for staging large-scale provocations of their own, including those of military character."

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki criticized U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday for moving too slowly to reverse all of the Trump administration's adverse policies against the Palestinians and not using Washington's special relationship to pressure Israel to abandon "its rejection of a two-state solution and peace negotiations."

Malki told the U.N. Security Council there were hopes that the end of Donald Trump's administration and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government "would be enough to pave the way for renewed momentum for peace."

Israel signed a three billion euro ($3.4 billion) deal on Thursday to buy three cutting edge submarines from Germany, the defense ministry announced.

The Dakar-class diesel-electric submarines will be produced by German manufacturer Thyssenkrupp and are expected to be delivered within nine years, the ministry said.

Israel's police chief said Thursday that he had ordered an extensive investigation into a newspaper's claims that the force had used controversial Israeli spyware to hack the phones of protesters, mayors and other citizens under investigation without proper authorization.

Earlier this week a Hebrew-language business paper published an investigative report claiming that the police had used the NSO Group's Pegasus hacking software to surveil leaders of a protest movement against then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as a raft of other alleged misuses of the technology.

Israel is hoping the U.N. General Assembly will unanimously adopt a resolution rejecting and condemning any denial of the Holocaust and urging all nations and social media companies "to take active measures to combat antisemitism and Holocaust denial or distortion."

The 193-member world body is scheduled to vote Thursday on the resolution, which is strongly supported by Germany.

President Joe Biden has said he thinks Russia will invade Ukraine and warned President Vladimir Putin that his country would pay a "dear price" in lives lost and a possible cutoff from the global banking system if it does.

Biden, speaking at a news conference to mark his one-year anniversary in office, also said a "minor incursion" by Russia would elicit a lesser response. He later sought to clarify that he was referring to a non-military action, such as a cyberattack, that would be met with a similar reciprocal response, and that if Russian forces cross the Ukrainian border, killing Ukrainian fighters, "that changes everything."