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World number one Ashleigh Barty stunned the sporting world by on Wednesday announcing her retirement from tennis aged just 25, weeks after becoming the first home-grown Australian Open champion in 44 years.

Under-strength Australia need courage and fight to beat Japan and keep their hopes of automatically qualifying for the Qatar World Cup alive, assistant coach Rene Meulensteen said Wednesday.

Reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Ashleigh Barty announced her shock retirement from tennis on Wednesday aged 25. Here are a few highlights from her short but illustrious career:

Multi-talented Ashleigh Barty excels at so many sports that she has played professional cricket and even won a golf tournament, but it was in tennis where she rose to become the best in the world.

Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov spent five years in a Russian jail for protesting against its seizure of Crimea, and now he is on the frontline fighting for revenge.

Controversial Israel Folau is "definitely interested" in playing for Tonga at next year's Rugby World Cup and has "no regrets" over the homophobic comments that ended his Wallabies career.

Japanese gymnast Hitomi Hatakeda has announced she will retire at 21 after suffering a spinal injury at last year's world championships and struggling with motivation during the coronavirus pandemic.

World number one Ashleigh Barty stunned tennis on Wednesday by announcing her retirement from the sport aged just 25, saying she had fulfilled her dreams and was "spent physically".

World number one Ashleigh Barty's surprise retirement from tennis was met with shock and an outpouring of well wishes from current and former greats Wednesday.

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake that struck off the coast of Taiwan early Wednesday rattled buildings and roused people from their sleep, leaving one injured and causing a half-constructed bridge in the island's east to collapse.

World number one Ashleigh Barty stunned the tennis world Wednesday by announcing her early retirement from the sport at the age of just 25.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his fiancee Stella Moris get married on Wednesday, at the high-security London prison where he is being held during his extradition case.

New Zealand will relax its strict Covid-19 rules this week because case numbers have peaked and the population has high levels of immunity, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Wednesday.

Black-and-white is the hot new trend in Hollywood, where directors of Oscars-contending films such as "Belfast" and "The Tragedy of Macbeth" are embracing monochrome for its storytelling power.

Beyonce and Billie Eilish will perform during Sunday's Oscars, but outspoken vaccine skeptic Van Morrison is skipping Hollywood's biggest night, organizers said Tuesday.

Lyon midfielder Lucas Paqueta defended fellow Brazilian Neymar Tuesday after the star striker came in for boos and jeers over Paris Saint-Germain's humiliating exit from the Champions League.

Alexia Putellas' second-half double sank Real Madrid on Tuesday as reigning champions Barcelona came from behind to win 3-1 in the first leg of the Women’s Champions League quarter-finals.

Demonstrators gathered Tuesday in Kingston, Jamaica to protest the official visit of Prince William and Kate to the former British colony and demand the monarchy apologise for its role in the slave trade.

The Michelin Guide launched its 2022 edition on Tuesday, celebrating the resilience of the French food industry after two difficult years of pandemic, but calling for more women chefs.

Brazilian opposition lawmakers called Tuesday for an investigation of President Jair Bolsonaro and his education minister over accusations they inappropriately channeled federal funds to the political allies of two influential Evangelical ministers.

Released 50 years ago this week, "The Godfather" broke all box office records, won best picture at the Oscars and introduced millions of fans to a world of mafia bosses, murder-for-hire and cannoli.

British prosecutors on Tuesday hailed another conviction resulting from a years-long probe into a people smuggling operation that led to the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants in horrific conditions inside a lorry.

A top aide and ex-boyfriend of fallen Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes went on trial Tuesday in California, with prosecutors arguing Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani was equally responsible for the massive fraud at the startup.

Former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker is deliberately withholding the trophies from his glittering tennis career, a London court was told on Tuesday.

England batsman Jason Roy has been handed a suspended two-match international ban, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Tuesday.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic said Tuesday that Sweden fans should not expect too much of him in the World cup playoffs and that he was "panicking" at the prospect of retiring.

Rafael Nadal said on Tuesday he would be out of action for between four and six weeks with a stress fracture of the rib.

The US city of Miami Beach has declared a state of emergency and will impose a curfew this weekend to stem a wave of violence linked to the influx of revellers to Florida for spring break.

Pace spearheads Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi knocked over eight wickets and restricted Australia to 391 before Pakistan ended day two of the deciding Test at 90-1 in Lahore on Tuesday.

A Russian court Tuesday found jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny guilty of additional charges of embezzlement and contempt of court and sentenced him to nine years in prison as Moscow seeks to wipe out remaining pockets of dissent.

Six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez is suffering from double vision again after falling heavily in the warm-up for last week's Indonesian Grand Prix, he said on Tuesday.

Police in Sweden were Tuesday attempting to determine why an 18-year-old student allegedly killed two teachers at a high school a day earlier in an attack that has shaken the country.