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Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel spearhead the United States' bid to retain supremacy in the Olympic pool from Saturday against a formidable and confident Australia, amid simmering tensions over a Chinese doping scandal.

Taiwan closed schools, suspended the stock market, and declared a typhoon holiday Wednesday as Gaemi barrelled towards the island, bringing torrential rains and whipping winds to its northeast.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in southern China on Wednesday, with both sides calling for peace as Russia's war grinds on against its neighbour.

Keir Starmer faces his first House of Commons grilling as UK prime minister on Wednesday, after suspending seven of his own Labour MPs for rebelling over a controversial welfare policy.

A passenger plane crashed on takeoff in Kathmandu on Wednesday, with the pilot rescued from the flaming wreckage but all 18 others aboard killed, police in the Nepali capital told AFP.

Garment factories and banks reopened in Bangladesh Thursday after authorities eased a curfew imposed to contain deadly clashes sparked by student protests over civil service employment quotas.

A passenger plane carrying 19 people crashed during takeoff in Kathmandu on Wednesday with the pilot surviving but "many" others aboard dead, police in the Nepali capital told AFP.

A passenger plane carrying 19 people crashed during takeoff in Kathmandu on Wednesday with the pilot surviving but "many" others aboard dead, police in the Nepali capital told AFP.

Relentless rain drenched the northern Philippines on Wednesday, triggering floods in Manila and landslides in mountainous regions as Typhoon Gaemi intensified the seasonal monsoon.

Before the Pride parade by LGBTQ activists in the east German town of Altenburg even started, a small group had been hurling insults and flashing middle fingers at those present.

Staples of Austrian cooking such as schnitzel, roast pork lung and boiled beef have proved particularly vital for Gasthaus Stich, a restaurant in the village of Pfoesing.

One of the most iconic images of the Covid-delayed Tokyo Olympics was the sight of Karsten Warholm ripping open his running top after shattering the world record in winning the men's 400m hurdles gold.

Every day in a simple temple in an Indian village, Hindu priest Subhramanya Sharma prays to his god for JD Vance to become vice-president of the United States.

Toxic "forever chemicals" are increasingly being used in US pesticides, threatening human health as they contaminate waterways and are sprayed on staple foods, a study said Wednesday.

Relentless rain drenched the northern Philippines on Wednesday, triggering flooding in Manila and landslides in mountainous regions as Typhoon Gaemi intensified the seasonal monsoon.

Taiwan closed schools, suspended the stock market, and declared a typhoon holiday Wednesday as Gaemi barrelled towards the island, bringing torrential rains and whipping winds to its northeast.

For Hamed al-Rafidain, a Saudi human resources worker, an electric vehicle offers welcome savings, especially since his other car is a fuel-guzzling four-wheeler favoured by motorists in the desert kingdom.

A rejuvenated United States team under new coach Emma Hayes are targeting a record-extending fifth women's football gold medal at the Paris Olympics but face stiff competition, not least in the shape of World Cup holders Spain and their all-star line-up.

US President Joe Biden will give what could be his final Oval Office speech Wednesday to explain why he dropped out of November's election and deny that he will spend six months as a lame duck.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will deliver a landmark speech to the US Congress Wednesday, seeking to rally support at a time of tensions between his country and its main military backer over the war in Gaza.

At the end of a narrow suburban street north of Paris, a giant structure shrouded in a skin of mesh and steel looks like a football stadium, but is in fact a vast data centre.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday will launch a new initiative against world hunger ahead of an upcoming G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

Asian markets fell on Wednesday following a mixed batch of US earnings that did little to boost enthusiasm as investors look for the tech sector to continue filing blockbuster profits after pumping billions into artificial intelligence.

With the proliferation of solar panels and wind turbines an unusual phenomenon is becoming more and more frequent: wholesale electricity prices turn negative.

John Mayall, the British blues pioneer whose 1960s music collective the Bluesbreakers helped usher in a fertile period of rock and brought guitarists like Eric Clapton to prominence, has died at 90, his family said Tuesday.

Soaring high across a gorge in the rugged Himalayas, a newly finished bridge will soon help India entrench control of disputed Kashmir and meet a rising strategic threat from China.

Nicolas Kuhn scored twice and Luis Palma netted the decider in the 68th minute to give Celtic a 4-3 victory over Manchester City in a pre-season friendly on Tuesday.

Trash-carrying balloons sent by North Korea hit the South Korean presidential compound Wednesday, security officials told AFP, prompting Seoul to mobilise chemical response teams in the escalating tit-for-tat propaganda war.

Should world champion Josh Kerr make it to the final of the men’s 1500m at the Paris Olympics, he will likely line up against Jakob Ingebrigtsen in what is shaping to be one of the tastiest track rivalries of the Summer Games.

There will be no flags or fanfare for Daniil Medvedev at the Paris Olympics but Russia's highest-profile athlete in the French capital is unlikely to be far from the headlines.

Rarely has an Olympic 100 metres champion been so belittled or so maligned as Italy's Marcell Jacobs.

Activists are asking Europe's top rights court to fault Russia for creating a "climate catastrophe", saying Moscow's war on Ukraine is contributing to a spike in its greenhouse gas emissions.