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Danish toymaker Lego, the world's biggest, posted record sales for the first half of the year and continues to gain market share despite global volatility, its chief executive told AFP.

Hugo Ekitike missed out on a place in the France squad named Wednesday for the start of their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, but coach Didier Deschamps did hand a first senior call-up to highly-rated Monaco winger Maghnes Akliouche.

US sprinter Noah Lyles played down the prospect of heavy rain at the Diamond League finals in Zurich on Thursday when he will go head-to-head in a mouth-watering 200m with Botswanan rival Letsile Tebogo.

Floods and landslides triggered by record-breaking heavy rain have killed more than 30 people in India's Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Wednesday.

The Venice Film Festival kicks off on Wednesday with Hollywood royalty heading to Italy's swanky movie showcase where a strong line up of star-packed films will vie with protests over Gaza for public attention.

Oscar-winning Spanish director Pedro Almodovar urged Madrid to cut all diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel Wednesday over the war in Gaza, calling the conflict a "genocide".

President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday gave his "full support" to France's embattled prime minister, who has called a confidence vote that could see his government collapse next month.

Stock markets diverged Wednesday following broad losses in the previous session, as attention turned to a key earnings update from AI giant Nvidia.

The German cabinet on Wednesday signed off steps to boost recruitment for the country's armed forces and strengthen military readiness in the face of high tensions between NATO and Russia.

Denmark summoned the US charge d'affaires Wednesday after reports of attempted interference in Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory which US President Donald Trump wants to take over.

Germany's plant and equipment makers' federation warned Wednesday the sector is facing an "existential crisis" after the United States broadened the reach of its metals tariffs.

The Israeli military pressed operations around Gaza City on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump prepared to host a White House meeting on post-war plans for the shattered Palestinian territory.

Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 30 people in India's Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir, officials and local media said Wednesday.

A former Australian Rules star on Wednesday came out as the first openly bisexual or gay player in the sport's long history, a move hailed as "breaking decades of silence".

Indian spin great Ravichandran Ashwin on Wednesday announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League and plans to play in other global franchise tournaments.

India could be banned from world football for the second time in three years after FIFA and the Asian governing body demanded it implement a new constitution by October 30 or risk suspension.

Globetrotting filmmaker Werner Herzog, an eclectic risk-taker whose monumental works often explore humankind's conflict with nature, will receive a special award Wednesday at the Venice Film Festival.

Need a new gaming console? Just make one yourself with an old ventilator. Got an old payment terminal? Turn it into a camera.

The Venice Film Festival kicks off on Wednesday with the return of Hollywood royalty to Italy's swanky movie showcase, where 21 films from around the globe will vie for the prestigious Golden Lion award.

A Thai woman who received one of the kingdom's longest ever royal insult sentences was freed from prison on Wednesday under a mass pardon marking the king's birthday.

Students at the University of South Carolina were sent into panic when they received an active shooter alert and police rushed to the library.

Bosnia's national museum has defended a decision to donate funds from the display of a precious Jewish manuscript to the people of Gaza.

Police searched the Australian bush on Wednesday for a heavily armed 56-year-old gunman still on the run a day after allegedly killing two officers and wounding a third.

A New Zealand rugby player who had wanted his brain to be studied after suffering from the effects of multiple concussions has died aged 39, police said Wednesday.

A former Australian Rules star on Wednesday came out as the first openly bisexual or gay player in the sport's history, a move hailed as "breaking decades of silence".

The leaders of France, Germany and Poland are due in Moldova on Wednesday in a show of support, a day before campaigning starts for next month's tense parliamentary election amid claims of Russian interference in the pro-EU nation bordering Ukraine.

US tariffs of 50 percent took effect Wednesday on many Indian products, doubling an existing duty as President Donald Trump sought to punish New Delhi for buying Russian oil.

A statue of a powerful 16th-century warlord and samurai outside a shopping arcade in Japan has been beheaded, a shop official and media reports said Wednesday.

Former champion Coco Gauff stumbled into the second round of the US Open on Tuesday, squeezing past Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic in an error-strewn three-hour battle.

Tokyo experienced a record 10 consecutive days of temperatures 35C or above, the weather office said Wednesday, after the country sweltered through its hottest ever June and July.

World number one Jannik Sinner began his bid for back-to-back US Open titles with an emphatic victory on Tuesday as women's draw favourite Iga Swiatek swept into the second round.

Brazil will play October friendlies in South Korea and Japan as all three teams step up their preparations for the 2026 World Cup.

Asian markets diverged Wednesday morning following broad losses the previous day, as attention turns from political pressure on the US central bank to a key earnings report by AI giant Nvidia.

Twice former champion Naomi Osaka hopes being seeded at the US Open for the first time in four years will enhance her chances of recapturing her form of old on the biggest stage.

An elderly Chinese war veteran's shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he suffered when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II.

Floodwaters gushing through mountain villages, cities rendered swamps, mourners gathered at fresh graves -- as Pakistan's monsoon season once again delivers scenes of calamity, it also lays bare woeful preparedness.

SpaceX's Starship megarocket roared into the skies Tuesday on its tenth test flight, turning in a strong performance after a series of fiery failures had begun to cast doubt on its future.

The sweat-and-salsa-infused nightlife that was once the beating heart of Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil, has fallen silent, with bars, restaurants, and nightclubs pulling down the shutters to avoid cartel-linked violence.

For years, a man's giant intestine was anonymously on display at a US medical museum in Philadelphia, identified only by his initials JW.