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For eight years, Nigeria hairdresser Damy Idowu ran her business in a commercial district of Lagos, surviving growing inflation, recession and the global pandemic.

Atiya Azimi was up all night packing and repacking her bag, feverish at returning to school for the first time since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, a divisive but charismatic 70-year-old leftist, is in possible contention to make a French presidential election run-off against Emmanuel Macron as traditional socialist forces fall by the wayside.

Manchester United have held "positive" talks with Ajax coach Erik ten Hag about the vacant manager's job at Old Trafford, it was reported on Wednesday.

Almost 100,000 people are trapped by Russian bombardment and facing starvation in the ruins of Mariupol, Ukraine's leader said, as Moscow accused Washington of undermining peace talks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Japan's parliament Wednesday that the United Nations had failed over the conflict in his country and reforms were needed, calling for more pressure on Russia.

Russia's forces in Ukraine appear to be turning to a war of attrition with devastating effect on civilians, after failing to secure hoped-for swift gains when President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion one month ago.

Azhar Ali achieved a milestone 7,000 runs before Pakistan reached 227-3 at tea on the third day of the third and deciding Test against Australia in Lahore on Wednesday.

A black box from the crashed China Eastern airliner was recovered on Wednesday as investigators try to piece together what made a jet carrying 132 passengers nosedive into a mountainside in southern China.

As Morocco withers under its worst drought in 40 years, experts warn that a combination of climate change and bad resource management could trigger severe drinking water shortages.

Britain unveils Wednesday a budget update aimed at easing a cost of living crisis, as data revealed inflation spiking to a three-decade high on soaring energy prices.

Saying she saw with her own eyes her two daughters killed by the Myanmar military, Rahima Khatun is hopeful the US designation of the 2017 onslaught against the Rohingya as "genocide" will bring some justice.

Shanghai authorities on Wednesday called for calm as worried citizens swamped online grocery platforms to stock up on food over fears of impending lockdowns in a city struggling to halt a Covid spike.

Abdullah Shafique and Azhar Ali both made unbeaten half-centuries to guide Pakistan to 159-1 at lunch on the third day of the third Test in Lahore on Wednesday.

When rallying British MPs, he reaches for Churchill. When addressing the US Congress, he invokes Pearl Harbor. When beamed into the Bundestag, he conjures the threat of a new Wall in Europe.

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla begin a three-day visit to Ireland on Wednesday, as part of a series of royal tours for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee year.

The Taliban ordered girls' secondary schools in Afghanistan to shut Wednesday just hours after they reopened, an official confirmed, sparking confusion and heartbreak over the policy reversal by the hardline Islamist group.

As Ukraine struggles to cope with the immediate casualties of Russia's invasion, there are fears the war will also ruin the country's progress in its fight against tuberculosis.

After years of sniffing out illicit cash in Albanian airports, German shepherd Konti has a lot to look forward to in retirement. He will enjoy it by the side of his partner in fighting crime, his handler Ilir Balla.

In a field in western France, the small purple and white flowers quivering among tender shoots of wheat are a clue that this is not conventional single-crop farmland.

Heavy rains on Wednesday hampered the recovery of a China Eastern jet that nosedived into a mountain with 132 passengers onboard, a disaster that has mystified crash investigators who are yet to locate the black boxes.

Safety concerns at home in Rio de Janeiro and a bumper pay packet convinced Bruno Ribeiro to join the burgeoning ranks of Latin Americans moving to California to work in IT.

World number one Ashleigh Barty stunned the sporting world by on Wednesday announcing her retirement from tennis aged just 25, weeks after becoming the first home-grown Australian Open champion in 44 years.

Under-strength Australia need courage and fight to beat Japan and keep their hopes of automatically qualifying for the Qatar World Cup alive, assistant coach Rene Meulensteen said Wednesday.

Sekou Salaam knows all too well the dangers of living on New York's streets. Homeless for six months, he says he's been beaten with a metal pipe and repeatedly threatened with knives.

From huge donations to political parties and bids for games of tennis with senior ministers, to nominations for peerages, Russian money in British politics has been a recurrent issue for years.

Reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Ashleigh Barty announced her shock retirement from tennis on Wednesday aged 25. Here are a few highlights from her short but illustrious career:

Multi-talented Ashleigh Barty excels at so many sports that she has played professional cricket and even won a golf tournament, but it was in tennis where she rose to become the best in the world.

Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov spent five years in a Russian jail for protesting against its seizure of Crimea, and now he is on the frontline fighting for revenge.

Controversial Israel Folau is "definitely interested" in playing for Tonga at next year's Rugby World Cup and has "no regrets" over the homophobic comments that ended his Wallabies career.

The reopening of secondary schools for girls across Afghanistan on Wednesday prompted joy and apprehension among the tens of thousands of students deprived of an education since the Taliban's return to power.

Japanese gymnast Hitomi Hatakeda has announced she will retire at 21 after suffering a spinal injury at last year's world championships and struggling with motivation during the coronavirus pandemic.