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Canada down Finland to set up USA ice hockey grudge clash
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Europe leaders battle for unity in 'new phase' under Trump
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Israeli military set to miss Lebanon withdrawal deadline
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Shakira resumes world tour after Lima hospital stay
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Mexico says to sue Google if it insists on using 'Gulf of America'
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Top Russia, US officials to meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday
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Europe leaders battle for unity after Trump shock
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Djokovic calls for overhaul of 'unfair' anti-doping system
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Rio swelters in heatwave in run-up to Carnival
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Israel says committed to Trump plan for Gaza displacement
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Argentine prosecutors to probe Milei over 'cryptogate'
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Turkey seals hotel spa illegally set up inside ancient cistern
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France hosts emergency meeting on Europe response to Trump
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Revamped Finnish museum says 'Good Bye, Lenin!'
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Bayern hopeful Kane fit for Celtic clash
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European leaders meet on response to US Ukraine shift
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Muhsin Hendricks: S.Africa's gay imam who broke the mould
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WHO chief urges pandemic accord action after US withdrawal
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Italy probing Amazon over 1.2b euros in third-party seller VAT
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Russell, Graham in Scotland squad to face England in Six Nations
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Israeli military set to miss Lebanon withdrawal deadline despite pushback
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France cuts prison activities to smooth facial massage outcry
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Kenya's HIV patients victims of US aid freeze
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Starmer to meet Trump 'next week': UK govt
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US tensions add fire to final stretch of German election campaign
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Italy's Milan upstages Pogacar in UAE Tour first stage
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Pope's condition 'complex', hospital stay extended: Vatican
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Liverpool can cope with title nerves: Van Dijk
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Greece to open museum of ancient undersea treasures
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European markets rise ahead of Ukraine war talks
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'Now or never' for pandemic accord, says WHO chief after US pulls out
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New Zealand's Williamson makes joint move to Middlesex and London Spirit
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Hollywood should resist Trump pressure, says director Todd Haynes
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Ukraine war death toll: huge but not fully known
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Ex-Tour de France winner Thomas to retire at end of season
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African players in Europe: Marmoush wreaks havoc in 14 minutes
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Sri Lanka budget banks on car taxes to boost coffers
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Singapore opposition leader fined for lying to parliament
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Stock markets start week on mixed note
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Musk's DOGE seeks access to US tax system: reports
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Champions Trophy set for liftoff after India-Pakistan row, boycott calls
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US tensions plague final phase of German election campaign
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Rodgers urges Celtic to be bold against Bayern
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Chatbot vs national security? Why DeepSeek is raising concerns
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Court finds Singapore opposition leader guilty of lying to parliament
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DeepSeek removed from South Korea app stores pending privacy review
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Rights groups slam Australian plan to transfer criminals to Nauru
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End of the road for Kolkata's beloved yellow taxis
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S. Korea says DeepSeek removed from local app stores pending privacy review
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Navalny's widow seeks to rally divided Russian opposition

Stock markets get boost from bank earnings, inflation data
Stock markets surged on Wednesday, buoyed by robust US bank earnings and encouraging inflation data from the United States and Britain.
Wall Street's three main indexes jumped after US financial titans Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock and others posted stellar quarterly results.
Shares in Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and BlackRock surged almost five percent, though JPMorgan saw a more modest gain of 0.5 percent.
European stock markets were also firmly in the green in afternoon deals while Asia finished on a mixed note.
US inflation rose for a third straight month in December, reaching 2.9 percent, in line with expectations from economists.
But "core" inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, came in at a lower-than-expected 3.2 percent, a slight decline from the month earlier.
"The key takeaway from the report for a market worried about inflation heating up again is that these results were better than feared," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading platform XTB, noted that the US Federal Reserve closely looks at core inflation to make decisions on interest rates.
"Digging deeper into this report, although headline inflation was higher, this was down to food prices and a sharp rise in monthly gas prices," Brooks said.
"The Fed could choose to look through price increases for volatile commodities that they cannot control. Instead, the Fed may focus on core inflation," she added.
Analysts have pared back their expectations on the number of Fed rate cuts for this year and believe policymakers will hold borrowing costs steady at the next decision-making meeting later this month as inflation remains above its two-percent target.
In Britain, official figures showed that inflation unexpectedly fell to 2.5 percent in December, easing some pressure on the Labour government as it struggles with growing the economy.
The pound rose versus the dollar, with analysts forecasting that the Bank of England would likely cut its key interest rate next month as the rate of price increases cools.
Separate official data showed Europe's biggest economy Germany contracted for a second straight year in 2024, with little hope of a strong recovery ahead of national elections next month.
- Nintendo jump -
In Asia, Tokyo's stock market ended down, though games giant Nintendo piled on more than two percent and briefly hit a record high as traders anticipate it will soon release its much-anticipated Switch 2 console.
The Nikkei 225's drop also came as the yen strengthened, with traders weighing the chances of a rate hike by the Bank of Japan this month.
Also in focus this week is the release of Chinese 2024 growth data, with expectations that it could come in below the previous year and be among the slowest in more than three decades.
Leaders have unveiled a string of measures to reignite the economy, with a particular emphasis on consumers and the troubled property sector, though there are fears the return of President-elect Donald Trump could see another painful China-US trade war.
Trump has warned he will impose tariffs of as much as 60 percent on imports from China, and observers say Beijing has likely kept its powder dry with regards stimulus as it prepares for the next four years.
- Key figures around 1445 GMT -
New York - Dow: UP 1.6 percent at 43,198.12 points
New York - S&P: UP 1.6 percent at 5,937.28
New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 2.0 19,418.76
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.9 percent at 8,277.79
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.9 percent at 7,491.39
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 1.5 percent at 20,575.66
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 38,444.58 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.3 percent at 19,286.07 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,227.12 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0335 from $1.0310 on Tuesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2283 from $1.2211
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 156.24 yen from 157.98 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.13 pence from 84.40 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.0 at $80.75 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.4 percent at $77.41 per barrel
J.Bergmann--BTB