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US securities regulators proposed Wednesday new rules for shell investment companies, tightening a pathway for businesses to go public that has been criticized for skimping on investor protections.

A world record crowd for a women's football match of 91,553 saw Barcelona cruise into the Champions League semi-finals by thrashing Real Madrid 5-2 at Camp Nou on Wednesday to seal an 8-3 win on aggregate.

President Joe Biden received a second Covid-19 vaccine booster shot Wednesday and urged Americans to keep their guard up, while declaring that the pandemic no longer dominates the country.

The Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences has pledged to take "appropriate action" over Will Smith's shocking assault of Chris Rock at the Oscars ceremony, amid reports that its board of governors would meet Wednesday.

The trial of an Islamic State fighter accused of belonging to a notorious kidnap-and-murder cell known as the "Beatles" began in earnest Wednesday near Washington, with his defense claiming he had been mistakenly identified.

Ukrainian forces have pushed back Russian troops from a highway outside the country's second-largest city of Kharkiv, and were clearing away the burnt-out wreckage of cars, AFP journalists reported Wednesday.

Rory McIlroy says he would love to see Tiger Woods playing in next week's Masters, even though that would make it tougher for him to complete a career Grand Slam.

The Hubble space telescope has peered back to the dawn of cosmic time and detected light from a star that existed within the first billion years after the Big Bang -- a new record, astronomers said Wednesday.

Facebook's owner Meta has hired a consulting firm to carry out a US campaign denigrating its fierce rival TikTok, according to a Washington Post report Wednesday partially confirmed by AFP.

"House of the Dragon," the new HBO series set 200 years before the events of the mega-hit show "Game of Thrones" will premiere August 21, the network announced Wednesday.

Qatar on Wednesday opened one of the world's biggest sports museums with artefacts from some of the most famous Olympic heroes but also gives prominence to local athletes hoping to boost efforts to attract a new generation into sports.

Jessica Pegula advanced to the semi-finals of the Miami Open on Wednesday after world number six Paula Badosa retired during the first set of their quarter-final clash.

Action hero Bruce Willis, star of the "Die Hard" franchise, is to retire from acting due to an illness affecting his cognitive faculties, his family announced Wednesday.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday said Western powers should tighten the economic noose around Russia until it withdraws all its soldiers from Ukraine.

Tom Parker, one of five members of British-Irish boy band The Wanted, died on Wednesday aged 33, less than two years after revealing he was suffering from an inoperable brain tumour.

A Brazilian lawmaker allied with President Jair Bolsonaro barricaded himself inside Congress Tuesday night to fight a Supreme Court judge's order for him to be fitted with an ankle monitor.

The lawyer for an Irish ex-soldier accused of being a member of the so-called Islamic State group on Wednesday denied she was involved in terrorist activities, speaking on the final day of her trial.

CVS Health will pay $484 million to the state of Florida to settle opioid claims, the parties announced Wednesday, in the pharmacy chain's first settlement with a US state.

Traffic police nervously watched a World Cup crowd make a mark in Qatar's capital Wednesday as FIFA set the scene for even bigger gatherings at the event by announcing that 800,000 tickets have already been sold.

Argentina's embattled military dictatorship was on its last legs when it sought to secure a lifeline with an invasion of the British Falkland Islands 40 years ago this week.

US lawmakers scrambled Wednesday to cut a deal on more Covid-19 funding ahead of a speech from President Joe Biden in which he is expected warn that progress in combating the pandemic is under threat.

A concert of near-mythical proportions -- Prince at the peak of his powers in Syracuse during the 1985 Purple Rain tour -- is getting an official release on June 3, the late singer's label said Wednesday.

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Brazilian pop star Anitta, whose booty-grinding reggaeton hit "Envolver" claimed the top spot on Spotify last week and has become a viral dance phenomenon, says her international success shows "Latinas are reaching the top."

President Joe Biden will receive a second Covid-19 vaccine booster shot on Wednesday, the White House said.

Russian superstar soprano Anna Netrebko on Wednesday condemned the war in Ukraine and said she would return to the stage after cancelling concerts in the wake of criticism that she was close to the Kremlin.

Sri Lanka announced nationwide 13-hour daily power cuts from Thursday and more hospitals suspended routine surgeries after running out of life-saving medicines, as the cash-strapped island's economic crisis deepened.

Ukraine on Wednesday accused Russia of shelling a city where it had promised de-escalation, dampening hopes of any resolution to a conflict that has killed thousands and displaced millions.

Cameroon, Ghana and Tunisia fired their coaches after unsatisfactory Africa Cup of Nations results this year, and the bold moves paid off this week with qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Israelis on Wednesday mourned five people killed by a Palestinian gunman, the third deadly attack in a week, as Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned of a "wave of murderous Arab terrorism".

The UK government said Wednesday it wants a minimum European wage for maritime workers, after P&O Ferries sacked almost 800 seafarers to replace them with cheaper agency workers.

A teenager has been given a six-week jail sentence for racially abusing England forward Marcus Rashford on Twitter after the Euro 2020 final.