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As the race to send people to the Moon and beyond heats up, Europe faces calls to make a choice: Keep paying for seats on spacecraft or finally fly its own manned vehicle.

Amnesty International on Tuesday labelled Israel an "apartheid" state that treats Palestinians as "an inferior racial group," joining the assessment of other rights groups which the Jewish state vehemently rejects.

The top Russian and US diplomats were to speak again Tuesday amid intense efforts by NATO allies to prevent an invasion of Ukraine and to show support for Kyiv.

India will introduce a state-backed "digital rupee" and impose a 30 percent tax on profits from virtual currencies, the government announced Tuesday.

South Africa's legal lion breeding has spawned a tiger farming industry for commercial exports, potentially posing a threat to the species already in decline, an animal welfare group warned Tuesday.

The Taliban have arrested two Afghan journalists working for a local news channel, rights groups said Tuesday, weeks after two women activists went missing.

Australian-based mining giant Rio Tinto released a searing internal report Tuesday that found sexual assault, bullying and racial discrimination are rife "throughout the company".

Bags packed and ready to go, Hong Kong house cats Teddy and Newman were all set for leaving on a private jet plane -- an expensive last resort for their owners as the city piles on pandemic restrictions.

A senior Olympics official said Tuesday that venues at the Beijing Winter Games could be up to 50 percent full, countering fears that Covid-19 would lead to a second consecutive Games without spectators.

Controversial right-wing politician and former Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, who made a decades-long career out of baiting China and offending Japan's liberals, has died aged 89, Japanese media reported Tuesday.

Armed with only a phone and selfie stick, blogger Igor Grishin has set himself the task of fighting corruption in his hometown beyond Moscow, following in the steps of imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

Asian markets rose in limited trade Tuesday following another strong lead from Wall Street fuelled by a rebound in tech firms, while comments from Federal Reserve officials eased concerns that it will embark on an aggressive phase of policy tightening.

Washington's and Moscow's top diplomats will hold fresh talks Tuesday on the Ukraine crisis as Western officials say Russia continues to build a massive military force on the ex-Soviet state's border.

Global energy giants were quick to halt their Mozambican gas projects when jihadist violence erupted on their doorsteps. After months of calm, reviving those multi-billion-dollar projects is a much slower job.

Japan's parliament on Tuesday passed a rare resolution expressing concern about rights issues in China, including the treatment of its Uyghur Muslim population and Hong Kong, days before the Beijing Olympics open.

Streets emptied and shops shuttered across Myanmar on Tuesday as people defied junta orders to go about their business with a silent strike on the first anniversary of the military coup.

Australia's central bank moved to end multi-billion-dollar pandemic stimulus Tuesday, but kept interest rates at a record low despite rising inflation.

Before she became one of the world's top skiers, Petra Vlhova was a little girl with a speech impediment and a love for riding motorbikes growing up in the shadow of the Tatra mountains in Slovakia.

Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris combined for 64 points as the Philadelphia 76ers won their fifth straight game with a 122-119 overtime victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in a clash between two of the hottest teams in the NBA on Monday.

Ethiopian Airlines is set Tuesday to operate the Boeing 737 MAX for the first time since a crash nearly three years ago killed all 157 people on board and triggered the global grounding of the aircraft.

Edward Gray sweet factory in central England evokes a bygone age where brass cauldrons steam with molten sugar and workers wrestle with huge chunks of gooey treacle, but its handmade produce now enjoys a global demand.

At the age of four, Arif Mohammad Khan put on skis for the first time, just a few kilometres from the Line of Control that divides the disputed, conflict-ridden region of Kashmir.

Tom Brady says he will "know when the time is right" but for now he taking his future "day-by-day" and hasn't made up his mind about retiring from the National Football League.

Asian markets rose in limited trade Tuesday following another strong lead from Wall Street fuelled by a rebound in tech firms, while comments from Federal Reserve officials eased concerns that it will embark on an aggressive phase of policy tightening.

Cricket Australia has denied reports national coach Justin Langer threw a tantrum at a "fiery" meeting after being told he may need to reapply for his job.

The music is often hushed and the atmosphere studious -- for the patrons filling Beirut's cafes these days, the most important things are good lighting and stable wi-fi.

The United States told the families of its government employees in Belarus to leave the country, the State Department said Monday, as fears grow of a Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

The UN aviation agency on Monday extended its investigation into a bomb warning aboard a Ryanair flight last May, citing gaps and inconsistencies in Belarus's account of its rerouting of the aircraft.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will host talks Tuesday with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has taken a softer line on the Ukraine crisis than NATO and the EU, with Hungary a member of both.

British singer-songwriter Frank Turner has had a long and hugely successful career as a punk-folk star.

It was a highly original way to drop a new track: live in the studio on France's evening news, Belgian star Stromae answered a question by launching into "L'enfer" ("Hell").

Fear reigns in northeastern Colombia on the border with Venezuela where the local population has been caught in the crossfire of rival warring groups of left-wing guerrillas.