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Global stock markets traded mixed Wednesday as China's latest measure to bolster its economy, the world's second-largest, largely failed to extend gains for equities.

EU member states on Wednesday voted in favour of lowering the protection status of wolves, a move decried by conservationists that paves the way for a relaxation of tight hunting restrictions.

Will Jacks says England's new-look one-day side need time to get to grips with a format they rarely play after beating Australia to keep their five-match series alive.

Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe has sustained a thigh injury ahead of this weekend's La Liga derby with Atletico, his club said on Wednesday.

Russia's parliament Wednesday voted to back a bill banning the adoption of Russian children in countries that allow gender reassignment, the latest in a series of ultra-conservative social measures.

France's conservative interior minister on Wednesday vowed consequences after a Moroccan man suspected of murdering a 19-year-old university student and leaving her body in a Paris forest was arrested in Switzerland.

EU member states on Wednesday voted in favour of lowering the protection status of wolves, in a move decried by conservationists that paves the way for a relaxation of strict hunting rules.

Volkswagen bosses and workers' representatives started crunch talks Wednesday about the ailing German auto titan's drastic cost-cutting plans, with thousands of staff staging a protest and unions vowing "bitter resistance".

Four-time major champion Naomi Osaka said on Wednesday she "didn't want to have regrets" after confirming she has teamed up with Serena Williams' renowned former coach Patrick Mouratoglou.

Lady Gaga comes face to face with the "Mona Lisa" in the Louvre and plants a lipstick smile on her face in a new video clip released Wednesday by the singer and the French museum.

Manchester City confirmed on Wednesday that Rodri suffered ligament damage to his right knee during their 2-2 draw with Arsenal, although the full extent of the injury remains unclear.

Fadi, a type of rocket used for the first time by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah against Israel, has more explosive power and range than rockets deployed previously, but lacks precision, experts say.

Four-time major champion Naomi Osaka said Wednesday that she "didn't want to have regrets" after confirming she has teamed up with Serena Williams' renowned former coach Patrick Mouratoglou.

"Braveheart" Wallace Sititi says he is still processing his "crazy" rise this year from the fringes of the Waikato Chiefs to facing world champions South Africa with the All Blacks.

The OECD slightly raised its world economic growth forecast for 2024 on Wednesday but called for higher property and environmental taxes to combat soaring debt in many countries.

Environmental activists sprayed red paint on Finland's parliament building on Wednesday to protest against the peat industry, sparking strong criticism from politicians.

France World Cup winner Raphael Varane on Tuesday announced his retirement from football at the age of 31.

British property website Rightmove said Wednesday it had rejected a third "unsolicited" proposal, worth £6.1 billion (US$8.2 billion), from REA Group, the Australian peer majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp empire.

Hong Kong and Shanghai extended gains Wednesday as China announced another interest rate cut the day after unveiling a series of measures to boost the country's ailing economy.

China this week unveiled a bundle of new measures aimed at kickstarting its economy, which has been battered in recent years by unprecedented headwinds including a property sector crisis and sluggish spending.

Hezbollah said it had fired a ballistic missile at the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Wednesday, with the Israeli military describing the launch as unprecedented.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky takes center stage at the United Nations on Wednesday as he seeks to sustain global support ahead of US elections that could bring a sharp shift from his top backer.

Sri Lanka's new leftist leader has little room to renegotiate an IMF bailout that threw a lifeline to his bankrupt country but imposed punishing and unpopular austerity measures, analysts say.

The co-founder of one of the world's most popular cryptocurrencies called for tighter regulation of the sector to guard against the fraud and wild swings that have dogged it, in an interview with AFP.

In just over two decades, Brazilian Helio da Silva has single-handedly planted about 40,000 trees in the urban jungle that is Sao Paulo.

French champagne producers are looking to restore their damaged reputations after four workers died last year amid hot weather, as authorities closed squalid housing and launched probes into suspected human trafficking.

Donald Trump said Wednesday there were "big threats" on his life posed by Iran after the Republican presidential candidate's campaign team said US intelligence warned him of "real and specific" threats from Tehran.

Enrique Cerezo is best known in Spain as the longtime president of Atletico Madrid football club, the less glamorous cross-town rivals of Real Madrid.

Japan could get its first woman or youngest-ever prime minister on Friday when the ruling party holds a leadership vote described as the most "unpredictable" in many years.

Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday doubled down on his criticism of the demands of the tennis calendar, saying "a lot of players" agree with him and "we have to do something about it".

Straining to squeeze his taxi between two hulking trucks blocking an Athens street, 66-year-old cabbie Damianos says he's never seen traffic congestion in the Greek capital this bad.

Rescuers on Wednesday recovered the body of a ninth victim of severe floods which battered parts of central Japan last week, local media said.