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The Spanish economy expanded 3.2 percent last year thanks to buoyant exports and consumption that have made it one of the fastest-growing developed countries, official data showed on Wednesday.

Shares in Dutch tech giant ASML soared Wednesday despite a dip in annual net profit, as investors cheered better-than-expected orders for its cutting-edge chip-making machines.

Chinese tourists visiting Thailand for Lunar New Year are worried about being kidnapped by gangsters to work in hellish scam centres, despite efforts to reassure them.

An abandoned lifeguard cabin, a rusty pier and mangled umbrellas are all that is left of Ein Gedi, once Israel's flagship beach drawing international tourists to float in the world-famous waters of the Dead Sea.

From incense offerings and vibrant lion dances in Beijing to prayer rituals at temples in Bangkok and Taipei, hundreds of millions of people across Asia celebrated the Lunar New Year on Wednesday, ushering in the Year of the Snake.

Taiwan will consider supporting its domestic industrythe government said Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump warned he will soon place tariffs on overseas-made semiconductor chips.

Dutch tech giant ASML, which sells cutting-edge machines to make semiconductor chips, reported a drop in annual net profit Wednesday, as geopolitical headwinds and the emergence of Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek disrupt the sector.

Skipper Steve Smith crossed a milestone 10,000 runs in Test cricket as Australia reached 145-2 at lunch on day one of the first match against Sri Lanka.

US export controls on high-tech chips may have inadvertently fuelled the success of start-up DeepSeek's AI chatbot, sparking fears in Washington there could be little it can do to stop China in the push for global dominance in AI.

Australia's Steve Smith on Wednesday joined a select group of batsmen to reach 10,000 career Test runs during the first morning of the opening Test against Sri Lanka.

Hollywood star Renee Zellweger on Wednesday will mark the return of Bridget Jones -- the Chardonnay-swigging, calorie-counting hapless 1990s singleton -- at the world premiere of the franchise's upcoming film "Mad About the Boy".

Dutch tech giant ASML, which sells cutting-edge machines to make semiconductor chips, reported a drop in annual net profits Wednesday, as geopolitical headwinds and the emergence of Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek disrupt the sector.

Promising a "simplification shock", the EU will unveil a much-anticipated blueprint to revamp Europe's economic model on Wednesday, as the bloc struggles to keep up with China and the United States.

Tyrese Maxey scored 43 points to lead the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers to a 118-104 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday as the surging Houston Rockets pulled off a tense 100-96 win over Atlanta.

Japanese electronics and entertainment giant Sony Group said Wednesday that it has promoted Hiroki Totoki to chief executive officer as part of a wider management reorganisation.

Sixteen Just Stop Oil protesters handed tough UK prison terms will appeal for leniency on Wednesday in a closely watched case as two others face court for damaging Stonehenge.

Britain's finance minister Rachel Reeves is on Wednesday expected to announce controversial plans for a third runway at London's Heathrow airport as the Labour government seeks to kickstart economic growth.

Former swimming great Kirsty Coventry says she sees no problem in being a candidate to become the most powerful person in sport despite being a minister in the Zimbabwean government whose election in 2023 was described as neither "free nor fair."

Manchester United and Tottenham are among the sides aiming to ensure direct passage to the Europa League last 16 in Thursday's league phase finale with nine places in the knockout stages up for grabs.

Japanese media are still failing to report sexual assault cases properly, a key figure in the country's nascent #MeToo movement told AFP in the wake of the scandal surrounding celebrity Masahiro Nakai and Fuji TV.

The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have invited US President Donald Trump to visit this year for the 80th anniversary of the World War II atomic bombings, officials said Wednesday.

Sumo's only grand master Hoshoryu vowed not to "tarnish the title" after being officially promoted to the highest rank on Wednesday, 15 years after his uncle quit the sport in disgrace.

Asian markets rose in holiday-thinned trade Wednesday, tracking a rally on Wall Street, where tech titans led by Nvidia recovered some of their hefty losses a day earlier as worries over Chinese AI startup DeepSeek subsided.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Elon Musk's company SpaceX will "soon" begin a mission to repatriate two American astronauts who have been stranded for months on the International Space Station.

The president of crisis-hit Democratic Republic of Congo was set to meet his Rwandan counterpart at an emergency summit on Wednesday, as fighters backed by Kigali appeared on the brink of seizing the key city of Goma.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed that Pyongyang's nuclear programme would continue "indefinitely", state media reported Wednesday, days after new US President Donald Trump said he would make renewed diplomatic overtures to the reclusive leader.

A stampede at the world's largest religious gathering in India killed at least 15 people with many more injured, a doctor at the Kumbh Mela festival told AFP Wednesday.

Unfounded cancer cures, dubious anti-vaccine narratives, and false claims that neurological disorders can be "reversed" through diets: influential American and European podcasters are peddling harmful health misinformation while largely escaping scrutiny, researchers say.

Beyonce is the most decorated artist in Grammys history, and her album releases have both triggered cultural earthquakes and reshaped music industry norms.

For a month every year, thousands of Bolivians throng the stalls of an unusual market in La Paz, shopping for tiny toy houses and wads of fake cash -- substitutes for the real-life objects their hearts desire.

Blurred posts, downranked searches and deleted accounts: Since President Donald Trump's election, groups sharing information about abortion pills say they have faced a surge in online censorship—hindering their ability to reach women urgently seeking the procedure.

As the clock ticks down on TikTok's 75-day reprieve from divesting from its Chinese owners or being banned in the United States, several contenders are in the running.