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China has put forward plans to dramatically expand security and economic cooperation with South Pacific nations, with one regional leader calling it a thinly veiled effort to lock them into "Beijing's orbit".

British model Kate Moss on Wednesday dismissed reports that her former boyfriend Johnny Depp once threw her down a flight of stairs, saying it never happened.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson rejected calls to resign after an inquiry Wednesday found that he presided over a culture of lockdown-breaking parties that featured drunken fighting among staff.

European and US stock markets struggled to mount a rebound Wednesday as investors weighed the fallout from surging inflation, higher interest rates, China's economic slowdown and the Ukraine war.

Belarus tennis star Aliaksandra Sasnovich may be banned from Wimbledon but she insisted Wednesday that she opposed the ongoing war in Ukraine and supports players from the embattled country "100%".

Todd Boehly's consortium has secured Chelsea's future but the hard work is just beginning for the latest American billionaire to be lured by the promise of Premier League riches.

Former Grand Slam champions Angelique Kerber and Victoria Azarenka advanced to the third round of the French Open on Wednesday, as Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal prepared to keep their Roland Garros title ambitions on course.

Named as the venue for this weekend's Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid after Saint-Petersburg was stripped of the game, the Stade de France has been hurriedly getting ready for the event with a new pitch being laid.

Chelsea can finally start planning for the future after the UK government approved Todd Boehly's £4.25 billion ($5.3 billion) purchase of the club, bringing down the curtain on the Roman Abramovich era.

Teenage striker Ansu Fati got a late winner as Barcelona survived a scare to beat Dwight Yorke's A-League All Stars in a 3-2 thriller in front of 70,000 fans in Sydney on Wednesday.

Neymar says he would like to stay at French champions Paris Saint-Germain despite rarely justifying his world record fee of 222 million euros ($236 million) and amid rumours the club would like him to leave.

US climate envoy John Kerry said Wednesday more countries and companies are swinging behind a bid to combat climate change by jump-starting markets for technologies with massive investments.

Two-time former Wimbledon champion Andy Murray said Wednesday the tournament "will never feel like an exhibition" despite it being stripped of ranking points over the ban on Russian and Belarusian players.

Pakistan's ousted prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday led a convoy of thousands of supporters towards the capital Islamabad in a show of force the new government has attempted to shut down, with clashes breaking out between police and protesters.

Biniam Girmay should resume training in the next 10 days, his team Intermarche said on Wednesday, as he recovers from being hit in the eye by a prosecco cork while celebrating his historic Giro d'Italia stage victory.

Cannes is set to be shaken, rattled and rolled on Wednesday as the world premiere of "Elvis" rocks the film festival on the French Riviera, in what is proving a vintage year for music-lovers.

European stock markets struggled to mount a rebound Wednesday as investors weighed the fallout from surging inflation, higher interest rates, China's economic slowdown and the Ukraine war.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson presided over a culture of lockdown-breaking parties that featured drunken fighting among staff, according to a long-awaited inquiry Wednesday that prompted renewed calls for his resignation.

US Open champion Emma Raducanu was knocked out of the French Open on Wednesday, losing to Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the second round.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky blasted the West for lacking unity on Wednesday, as the Russian invasion entered its fourth month and Moscow's troops advanced in eastern Ukraine.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr was Wednesday proclaimed the next Philippine president after a landslide win in elections that rights groups and religious leaders fear could weaken the corruption-prone country's fragile democracy.

He was once described as a "greased piglet", with an uncanny knack of wriggling free from politically perilous situations -- usually of his own making.

British clothing-to-food retailer Marks and Spencer on Wednesday announced a full exit from Russia following the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Chinese and Australian foreign ministers will launch duelling charm offensives in the South Pacific Thursday, as Beijing and the West jostle for influence in the strategically significant region.

More than 100 activists sought to block oil giant TotalEnergies' annual general meeting in central Paris on Wednesday to protest the energy firm's climate policies and continued presence in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on Wednesday said it would sell its patented drugs on a not-for-profit basis to the world's poorest countries, as part of a new initiative announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The ground shook and birds scattered moments after Natalia Timofeyenko climbed out of her bunker to reassure herself that she was not alone on the east Ukrainian front.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson braced Wednesday for the release of a senior civil servant's long-awaited full report into a "Partygate" scandal, as new allegations emerged about a culture of lockdown-breaking boozing in his offices.

Markets were mixed Wednesday, with little sign of any relief from recent dour performances as investors remain fearful about the economic outlook owing to the impact of inflation, higher interest rates, China's slowdown and the Ukraine war.

Chinese President Xi Jinping held a video call with UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Wednesday, as she visits Xinjiang during a mission overshadowed by fresh allegations of Uyghur abuses and fears she is being used as a public relations tool.

The UK government announced Wednesday it had given the green light to Todd Boehly's proposed takeover of Chelsea football club from the sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on Wednesday said it would sell its patented drugs at a not-for-profit basis to the world's poorest countries, as part of a new initiative announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos.