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As the temperature in Beijing hit -7C on Tuesday, 62-year-old Yang Zi stripped down to his swimming briefs and plunged into a frozen lake, as dozens of residents do every winter.

Negotiations have collapsed between the Syrian president and the chief of the country's Kurdish-led forces, a Kurdish official told AFP, as the army deployed reinforcements to flashpoint areas in the north.

In-form Belinda Bencic swatted aside an erratic Katie Boulter for the loss of five games Tuesday to fire a warning shot at the Australian Open.

Spain began three days of national mourning on Tuesday for 41 people killed after two high-speed trains collided in the country's deadliest train accident in over a decade.

Jannik Sinner strolled into the second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday when his opponent retired with the two-time defending champion in full control.

Israeli bulldozers began demolitions at the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in east Jerusalem on Tuesday, in what the organisation called an "unprecedented attack".

An overnight Russian aerial attack left thousands of residential buildings in Kyiv without heating and water in -14C temperatures on Tuesday -- another blow to a capital already reeling from strikes that have knocked out vital utilities.

Madison Keys admitted being "very nervous" as she launched her title defence with a shaky win on Tuesday at the Australian Open while French showman Gael Monfils bid farewell in a battling defeat.

French entertainer Gael Monfils was bundled out of the Australian Open in the first round on Tuesday in a brave farewell to a tournament he has lit up so many times.

Former finalist Elena Rybakina warned Tuesday if her serve was firing she would be a threat at the Australian Open, after reinforcing her title credentials with a comfortable first-round victory.

South Korea's women's football team threatened to boycott matches ahead of March's Asian Cup over "discriminatory conditions" provided by their country's football association, documents revealed Tuesday.

Asian markets extended losses Tuesday, while precious metals hit fresh peaks on fears of a US-EU trade war fuelled by Donald Trump's tariff threat over opposition to his grab for Greenland.

Australian politicians voted in favour of tougher hate crime and gun laws Tuesday, weeks after gunmen targeting Jewish people on Bondi Beach killed 15 people.

The EU is expected on Tuesday to unveil plans to keep "high-risk" Chinese suppliers away from European critical infrastructure, as the bloc ramps up efforts to reduce dependencies on third countries.

Since the US captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in early January, pictures and videos chronicling the events have been crowded out by those generated with artificial intelligence, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.

Penguins are bringing forward their breeding season at record rates as Antarctica rapidly warms due to climate change, according to research published by a global team of scientists on Tuesday.

Vietnam's top leader promised to fight corruption in an address Tuesday to a twice-a-decade congress of the Communist Party, where he is seeking expanded powers similar to China's political structure.

Ukraine's Oleksandra Oliynykova lost to reigning champion Madison Keys on Tuesday at the Australian Open but said making her soldier father proud was more important than the result.

A jittery Madison Keys said Tuesday she was "too timid" after getting the defence of her Australian Open crown off to a stuttering start, losing the first four games before rallying to stay in the title hunt.

The Indiana University Hoosiers defeated the University of Miami Hurricanes 27-21 to win the US college football national championship on Monday, crowning a fairytale undefeated campaign with their first national title.

Chewy, crunchy and not-too-sweet, round, chocolatey "Dubai-style" cookies have become the must-have dessert in South Korea -- with the rush for the snacks even prompting the Red Cross to offer them as a draw for blood donors.

Tobias Harris scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown on Monday.

Janice Tjen called it "special" after she pulled off an upset to become the first Indonesian to win a match at the Australian Open in 28 years on Tuesday.

The UK government is Tuesday due to rule on plans for a sprawling Chinese mega-embassy in central London, amid security concerns and ahead of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's expected visit to China.

Streets were half-empty Monday in the capital city of Guatemala, where outrage and fear lingered during the first day of the 30-day state of emergency decreed by the government in response to the murder of nine police officers and riots in several prisons.

Carlos Alcaraz's new-look serve at the Australian Open has been compared to Novak Djokovic and the Serbian great says he is expecting a slice of the Spanish superstar's winnings.

US President Donald Trump's latest tariff threat against Europe over Greenland has hit its top economy Germany just as hopes are growing for a modest recovery after years of stagnation.

A record number of tourists flocked to Japan last year, officials said Tuesday, despite a steep fall in Chinese visitors in December as a diplomatic row between Beijing and Tokyo rumbled on.

Madison Keys admitted she was "very nervous" as she launched her title defence with an unconvincing win on Tuesday at the Australian Open, where Jannik Sinner later begins his bid for a Melbourne hat-trick.

The Trump administration's dismantling of US foreign aid, which started a year ago on Tuesday, has caused the preventable deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and will contribute to millions more, researchers have estimated.

A Belgian court will hold a hearing Tuesday on whether a former senior diplomat should go on trial over the 1961 killing of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba.

Before DeepSeek shook up the tech world and put Chinese artificial intelligence on the map, Wu Chenglin's own startup had nearly folded three times -- but in the past year it has raised $30 million.