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New Zealand and South Africa are focusing on the notoriously green Hagley Oval wicket as they draw up battle plans for the first Test starting in Christchurch on Thursday.

The Beijing Olympics doping controversy engulfing Russian skater Kamila Valieva took a fresh twist Wednesday after a US media report said she had three substances used to treat heart conditions in the sample which triggered the scandal.

Barcelona's new reality will hit home on Thursday when they play in Europe's second-tier club competition for the first time in 18 years as Napoli visit the Camp Nou in the Europa League.

China may take advantage of the Ukraine crisis and do something "provocative" in Asia while Western powers are focused on defusing tensions with Russia, a US general warned Wednesday.

US political satirist PJ O'Rourke, who skewered both Democrats and his fellow Republicans in barbed works including "Republican Party Reptile," has died at age 74, the writer's friends and employers said Tuesday.

North Korea marked the 80th birthday of leader Kim Jong Un's late father with a mass outdoor meeting in sub-zero temperatures, state media reported Wednesday, but no missiles or military parade.

Landslides and flooding triggered by heavy rainfall killed at least 18 people Tuesday in a tourist town in the hills above Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian firefighters said.

Canadian hockey superstar Sidney Crosby, who has spent his entire career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, scored his 500th NHL career goal on Tuesday.

Austria's Johannes Strolz sat in pole position of the men's Olympic slalom after topping times for the first leg on Wednesday.

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg laid out revamped company values Tuesday, urging workers to be "Metamates" who treat one another with respect and look to the future.

Asian markets rebounded and oil held steep losses Wednesday on hopes that Russia will not invade Ukraine after Moscow said some of its troops on the countries' border had started pulling back.

Inflation in China slowed in January, official data showed Wednesday, as the government pledged to keep prices in check in the world's second-biggest economy.

Whether they have been camped out on Ukraine's borders or moving tanks across the vast country, Russia's battle-hardened troops have made the world listen to Vladimir Putin, who wants to redefine European security.

He was the comic from Ukrainian TV who implausibly became president.

The EU's highest court will rule Wednesday on whether European Union funds can be slashed for member states flouting democratic standards, a case with major implications for Poland and Hungary.

A defiant Ukrainian leader urged citizens to celebrate a "Day of Unity" on Wednesday, as Washington warned once again that Russia remains poised to launch a devastating assault.

Joan Laporta claimed Barcelona are "back as big players" but Thursday will mark another checkpoint in the club's decline as they face Napoli in the knock-out stage of the Europa League.

A defiant Ukrainian leader urged citizens to celebrate a "Day of Unity" on Wednesday, as Washington warned once again that Russia remains poised to launch a devastating assault.

The Uber driver's phone bleeps out the signal to pick up a passenger, but he checks the distance and declines: with fuel prices soaring in Brazil, "I've become a mathematician at the wheel," he says.

Facebook and Google are under growing pressure to better balance privacy and ad-targeting -- with their fortunes at stake as users rebel, regulators loom and Apple pounces on the moment to polish its image.

At least 10 fishermen died and 11 others were missing Tuesday after a trawler from Spain sank in rough seas off eastern Canada, officials said, with poor weather reducing chances of finding more survivors.

Kylian Mbappe's importance to Paris Saint-Germain was all too evident long before his stoppage-time strike gave them a narrow win over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League showdown on Tuesday and left them on course for a place in the quarter-finals.

Tigrayan fighters deliberately killed civilians and gang-raped dozens of women and underage girls in two towns in Ethiopia's Amhara region last year, Amnesty International said on Wednesday, the latest example of the horrific toll exacted by the 15-month war.

US senators joined together Tuesday to express a "message of solidarity" to the Ukrainian people and a warning to Russia's Vladimir Putin, although the chamber failed to agree on drafting sanctions against Moscow.

Thousands of Catholics in the United States may have to be re-baptized after the church discovered a priest had gotten one word wrong in the blessing for decades -- invalidating the rite.

Cristiano Ronaldo ended his six-game goal drought on Tuesday as Manchester United recovered from an insipid first-half display to beat 10-man Brighton 2-0 and clamber back into the Premier League top four.

Tobacco giant Altria said Tuesday it prevailed over a US regulatory agency that challenged its investment in vaping company Juul on antitrust grounds.

The volcanic eruption near Tonga shredded an 80-kilometre (50 mile) stretch of undersea cable, complicating efforts to reconnect the Pacific kingdom after a month of digital darkness, the company overseeing repairs says.

US President Joe Biden vowed Tuesday to push for a diplomatic resolution of the Ukraine crisis, but warned that a Russian invasion remained "very much a possibility" and that retaliatory sanctions were primed and ready.

Cristiano Ronaldo ended his goalscoring drought on Tuesday as Manchester United recovered from an insipid first-half display to beat 10-man Brighton 2-0 and clamber back into the Premier League top four.

US and European stock markets rebounded and oil prices tumbled Tuesday on easing fears of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Kylian Mbappe struck in the fourth minute of injury time to give Paris Saint-Germain a precious 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of their heavyweight Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.