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Human rights activists and some academics in China have had their WeChat messaging app accounts restricted in recent weeks, multiple people affected have told AFP, as Beijing cracks down on dissent before the Winter Olympics.

When Olympic champions at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games are handed their customary bouquets on the medal stand, no one will be prouder than Shanghai pensioner Mou Guoying.

Alize Cornet said she has "eternal respect" for Grand Slam champions after her Australian Open exit Wednesday -- and now knows just how hard it is to win seven matches in two weeks to lift a major.

A coronavirus-hit Australian warship will dock in Tonga Wednesday, delivering desperately needed aid to the volcano-and-tsunami-struck nation under strict "no-contact" protocols.

Supermarket shelves are bare and restaurants can't serve meals, but Sri Lanka's economic crisis is a bonanza for used car dealers, with vehicle shortages pushing prices higher than a house in a nice area.

Two months before it is due to open with just a handful of confirmed flights, workers are racing to finish a new international airport for Mexico City -- one of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's flagship projects.

The "old fogeys" of Chilean politics must go, says Isabel Allende -- a stance that is true to form for the novelist, whose latest book "Violeta" is a sweeping epic depicting the transformation between past and present.

Asian markets enjoyed some respite Wednesday from the hefty selling at the start of the week, with focus on the end of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting later in the day, when traders hope it will provide much-needed guidance on its plans for hiking interest rates.

Eric Staal headlined the list of players named by Hockey Canada on Tuesday to represent the country in the men's hockey tournament at next month's Beijing Olympics.

"He is conscious, with mobility in all four limbs" and showing signs of "further progress in his post-operative development," said the Sabana University Clinic, where the cyclist was rushed by ambulance after smashing head-on into a bus.

Danielle Collins swept into the last four of the Australian Open Wednesday to match her feat from 2019 and shatter French veteran Alize Cornet's dream of making a first Grand Slam semi-final.

For Allyssa Findorff, the decision to hit the road on short-term nursing contracts was an easy one: she'd always wanted to see the rest of America, and the attractive rates on offer helped seal the deal.

The murders of two journalists in the Mexican border city of Tijuana in less than a week have triggered calls for the government to step up protection of media workers.

The Federal Reserve's first policy meeting of the year hasn't even concluded but Wall Street already is unhappy, wary of what central bank chief Jerome Powell might say on Wednesday about his inflation-fighting plans.

A New York policeman wounded in an exchange of gunfire last week died Tuesday, raising the toll in the tragedy to two, officials said.

Beatles fans won't be able to touch them, but they can soon get their virtual hands on personal memorabilia from John Lennon's son Julian in the form of NFTs.

European stocks rallied Tuesday along with oil prices, while Wall Street ended lower as markets nervously eyed the impasse over Ukraine while awaiting a key Federal Reserve decision.

Microsoft beat market expectations Tuesday with strong quarterly performance in cloud computing and software, still benefitting from the pandemic's online shifting of work, play, shopping and learning.

China should begin to "recalibrate" its aggressive anti-Covid policy as other countries are doing, to try to ease the negative impact the pandemic continues to have on global supply chains and economic growth, a senior IMF official said on Tuesday.

Wednesday's Africa Cup of Nations last-16 tie between Egypt and the Ivory Coast brings together two of the continent's heavyweight teams who have plenty of history as well as two of the most exciting attacking players in the world just now.

Manchester United striker Anthony Martial has completed a six-month loan move to Sevilla, the clubs announced on Tuesday, as the France international looks to revive his career in La Liga.

Russia on Tuesday added jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and a number of his allies to a list of "terrorists and extremists", as authorities further clamp down on the opposition.

A recharged Dustin Johnson will make his 2022 debut at the Farmers Insurance Open in California on Wednesday hoping to bounce back after a winless 2021.

German skier Linus Strasser won the last slalom on the World Cup programme before the Olympic Games, in Schladming on Tuesday but it was another evening in "hell" for Frenchman Alexis Pinturault who dropped out on the first run.

The US Coast Guard launched a search for 39 people reported missing when a boat capsized off the coast of Florida in a "suspected human smuggling venture," it said Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia and Thailand on Tuesday announced they had re-established diplomatic ties, after more than three decades of frozen relations linked to the theft of jewels from a Saudi palace.

Achraf Hakimi scored a brilliant free-kick to send Morocco through to the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations after a 2-1 win over Malawi on Tuesday.

Long-serving New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton is stepping down after 15 seasons with the franchise, multiple reports said on Tuesday.

The IMF on Tuesday called on El Salvador to change course and stop using Bitcoin as legal tender, citing "large risks" posed by the cryptocurrency.

Italian giants Juventus are close to signing Fiorentina's rampaging 21-year-old striker Dusan Vlahovic, Italian media reported widely on Tuesday.

The United States warned Moscow on Tuesday of damaging sanctions, including measures personally targeting Vladimir Putin, as Russian combat troops massing around Ukraine launched new exercises.

Supporters of Burkina Faso's new junta rallied on Tuesday as the UN, France and the poor Sahel country's neighbours condemned its latest coup.