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Naomi Osaka played the role of smiling assassin and top seed Ashleigh Barty was ruthlessly efficient at the Australian Open on Wednesday as they moved closer to a potential fourth-round showdown.

The Berlinale, Europe's first major film festival of the year, will take place next month as an in-person event, organisers confirmed Wednesday, just as the Omicron wave is expected to peak in Germany.

Naomi Osaka said she drew on past experience in a composed beating of Madison Brengle on Wednesday to move closer to a blockbuster Australian Open clash with top seed Ashleigh Barty.

Anders Behring Breivik, who is seeking conditional release just 10 years after carrying out Norway's deadliest peacetime attack, poses the same danger to society as a decade ago, a psychiatrist said in court Wednesday.

Rising American star Sebastian Korda battled to his first career five-set win to stay alive at the Australian Open on Wednesday -- then spoke of taking inspiration from his Grand Slam-winning father.

More than 100 millionaires made an unusual plea on Wednesday: "Tax us now".

A Belgian court sentenced a Vietnamese man to 15 years in prison on Wednesday after convicting him of being the ringleader in the trafficking of 39 migrants found dead in a lorry.

Israel's justice minister on Wednesday pledged a full investigation into allegations that the controversial Pegasus spyware was used on Israeli citizens, including people who led protests against former premier Benjamin Netanyahu.

Boris Johnson has long had a socially distanced relationship with the truth, but the UK prime minister's devil-may-care insouciance was pivotal to his Conservative party's staggering election win in 2019.

Emma Raducanu will reach the top level of women's tennis but first must absorb the lessons from her dizzying rise, says the director of a charity that helped fund her eye-catching journey.

Qatar World Cup ticket sales were launched at reduced prices on Wednesday with residents and migrant workers able to attend games for just $11 as concerns persist over Covid-19.

A Taliban fighter has been arrested for shooting dead a Hazara woman at a checkpoint in the Afghan capital as she returned from a wedding, a spokesman for the group said Wednesday.

Rafael Nadal rumbled into the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday and warned that the best was yet to come after a troubled year with injury.

Japan's government approved new coronavirus restrictions on a large part of the country, including Tokyo, on Wednesday as it battles record infections fuelled by the Omicron variant.

English golfer Paul Casey on Wednesday defended Saudi Arabia's $200 million cash injection to revive the Asian Tour, following criticism of the deal over the oil-rich kingdom's human rights record.

Hong Kong's government faced outrage Wednesday over its decision to cull thousands of small animals after hamsters in a pet store tested positive for Covid-19.

The Taliban's prime minister called Wednesday on Muslim nations to be the first to officially recognise their government, as aid-dependent Afghanistan faces economic collapse.

Robert Tomlinson picks rhubarb stalks by candlelight in the dark, carrying on a century-old family tradition that survives today despite the challenges posed to his business by Brexit and climate change.

Taiwan said Wednesday its deputy leader will go to the inauguration of Honduran president-elect Xiomara Castro as the island faces the potential loss of yet another diplomatic ally in Latin America.

Survivors of twin earthquakes in Afghanistan were waiting Wednesday for aid to arrive after spending their second night exposed to sub-zero temperatures following tremors that killed at least 22 people and wrecked homes.

At 92, Giddes Chalamanda has no idea what TikTok is. He doesn't even own a smartphone.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka threw her support Wednesday behind a vaccine mandate on the women's tour, as tennis wrestles with the fall-out of the saga surrounding unvaccinated Novak Djokovic.

Women's top seed Ashleigh Barty took a step closer to a potential fourth-round showdown with Naomi Osaka with a second flawless display at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

The World Health Organization has warned that the Covid-19 pandemic is far from over, as France, Germany and Brazil posted new records of infections in the past 24 hours.

Women's tennis needs to hear directly from Peng Shuai to know that she is safe, two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka said Wednesday, as fears persist for China's former world number one doubles player.

Microsoft's $69 billion deal to buy video game powerhouse Activision Blizzard is expected to win out with regulators despite vows in Europe and the United States to rein in tech titans.

A human rights lawyer has been detained in China on suspicion of "inciting state subversion", according to an official notice obtained by his wife weeks after he spoke out for a hospitalised teacher.

France's Harmony Tan had to be helped off court in a wheelchair Wednesday after breaking down in agony with calf problems during her second-round Australian Open clash with Elina Svitolina.

Top seed Ashleigh Barty said Wednesday she had been working hard to make her serve "a weapon" and it paid off as she raced into the Australian Open third round with another near-flawless performance.

President Joe Biden transformed the White House in his first year with policies unrecognizable from the Trump era -- at least regarding the policy on pets, that is.

The Chinese megacity of Xi'an has partially resumed public transport, according to official announcements, after millions were confined to their homes for weeks because of a coronavirus outbreak.

Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha called Wednesday for treason charges against him to be dropped as his trial resumed after two years of delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic.