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The Rock, the biggest white diamond ever auctioned, sold for a hammer price of 18.6 million Swiss francs ($18.8 million) on Wednesday, far short of the record for such a jewel.

Relegated Premier League club Watford have hired Rob Edwards as their new manager from the end of this season after his departure from fourth-tier champions Forest Green on Wednesday.

Frenchman Arnaud Demare of the FDJ team won stage five of the Giro d'Italia in a sprint finish along the seafront at the port of Messina, Sicily, on Tuesday ahead of Team UAE's Fernando Gaviria.

Rafael Nadal eased into the last 16 of the Italian Open on Wednesday with a straightforward 6-3, 6-1 win over John Isner, while Iga Swiatek is on course for a fifth straight WTA triumph after seeing off Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 6-0.

Tearful Italian cyclist Vincenzo Nibali announced his upcoming retirement in front of crowds following stage five of the Giro which ended in his hometown of Messina on Tuesday.

It was a day of upsets at Thailand's Thomas and Uber Cup Wednesday with badminton world number one Akane Yamaguchi suffering a stunning defeat at the hands of a teenage rookie, while in the men's competition Kento Momota was also outclassed.

Ireland's foreign minister on Wednesday said the UK risked a breach of international law if it scraps the trade rules it signed with the EU for Northern Ireland.

Polish editor Adam Michnik, a leading communist-era dissident, was Wednesday awarded Spain's prestigious Princess of Asturias communications and humanities prize.

Calls mounted Wednesday for an independent investigation into the killing of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead as she covered an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank.

Payments from workers living abroad to low- and middle-income countries are expected to rise 4.2 percent this year, with Ukraine as the main beneficiary of the increase, the World Bank said Wednesday.

Pro-Kremlin authorities in Ukraine's Kherson said Wednesday they will ask Russia to annex the region as Moscow seeks to shore up its gains in the increasingly drawn-out and bloody war.

Paris will give the famed Champs-Elysees a makeover ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games by planting trees and increasing pedestrian areas, the French capital's officials said on Wednesday.

At the height of its powers the pocket-sized music player known as the iPod shifted tens of millions of units each year, helping Apple to conquer the globe and transforming the music industry.

A Senegalese court on Wednesday handed six-month suspended terms to three midwives in the high-profile case of a mother-to-be who died in agony after pleading for hours to be given a caesarean.

Frenchman Arnaud Demare of the FDJ team won stage five of the Giro d'Italia in a sprint finish along the seafront at the port of Messina, Sicily, on Tuesday ahead of Team UAE's Fernando Gaviria.

Drug overdoses killed more than 100,000 people in the United States in 2021, data showed Wednesday, as the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated a crisis driven by fentanyl and fake online pills.

US inflation slowed in April, according to new data Wednesday, but Americans continue to see their wallets empty faster when they buy groceries and pay the rent.

Booted out of their home stadium by a hip hop concert, Racing 92 are trying to make the best of hosting their European Champions Cup rugby semi-final almost 200km away in Lens.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison derided his Labor Party opponent Wednesday as an unreliable "loose unit" on the economy as he fought to catch up in the opinion polls 10 days from May 21 federal elections.

Triple Olympic swimming champion Adam Peaty has been ruled out of the upcoming World Championships in Budapest with a foot injury, he said Wednesday.

Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a respected veteran of the Al Jazeera network, was shot dead Wednesday as she covered an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison derided his Labor Party opponent Wednesday as an unreliable "loose unit" on the economy as he fought to catch up in the opinion polls 10 days from the federal election on May 21.

Seeking to address "over-tourism" at popular destinations, Airbnb unveiled Wednesday a new feature that encourages users to search by trip category, not only destination.

An elderly Catholic cardinal critical of Beijing and a Cantonese pop star are among a group of veteran democracy advocates who have been arrested under Hong Kong's national security law, legal and police sources said Wednesday.

Democrats in the US Senate were due to lead a vote Wednesday to codify the right to abortion into federal law in a bid to pin down Republicans on the deeply divisive issue ahead of crucial midterm elections, even though they expect the measure to fail.

Sri Lanka's economy will "collapse" unless a new government is urgently appointed, the central bank chief warned Wednesday, as security forces fanned out on the streets to restore order after spasms of mob violence.

Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed Wednesday while covering clashes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was among Arab media's most prominent figures and widely hailed for her bravery and professionalism.

The deployment of unprecedented sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine war has left companies with a complex legal minefield to navigate, prompting them to hire more lawyers to avoid costly missteps.

The Super League project "is over once and for all or at least for 20 years," UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said on Wednesday.

Rafael Nadal eased into the last 16 of the Italian Open on Wednesday with a straightforward 6-3, 6-1 win over John Isner, while Alexander Zverev beat Sebastian Baez.

The son of the late Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos on Wednesday claimed victory in the presidential election, vowing to be a leader "for all Filipinos", his spokesman said.

Soldiers stood behind wrought-iron barricades and next to burnt-out buses in the heart of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo Wednesday, guarding almost deserted streets after a convulsion of deadly clashes.