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Fierce winds, pounding rain and rough seas battered southern China on Wednesday as powerful Typhoon Ragasa made landfall in Guangdong province after killing at least 17 in Taiwan.

The United States launched three spacecraft on Wednesday in an effort to better monitor space weather such as solar storms, which can interfere with technology and power systems on Earth.

Europe's main stock markets retreated Wednesday following gains in Asia and Wall Street losses, with focus on shares in technology giants and a warning from US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell on interest rates.

The Kremlin said Wednesday it would press on with its military offensive in Ukraine and rejected US President Donald Trump's claim that Kyiv's army could retake territory it had seized.

An influential consumer rights association on Wednesday urged a court to ban the sale of Perrier bottled water in France, saying the brand's claim that its product is "natural" was misleading.

At least 17 people were killed when a decades-old barrier lake burst in Taiwan, government officials said Wednesday, after Super Typhoon Ragasa pounded the island with torrential rain.

"People always say we live in a fractured and cynical country. I can't bear it!" Famed French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand pushes a different image of his homeland with his latest monumental project.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed dozens of people across the Palestinian territory on Wednesday, as the military pressed its assault on Gaza City from where hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee.

Pakistan pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi has declared that his team will reach the Asia Cup final and can beat India if the arch-rivals clash again.

Amazon plans to shut all its grocery stores in Britain, after the shops without checkout registers failed to compete with online delivery demand.

Fierce winds, pounding rain and rough seas battered southern China and Hong Kong on Wednesday as powerful Typhoon Ragasa churned toward millions of people in Guangdong Province after killing at least 15 in Taiwan.

The Kremlin said Wednesday it had no choice but to continue its military offensive on Ukraine and rejected US President Donald Trump's claim that Russia was a "paper tiger".

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday rejected claims his government was undermining the climate change fight, but insisted that industry also needed to be protected to revive the crisis-wracked economy.

Jannik Sinner said Wednesday he has been making changes to his game and "reflecting a lot" ahead of his first appearance since losing the US Open final to Carlos Alcaraz.

Ahead of Moldova's parliamentary elections on Sunday, deepfake videos and unsubstantiated accusations targeting pro-EU President Maia Sandu are spreading online, with analysts warning the country has become Moscow's "testing ground" for information warfare in Europe.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has arrived in Denmark's autonomous territory Greenland for a ceremony Wednesday to apologise in person to the victims of a forced contraception programme that Copenhagen ran for more than three decades.

A trial linked to the illegal wiretapping of politicians and journalists using the spy software Predator opens on Wednesday in Greece, three years after a scandal that rocked the country.

Hugo Ekitike has apologised to Liverpool fans after he was sent off for removing his shirt following his late League Cup winner against Southampton -- a celebration labelled "stupid" by manager Arne Slot.

The Channel Tunnel's operator and train service Eurostar have expressed confidence that the European Union's much delayed new border-check system will run smoothly when launched next month.

Equities were mixed Wednesday following a down day on Wall Street, where worries about high valuations were compounded by mixed messaging from the Federal Reserve on its plans for interest rates.

At least 14 people were killed when a decades-old lake barrier burst in Taiwan, a government official said Wednesday, after Super Typhoon Ragasa pounded the island with torrential rain.

South Korea opened a criminal trial Wednesday for the wife of impeached former president Yoon Suk Yeol, marking the first time an ex-first lady has faced trial, after her husband was removed from office over a martial law bid.

Colombian guerrilla fighters today are no more than drug lords given too much leeway by the leftist government, infamous former rebel commander Rodrigo Londono, aka "Timochenko," told AFP on Tuesday.

Embattled Australian telco giant Optus was hit with a $66 million fine on Wednesday over "appalling" sales conduct as the firm grapples with fallout from a network outage linked to several deaths.

TV host Jimmy Kimmel defended free speech when he returned to US screens on Tuesday, calling government pressure on his late-night talk show "anti-American" as critics decried his suspension as an attack on constitutional rights.

A portion of a busy road in Thailand's capital caved in early Wednesday, leaving a hole dozens of meters deep in front of a main hospital and forcing people nearby to evacuate.

World number one Carlos Alcaraz said Wednesday that he will have to prepare for a new and improved Jannik Sinner after beating his great rival in the US Open final.

Japan's prime minister told the United Nations on Tuesday that Tokyo's recognition of the State of Palestine was only a question of time, saying he was "indignant" at recent comments by Israeli officials.

Fierce winds, pounding rain and high seas battered Hong Kong on Wednesday as Super Typhoon Ragasa headed into southern China after causing a lake burst that killed at least 14 people in Taiwan.

US President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday hours before Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show was due to be back on the air in the United States, insulting the host, and threatening to "test ABC" over the move.

Jose Caballero hit a walk-off single as the New York Yankees clinched a Major League Baseball post-season berth on Tuesday with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Australia were dealt a Bledisloe Cup blow on Wednesday when fullback Andrew Kellaway was ruled out of Saturday's clash against New Zealand in Auckland with a calf issue.

In a labyrinth of tunnels running beneath 4,000-metre peaks, Tajik miners are scrabbling to secure antimony, one of the metals at the centre of a worldwide race for rare minerals.

The leader of the Democratic Republic of the Congo asked UN member states on Tuesday to recognize a "silent genocide" in his country, as France announced it will host an emergency conference on the conflict there next month.

Once a symbol of cultural prestige, Iran's handmade rugs are no longer selling as fast as they once did, as sanctions weigh on an already troubled economy and buyers' tastes change.

Abdullah Abbas waded through Lahore's flooded streets, struggling to push his motorcycle and deliver a food order on time.

Equities wavered Wednesday following a down day on Wall Street, where worries about high valuations were compounded by mixed messaging from the Federal Reserve on its plans for interest rates.

Marc Marquez can clinch his seventh MotoGP world championship in Japan at the weekend to underline a season of dominance and match the record of motorcycle great Valentino Rossi.

At least 14 people were killed when a decades-old lake barrier burst in Taiwan, a government official said Wednesday, after Super Typhoon Ragasa pounded the island with torrential rains.