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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.

World number one Ashleigh Barty stunned tennis on Wednesday by announcing her retirement from the sport aged just 25, saying she had fulfilled her dreams and was "spent physically".

World number one Ashleigh Barty's surprise retirement from tennis was met with shock and an outpouring of well wishes from current and former greats Wednesday.

Groups of girls headed back to class in the Afghan capital Wednesday after Taliban authorities announced the reopening of secondary schools, more than seven months after seizing power and imposing harsh restrictions on the rights of women to be educated.

Blue, yellow, green: As night falls, the dome of the Kigali conference centre lights up, resplendent in the colours of Rwanda's flag as it aims to attract all eyes on the capital, and beyond.

Philippine social media has exploded with support for presidential election favourite Ferdinand Marcos Junior, driven by a massive misinformation campaign aimed at revamping the family brand and smearing his top rival.

In a month of conflict in Ukraine, global oil prices have soared, foreign companies have exited Russia and Moscow faces the spectre of default.

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake that struck off the coast of Taiwan early Wednesday rattled buildings and roused people from their sleep, leaving one injured and causing a half-constructed bridge in the island's east to collapse.

Asian markets extended gains Wednesday, tracking a rally in New York, on optimism that the Federal Reserve's plan to hike interest rates will help bring inflation under control.

World number one Ashleigh Barty stunned the tennis world Wednesday by announcing her early retirement from the sport at the age of just 25.

The chaos engulfing Chelsea following sanctions imposed on Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich has sparked fresh debate over the sources of money that fuel Europe's richest league.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his fiancee Stella Moris get married on Wednesday, at the high-security London prison where he is being held during his extradition case.

Almost 100,000 people are trapped among the ruins of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, facing starvation, thirst and relentless Russian bombardment, President Volodymyr Zelensky said as the UN sharpened demands for Moscow to end its "absurd" and "unwinnable" war.

New Zealand will relax its strict Covid-19 rules this week because case numbers have peaked and the population has high levels of immunity, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Wednesday.

President Joe Biden leaves Wednesday for Europe on a mission to bolster Western unity, ramp up unprecedented sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and attempt to upset the post-Cold War balance of power.

Black-and-white is the hot new trend in Hollywood, where directors of Oscars-contending films such as "Belfast" and "The Tragedy of Macbeth" are embracing monochrome for its storytelling power.

Christian Smalls no longer works at Amazon's JFK8 warehouse in New York, but he still sees former colleagues every day at the bus stop as they head into work.