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Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul got India off to a solid start against England at Old Trafford on Wednesday in a must-win fourth Test for the tourists.

Michelle Agyemang may have been brought into the England squad for Euro 2025 as something of a wildcard but the teenager has followed a "crazy season" by playing a crucial role in helping the reigning champions reach this weekend's final.

France's Canal+ said Wednesday it had cleared the final regulatory hurdle for the buyout of Africa's largest pay TV enterprise MultiChoice and further expand its footprint on the continent.

The UK imposed sanctions Wednesday on more than two dozen people, groups and suppliers from the Balkans, the Middle East and China accused of helping migrants cross the Channel.

The National Ballet of Japan makes its debut at the London Royal Opera House on Thursday, pirouetting into a void left when Russia's Bolshoi Ballet was cancelled over the war in Ukraine.

Russia said that it expected talks with Ukraine later on Wednesday in Istanbul to be "difficult", downplaying expectations of a breakthrough at a meeting between the two sides after nearly three and a half years of war.

The EU and Japan pledged on Wednesday to work together on championing a "free and fair" trade global system, as US tariffs and disputes with China rattle their economies.

Double Rugby World Cup winners Makazole Mapimpi and Faf de Klerk have been omitted from the South Africa squad for two Rugby Championship Tests against Australia during August.

Stock markets rose on Wednesday after Japan and the United States hammered out a trade deal to slash Donald Trump's tariffs, including those on the crucial car sector.

Tributes poured in Wednesday for hell-raiser singer Ozzy Osbourne as tearful fans laid flowers in his hometown and his Black Sabbath bandmates mourned the death of their legendary heavy metal frontman, just weeks after he played an epic farewell concert in their Birmingham hometown.

With fuel prices exorbitant and road travel treacherous in the war-battered Gaza Strip, AFP video journalist Youssef Hassouna has to walk for hours in the searing heat every day just to document the news.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday defended legislative changes removing the independence of two key anti-corruption bodies, sparking the first major protests in Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion.

Germany needs firm US assurances that it will quickly receive replacement Patriot anti-missile systems if it sends two of its own units to Ukraine, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Wednesday.

England won the toss and elected to bowl in the fourth Test against India at Old Trafford on Wednesday as the tourists picked paceman Jasprit Bumrah for a match they must win.

Italy's UniCredit posted a sharp rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday despite lower revenues, a day after it withdrew its offer for smaller rival Banco BPM due to government interference.

Norwegian energy company Equinor said on Wednesday that its giant offshore wind project in New York -- once halted by the US administration -- had lost nearly $1bn in value following regulatory changes and tariffs.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba denied discussing his resignation with party elders on Wednesday, as media speculation about his futureintensified after a weekend election debacle.

In the Japanese city of Seki, famed for its razor-sharp artisan knives, news that incoming US tariffs will be lowered is welcome but not entirely unexpected.

World No.1 Jannik Sinner is teaming up once again with Umberto Ferrara, the fitness coach he sacked in the summer of 2024 after it was revealed that the Italian had tested positive for doping, his management team announced on Wednesday.

Brighton and Ireland forward Evan Ferguson has joined Serie A side Roma on a season-long loan, the clubs announced on Wednesday.

More than 80 percent of Pacific nation Tuvalu's population is seeking a landmark climate visa to live in Australia as rising seas lap at its shores, official figures showed Wednesday.

South Korea registered record birth rate growth during the first five months of the year, a statistics agency official told AFP on Wednesday.

Passion fruit, guava, dragon fruit or kiwano -- climate change is sparking Albanian farmers to start growing exotic fruits to sell to Europe.

Donald Trump announced Tuesday a "massive" trade deal with Japan, marking a key breakthrough for major US trade partners as they scramble to strike agreements before the end of the month.

Having done a trade deal with US President Donald Trump, Japan's prime minister will soon announce his resignation, reports said Wednesday, after his latest election debacle left his coalition without a majority now in both houses of parliament.

Andre Russell struck a sparkling 36 off 15 balls in his final innings before retirement on Tuesday but could not save the West Indies from losing the second Twenty20 international against Australia in Kingston.

Three world records in five days put Summer McIntosh in rare company and now the 18-year-old Canadian swimming sensation is primed to take the world championships by storm.

French President Emmanuel Macron is to meet German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin on Wednesday to discuss NATO security, the US-EU trade row and other key issues.

A leading deep-sea mining company in the paradisal Cook Islands is aiming to start commercial production by 2030, spurred on by Donald Trump's recent backing for the much-maligned industry.

The United States is looking to send asylum seekers to the sparsely populated volcanic isles of Palau, the small South Pacific nation said Wednesday.

In the laboratories of German fragrance and flavours giant Symrise, a citrus scent clings to the lab coats of trainees -- "noses" who are learning the art of making things smell good.

Wallabies winger Harry Potter rubbished suggestions Wednesday that Australia have a "losing mentality", but admitted they must be better in the second Test against the British and Irish Lions.