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Next month's Beijing Winter Olympics can still be meaningful even with the general public locked out because of Covid-19, a top official from last year's pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games has said.

Malaysian badminton ace Lee Zii Jia, ranked seventh in the world, has quit his country's national team to play as an independent, reports said Thursday.

Australia's former US Open champion Samantha Stosur bid an emotional farewell on Thursday to singles tennis after being ousted at her 20th Australian Open.

Five former residents of the last remaining uninhabited town near Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant returned on Thursday to live there for the first time since the 2011 disaster.

An 800-year-old minaret considered one of the finest examples of Islamic architecture in Afghanistan was damaged by two earthquakes this week and is in danger of collapse, an official has said.

China further reduced bank lending costs Thursday in the latest move to boost its stuttering economy, providing some much-needed support to the country's beleaguered developers.

World number three Garbine Muguruza blamed Covid-19 for her early exit from the Australian Open Thursday, revealing her entire team had been struck down in the lead-up to the tournament, hampering her preparations.

Aryna Sabalenka sent down an incredible six double faults in her first service game but survived to stay alive at the Australian Open on Thursday with a gutsy three-set victory over China's Wang Xinyu.

Joe Biden sought to reset his presidency in a marathon first year press conference Wednesday, vowing to reconnect with voters and touting successes, while delivering blunt assessments of the "disaster" facing Russia if it attacks Ukraine.

US senators dealt a death blow Wednesday to President Joe Biden's push to defend voting rights against what Democrats frame as an all-out assault by conservative states targeting racial minorities.

Philadelphia center Joel Embiid matched his career high with 50 points to lead the 76ers to a 123-110 NBA victory over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.

North Korea hinted Thursday it could resume nuclear and long-range weapons tests as it prepares for "confrontation" with Washington, its latest threat after a string of sanctions-busting missile launches.

Danish teenager Clara Tauson played the match of her life Thursday to send Estonian sixth seed Anett Kontaveit tumbling out of the Australian Open, but said she had plenty of room for improvement.

Beijing was hit by a blanket of snow Thursday, as the Winter Olympics countdown clocked two weeks until the Chinese capital hosts the sporting extravaganza.

Flamboyant Frenchman Gael Monfils says his "caring" wife Elina Svitolina has been a stabilising influence and having her on tour has helped his game immensely.

The crowded hospital in Darkush in Syria's rebel-held northwest treats around 30,000 patients every month, for free -- but now foreign aid cuts are threatening its future.

French veteran Alize Cornet described herself as "a bit of a dinosaur" after she sent world number three and 2020 finalist Garbine Muguruza crashing out of the Australian Open in the second round Thursday, upsetting the Spaniard 6-3, 6-3.

A potentially explosive report into the handling of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church will on Thursday be published in Germany, with former pope Benedict XVI among those in the spotlight.

During America's last surge of the coronavirus driven by the Delta variant, people who were unvaccinated but survived Covid were better protected than those who were vaccinated and not previously infected, a new study said Wednesday.

With its gun-totin' heroes, elegiac shots of rodeo horses and disparaging jokes about Californians, "Yellowstone" might appear to be a television show aimed squarely at America's conservative heartland.

Exhausted and overwhelmed by the influx of mostly unvaccinated Covid patients, Dr James Samuel Pope, an intensive care physician at Hartford Hospital in the US state of Connecticut, hopes the Omicron wave of the pandemic will be the last.

A traders association in northern Uganda has banned women from riding up front in trucks after deciding that short skirts and bare thighs could be distracting drivers and causing accidents.

US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he expects Russia to "move in" on Ukraine but warned that Moscow will pay a stiff price for a full-blown invasion.

Telecom giants AT&T and Verizon began 5G service in the United States Wednesday without major disruptions to flights after the launch of the new wireless technology was scaled back.

Consumer goods giant Unilever on Wednesday said it would not increase a £50-billion offer for the consumer healthcare unit owned by pharmaceutical groups GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer.

The Beatles producer George Martin signed the legendary rock band in its early days more for its four members' endearing personalities than for their music, he once revealed in a video posted on Twitter Wednesday by his son.

After Microsoft announced it would spend tens of billions of dollars to buy a video game company, World Bank President David Malpass on Wednesday drew a contrast between the deal and the amount of money rich nations have pledged to help poor countries facing higher debt loads.

Seven-time champions Egypt clinched a place in the Africa Cup of Nations last 16 on Wednesday by defeating neighbours Sudan 1-0, a result which sent five other countries including Ivory Coast through as well.

Title favourite Daniil Medvedev and Nick Kyrgios will square off on Thursday in a blockbuster second-round encounter that could play a big part in shaping the destiny of this year's Australian Open men's singles title.

US broadcaster NBC will not send any of it specialist commentary teams to cover the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic due to fears over Covid-19, USA Today reported on Wednesday.

A defiant President Joe Biden acknowledged missteps over the still-raging pandemic Wednesday but hailed a year of "enormous progress" on the US economy as he took stock of his first year in office.

Atletico Madrid's season went from bad to worse on Wednesday as they were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Real Sociedad.