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French unions said last-ditch talks with the prime minister on Wednesday had failed to ease tensions over a divisive pension reform and called for record turnout at protest rallies the next day.

Romelu Lukaku said Wednesday that history was repeating itself in Italian football after the Inter Milan striker was subjected to monkey chants by Juventus fans during the two teams' stormy cup clash.

The rebellion against the decision by the International Fencing Federation (FIE) to reintegrate Russians and Belarusians into the Olympic sport grew on Wednesday with the cancellation of the women's World Cup event in Poznan.

Scotland's ruling party faced fresh turmoil Wednesday after the husband of its former leader Nicola Sturgeon was arrested as part of a police investigation into financial irregularities.

World stock markets wavered Wednesday as investors dwelled on US recession concerns and a bumper interest-rate hike in New Zealand.

Mushfiqur Rahim's 126 runs salvaged early wobbles from Bangladesh to put them in control of their one-off Test against Ireland on Wednesday, the hosts reaching 369 all out in the final session of day two.

UBS chiefs told shareholders on Wednesday that the Swiss bank's emergency takeover of beleaguered rival Credit Suisse was a "Herculean task" strewn with risks, but still the right decision.

French energy giant TotalEnergies announced Wednesday an agreement with Iraq on a long-delayed $10 billion project to improve the country's rundown electricity grid after resolving disputes over the terms of the deal.

Israeli police clashed with Palestinians inside Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque Wednesday, sparking an exchange of rockets and air strikes, in flaring violence as the Jewish Passover overlaps with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who lost a general election at the weekend, said Wednesday that she would step down as Social Democratic Party leader and dismissed notions of any international postings.

Aleksander Ceferin was re-elected unopposed for a third term as president of UEFA at a meeting of European football's governing body in Lisbon on Wednesday.

The Philippines has pulled off a diplomatic U-turn, reviving its traditional defence ties with Washington years after spurning it in favour of Beijing.

Confronting intimate accounts of abortion, gender identity and paedophilia, Pope Francis gamely takes part in a no-holds-barred encounter with young adults in a new film released Wednesday, accepting both questions and rebukes.

Scotland's ruling party faced fresh turmoil Wednesday after the husband of its former leader Nicola Sturgeon was arrested as part of a police investigation into financial irregularities.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that China had a "major role" to play in finding a path to peace in Ukraine, as he kicked off a three-day visit to Beijing.

Racism has been experienced by players at all levels of elite rugby in England, according to a survey published by the Rugby Football Union.

In Jordan, a sumptuous dish that has its roots in an ancient war has evolved over the centuries to be widely cherished as a symbol of peace and hospitality.

Serie A condemned on Wednesday "all instances of racism" in Italian football after Romelu Lukaku was abused during Inter Milan's cup semi-final clash at Juventus.

Former Springboks coach Ian McIntosh died aged 84 on Wednesday in a hospital near Durban from cancer, his family told AFP.

The German economy, Europe's largest, is expected to dodge a recession and grow by 0.3 percent this year thanks to a drop in energy prices, leading economic institutes said Wednesday.

Joel Embiid enhanced his MVP credentials with a 52-point masterclass as the Philadelphia 76ers held off a furious late rally from the Boston Celtics to win a hard-fought battle of the Eastern Conference heavyweights on Tuesday.

Fresh images from inside a crippled reactor at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant revealed heavy damage to its foundation and significant debris, its operator said.

Latif Dalyan offers shirts and sweatpants at knock-down prices to Turkey's earthquake victims from a storefront surrounded by piles of debris.

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern bowed out of parliament on Wednesday, making an impassioned plea during her tearful final speech to "please take the politics out of climate change".

Israeli police arrested more than 350 people after clashes erupted inside Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque early Wednesday when officers entered to dislodge "agitators" in a move denounced by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

Nine-year-old Cesar Paredes enters the bullring impeccably dressed in his traditional Venezuelan bullfighter's suit, pink cape neatly folded over one arm, to the ovation of an enthusiastic crowd.

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sits down with Taiwan's president on Wednesday for a highly symbolic meeting in California that has already prompted outrage and dire warnings from China.

Francisco Rojche left his Guatemalan town, its dirt roads and sugarcane plantations in search of better opportunities in the United States. But the dream died with him when a fire broke out in the Mexican immigration center where he was detained.

Nearly 1.5 million working-age people in Japan are social recluses, according to a new government survey, with a fifth citing the Covid-19 pandemic as the main reason for their withdrawal.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan will hold talks Wednesday with Taliban officials in Kabul "to seek clarity" on a new government ban that blocks women from working for the world body across the country.

With around a month until King Charles III's coronation, plans are at an advanced stage to mark his historic accession to the throne -- Britain's first in seven decades.

At the top of 52 steep, narrow steps at All Saints Church near London, expert bell ringers are showing the ropes to two new recruits ahead of King Charles III's coronation.