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The United States appears to be emerging from its latest coronavirus wave driven by the Omicron variant, data showed Wednesday, though cases remain far higher than during any previous surge and Covid hospitalizations are at a peak.

French champagne sales rebounded last year to reach a record 5.5 billion euros ($6.2 billion) as demand soared despite the lingering impact of Covid restrictions that weighed on restaurants and bars, producers said Wednesday.

A court-appointed psychiatrist on Wednesday said Anders Behring Breivik is as dangerous now as when he carried out Norway's deadliest peacetime attack in 2011, seemingly quashing his already-slim chances of early release.

Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe is being treated for a groin strain with their Champions League game against Real Madrid less than a month away.

The latest coronavirus variant will weigh on US economic growth in the months ahead but will not derail it, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen assured the nation's mayors Wednesday as they gathered in Washington.

US biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong on Wednesday opened a plant in Cape Town that will be the first in Africa to produce Covid-19 vaccines from start to finish.

French star Gaspard Ulliel, who played a young Hannibal Lecter and had a top role in a new Marvel TV series, died on Wednesday at 37 following a skiing accident, his family said.

Dozens of firefighters rallied in Tehran to protest their living conditions, local media reported on Wednesday, marking the fifth anniversary of a tower blaze that caused the death of many of their colleagues.

Queen Elizabeth II's second son Prince Andrew has deactivated his social media accounts, users said Wednesday, as he faces a US civil case for sexual assault.

Expanding nature preserves will not be enough to stem a rising tide of extinctions, a panel of experts warned Wednesday, taking aim at a draft treaty tasked with rescuing Earth's animal and plant life.

Former Newcastle and France midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa signed for reigning French champions Lille until the end of the season on Wednesday, the club said.

Procter & Gamble raised its full-year forecast Wednesday as robust consumer demand enabled the company to notch higher sales even as it increased prices on consumer goods.

Indian former doubles world number one Sania Mirza said Wednesday she will retire from tennis at the end of this season with injuries taking their toll.

German prosecutors accused a Syrian doctor Wednesday of torturing detainees and killing one of them while working in military hospitals in his war-torn homeland, on the first day of a landmark crimes against humanity trial in Frankfurt.

Beijing on Wednesday reported five new locally transmitted coronavirus cases, raising fears of a fresh outbreak less than three weeks before the city hosts the Winter Olympics.

Russian soldiers completed their draw down from Kazakhstan, the defence ministry said Wednesday, as the Central Asian country lifted a state of emergency imposed after unprecedented unrest and signs of a power struggle.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka said Wednesday that she is taking inspiration at the Australian Open from none other than Nick Kyrgios.

Time was running out for Pudding.

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.