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Photos of FIFA's president laughing and high-fiving in a football match with local officials weeks after a stadium disaster killed 133 people in Indonesia sparked online fury in the country on Wednesday.

Brazilian presidential candidate Lula da Silva criticised football star Neymar's support of far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, accusing the player of being motivated by a debt "pardon".

Indian authorities have prevented an award-winning photographer from flying to the United States to collect her Pulitzer Prize, the latest of several Kashmiri journalists barred from leaving the country.

Investors battled to push markets higher again Wednesday following another healthy run-up on Wall Street boosted by more positive earnings results that raised hopes for the reporting season.

British inflation jumped back above 10 percent in September on soaring food prices, official data showed Wednesday, with the country gripped by a cost-of-living crisis bedevilling the government.

An Iranian climber who caused a sensation by competing at an event abroad without a hijab was on Wednesday given a hero's welcome on her return to Tehran by supporters who raucously applauded her action.

A cheering crowd welcomed home Iranian sports climber Elnaz Rekabi at a Tehran airport Wednesday, after she competed in South Korea without a hijab, media in the Islamic republic reported.

Tens of thousands of Mexicans heading to Qatar have been warned to leave the tequila at home as authorities seek to avoid a World Cup culture clash in the Muslim Gulf state.

Patriotic messages stating the fact that "Bakhmut is Ukraine" are scrawled on monuments all around this frontline city.

To those who live here, it's like a little piece of heaven, boasting pink flamingos, white beaches and blue ocean waters.

British Prime Minister Liz Truss is set to address lawmakers in parliament on Wednesday for the first time since abandoning her tax-slashing economic agenda, as she seeks to reassert her waning political authority.

Hong Kong's new leader unveiled plans to resuscitate the business hub's fortunes on Wednesday, hoping to lure international expertise back to a city that has suffered an exodus of talent and is mired in a deep downturn.

Beaten and raped by police officers as a child, Mira was among the many victims of sexual violence during Nepal's civil war -- and is now one of the few to recount her ordeal.

Italy's Francesco Bagnaia can win his maiden MotoGP world championship crown this weekend when motorcycle-mad Malaysia hosts its first grand prix since 2019, as a thrilling title fight reaches its climax.

Asian investors battled to push markets higher again Wednesday following another healthy run-up on Wall Street boosted by more positive earnings results that raised hopes for the reporting season.

After losing four relatives to respiratory illness, Zeina Matar fled her hometown north of Lebanon's capital where she says a decaying power plant generates little electricity but very deadly pollution.

German businessman Bernd Reichart has been appointed CEO of the company promoting the Super League, a dissident European football competition aimed at supplanting the lucrative UEFA Champions League.

Cholera cases are rising in Haiti, according to Health Ministry figures obtained by AFP on Tuesday, fueling fears of a new disaster in a country already deep in a humanitarian and security crisis.

"Bolsonarismo," the Brazilian far-right movement built around President Jair Bolsonaro, shares much in common with ultra-conservatives in power in Europe -- Hungary, Poland and soon Italy -- but is closer to Donald Trump and the US alt-right.

A full-sized model of Noah's Ark sitting in rural Kentucky promotes a worldview that draws visitors from across the United States -- that the theory of evolution is false.

Inuit women in Canada's far north are bringing back a lost ancient tradition of facial tattooing that missionaries once declared "evil."

Just a year into her marriage, Manal became one of the tens of thousands of Iraqis every year who divorce in a deeply conservative nation where break-up rates have risen.

Netflix on Tuesday reported that it gained more than 2 million subscribers in the recent quarter, calming investor fears that the streaming giant was losing paying customers.

Qatar, the controversial host of the football World Cup, is a key US ally in the Middle East that is rich in gas and oil.

Italy are still hurting as the European champions sit on the sidelines while the rest of international football's elite prepares to descend on Qatar for the upcoming World Cup.

Organisers have promised a carbon neutral World Cup next month in Qatar but environmental groups are warning that the tournament will be far more polluting than advertised.

The bill being paid by Qatar for the most expensive World Cup ever held is set to rise to fantasy levels in the one-month left to the November 20 kick off.

Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge blasted home runs Tuesday as the New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians 5-1 to advance in Major League Baseball's playoffs.

President Joe Biden will announce Wednesday he's putting the final 15 million barrels on the market from a record release of US strategic oil reserves, with more releases possible if energy prices spike, a senior US official said.

More than a year after Bitcoin became legal tender in El Salvador, a new poll Tuesday showed most people in the country consider the controversial move by President Nayib Bukele as a "failure."

A warming climate could bring viruses in the Arctic into contact with new environments and hosts, increasing the risk of "viral spillover", according to research published Wednesday.

Russia will likely need two to four years to rebuild its military to the strength before the Ukraine war, Estonia's defense minister said Tuesday, urging continued pressure to keep Moscow in check.