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Cincinnati Masters top seeds Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek both secured opening triumphs Wednesday over qualifiers, with Swiatek forced to escape an attempted second-round ambush by France's Varvara Gracheva.

From Google to Netflix, prominent US companies are battling internet boycott calls over their perceived political leanings in a polarizing election season that has exposed them to what researchers call "brand disinformation."

England Women's head coach John Mitchell has insisted the expectations surrounding his squad are as nothing compared to the "internal pressure" driving the team ahead of next year's Rugby World Cup.

The president of New York's Columbia University has resigned, US media reported Wednesday, months after pro-Palestinian protests brought national scrutiny to the institution and just weeks before the start of the new school year.

With the 2024/25 La Liga season kicking off on Thursday AFP Sport looks at five key talking points ahead of the campaign.

Taylor Swift will return to the stage in London on Thursday to end the European leg of her "Eras" tour, a week after her Vienna concerts were cancelled due to a suicide attack plot.

Veteran anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson, detained in Greenland pending an extradition request from Japan, has spent decades battling harpoonists and seal hunters in spectacular high seas confrontations.

American-Canadian anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, arrested in July in Greenland, goes before a judge Thursday who will rule on his continued detention pending his possible extradition to Japan.

Bryson DeChambeau, who captured his second US Open title in June, sees a chance to go lower than his stunning 12-under par 58 when the LIV Golf Greenbrier starts Friday.

Manchester United kick-off the 2024/25 Premier League season at home to Fulham on Friday before Manchester City begin the defence of their title at free-spending Chelsea on Sunday.

The All Blacks made four changes Thursday to their starting side to face Argentina in the second Test, with ex-captain Sam Cane also included on the bench following last weekend's shock defeat to the Pumas in The Rugby Championship.

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes killed two people in the country's south on Wednesday, with Hezbollah announcing the deaths of two of its fighters, the latest cross-border violence amid fears of a full-blown regional war.

Google on Tuesday confirmed that hackers backed by Iran are targeting the campaigns of US presidential rivals Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

At least 1.4 million girls in Afghanistan have been denied access to secondary education since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, with the future of an entire generation now "in jeopardy", the United Nations' cultural agency said Thursday.

Two French pilots died on Wednesday after their Rafale jets collided in mid-air in eastern France, President Emmanuel Macron said, in a rare accident involving the cutting-edge military aircraft.

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes killed three people in the country's south on Wednesday, with Hezbollah announcing two of its fighters among the dead, the latest cross-border violence amid fears of a full-blown regional war.

North Korea will reopen to foreign tourism in December after nearly five years of Covid-triggered closure, two specialized tour operators said Wednesday.

Kylian Mbappe struck on his Real Madrid debut to help his new side claim a record sixth UEFA Super Cup with a 2-0 win over Atalanta on Wednesday in Warsaw.

Scottie Scheffler was showing off his Olympic gold medal on Wednesday and preparing to chase a first PGA Tour playoff title, while Rory McIlroy hopes to "flip the script" on a heartbreaking year in the next few weeks.

NASA needs to decide by the end of August whether to return two astronauts to Earth aboard Boeing's Starliner, which flew them to the International Space Station (ISS), or bring them home on a SpaceX craft, officials said Wednesday.

Kylian Mbappe scored on his long-awaited Real Madrid debut in the UEFA Super Cup against Atalanta on Wednesday, putting Carlo Ancelotti's side 2-0 up.

Argentine prosecutors on Wednesday sought the indictment of former president Alberto Fernandez for "injuries" and "threats" alleged by his ex-partner Fabiola Yanez, according to a court document seen by AFP.

A German military base was sealed off for several hours Wednesday as authorities investigated suspected sabotage while a NATO airbase in the country faced an attempted trespassing incident, officials said.

Jannik Sinner fought off eight break points as the top seed began the Cincinnati Masters with a 6-4, 7-5 triumph over US qualifier Alex Michelsen on Wednesday.

NASA needs to decide by the end of August whether to return two astronauts to Earth aboard Boeing's Starliner, which flew them to the International Space Station (ISS), or bring them home on a rival SpaceX craft, officials said Wednesday.

Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas met with Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday in Ankara for talks on a ceasefire and peace, a day after a visit to Moscow.

France on Thursday remembers the 1944 Allied landings in Provence, an event overshadowed by the Normandy landings two months earlier, but still key to the World War II endgame in Europe.

Marina and her family were used to hearing the distant boom of explosions from their village in Russia's Kursk region, just a few kilometres from the Ukrainian border.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the mpox surge in Africa was now a global public health emergency, sounding its highest possible alarm over the worsening situation.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that Ukrainian troops had "advanced well" into Russia's Kursk region, as Kyiv's biggest cross-border attack stretched into a second week.

Mohammed Abu al-Qumsan had just collected the birth certificates of his three-day-old twins when he received the news: his Gaza apartment had been bombed, killing the babies and their mother.

Kylian Mbappe will make his long-awaited Real Madrid debut in the UEFA Super Cup against Atalanta on Wednesday, with coach Carlo Ancelotti naming him in the starting line-up.