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Rats have been seen as filthy disease-spreaders since at least the time of the plague, but new research shows that rodents and other city-dwelling animals are less likely to cause the next pandemic than previously thought.

Detained US women's basketball star Brittney Griner will be honored at all WNBA venues when the new season gets under way later this week, the league said Tuesday.

Major oil producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia meet Thursday with less pressure to open tabs more widely than planned as China's Covid lockdown threatens demand.

Sex Pistols' punk-rock classic "God Save The Queen" is to get another airing to mark Queen Elizabeth II's upcoming Platinum Jubilee, 45 years after it first scandalised the pop charts.

Second-row Paul Willemse is a doubt for France's July tour to Japan after his club Montpellier announced on Tuesday he will be out for two months with knee damage.

Kevin De Bruyne says winning the Champions League would "change the narrative" around Manchester City as they prepare for the second leg of their semi-final against Real Madrid.

The United States said Tuesday that Russia has unjustly detained basketball star Brittney Griner, a finding that steps up efforts to free her more than two months after she was seized in Moscow.

President Joe Biden called on American voters Tuesday to defend the "fundamental" right to abortion after a leaked draft suggested the Supreme Court is poised to strike down the longstanding decision protecting a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy.

Indie disco stars Bloc Party are back with a record that puts a new fire in the band, fuelled by anger at Britain's political leaders.

MotoGP's promoters Dorna on Tuesday responded to reports that Suzuki were thinking of quitting by telling the manufacturers they had to stick to their contract.

The US central bank opened its policy meeting Tuesday, which is expected to produce a big rate hike as policymakers go on the attack against record high inflation.

Nicholas Pooran will succeed the retired Kieron Pollard as West Indies' limited-overs skipper, the region's cricket board announced on Tuesday.

European officials were preparing a new package of sanctions Tuesday to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, but some members are jockeying to opt out of an oil embargo.

Russian forces launched an offensive Tuesday against the Azovstal steel plant, the last hold-out of Ukrainian forces in the battered southern port city of Mariupol, after a ceasefire that had allowed civilians to evacuate.

France's left-of-centre parties were on Tuesday close to a broad alliance for June parliamentary polls, hoping that a united front can offer stiff opposition in President Emmanuel Macron's second term after a disappointing presidential election.

Thomas Mueller has extended his contract with Bayern Munich until 2024, it was announced on Tuesday, with the Germany international set to spend his entire professional career at the Bundesliga champions, who he joined as a 10-year-old.

Carlo Ancelotti admitted on Tuesday that Real Madrid will have to gamble if they are to come from behind to beat Manchester City in the semi-final of the Champions League.

Ben Stokes says he wants to lead a team of "selfless" cricketers as he plots England's revival after being named as the new Test captain.

Pfizer reported another quarter of huge revenues growth because of its Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday, but lowered the company's full-year profit forecast due in part to shifts in foreign exchange.

Major stock markets mostly steadied Tuesday, with traders braced for a sharp US interest rate hike to curb soaring inflation.

Ashleigh Barty's retirement in March when she was women's tennis number one and just 25 years old is a "weird one to explain", South African cricket legend AB de Villiers has told AFP in an interview before they team up for a golf event.

At least two people have died in a building that collapsed in central China, the official Xinhua news agency said Tuesday, four days into a rescue operation searching for dozens still missing.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has said that he will "probably" retire when he leaves the La Liga champions, but is prepared to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu for several years.

More than 70 shells embedded in a footpath outside a Bangkok shopping mall have been found to be the fossils of marine creatures that lived more than 66 million years ago, Thai experts have confirmed.

The chief executive of England's Rugby Football Union has been admitted to hospital but is expected to return to work, the governing body announced Tuesday.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to ban online cockfighting following outcry over the industry sparked by the disappearance of dozens of workers and concerns about the social costs of gambling.

The WHO said Tuesday that "epidemic" overweight and obesity rates are linked to over 1.2 million deaths annually across Europe, calling for swift policy changes to reverse the dangerous trend.

Pope Francis said in an interview published Tuesday that he requested a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, while comparing the scale of the bloodshed to Rwanda's genocide.

Tokyo Olympic silver medallist cyclist Azizulhasni Awang said that he had been given a "second chance" at life after the 34-year-old Malaysian had open-heart surgery.

Czech art collector Meda Mladkova, who supported artists in Communist-ruled Czechoslovakia from exile in Washington during the Cold War era, died aged 102 on Tuesday, her foundation said.

An innovative women's cricket tournament grouping established stars with emerging-nation players starts this week as the sport looks to expand globally and outgrow its reliance on the men's game.

British energy giant BP said Tuesday that its decision to pull out of Russia as a result of the war in Ukraine pushed it deep into the red in the first three months of this year.