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[ad_1] CNN  —  The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has “formally warned” Russian tennis player Anastasia Potapova after she was seen wearing a Spartak Moscow soccer jersey ahead of her match against American Jessica Pegula at Indian Wells, a spokesperson told CNN Thursday. World No.1 Iga Świątek was critical of the WTA for allowing Potapova to wear the shirt, saying on Tuesday that “more should be done to help Ukrainian players because everything we discuss in tennis is about Belarusian and Russian players.” Potopova has been pictured wearing the shirt on several occasions, including in Dubai in a photo she posted to her own Instagram account. When asked about the shirt after the match, Potapova said she had supported Spartak since she was 13 and saw no provocation in it, Reuters news agency reported. In an email to CNN, WTA spokesperson Amy Binder said: “Regardi...

[ad_1] Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Meanwhile in China newsletter, a three-times-a-week update exploring what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it impacts the world. Sign up here. Hong Kong CNN  —  The US Department of Energy’s assessment that Covid-19 most likely emerged due to a laboratory accident in China has reignited fierce debate and attention on the question of how the pandemic began. But the “low confidence” determination , made in a newly updated classified report, has raised more questions than answers, as the department has publicly provided no new evidence to back the claim. It’s also generated fierce pushback from China. “We urge the US to respect science and facts, stop politicizing this issue, stop its intelligence-led, politics-driven origins-tracing,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday. ...

[ad_1] CNN  —  Azerbaijan’s tennis federation has called for Karen Khachanov to be sanctioned after the Russian player expressed support for the Armenian-majority population living in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region at the Australian Open. Khachanov, who has Armenian heritage, has written “Artsakh stay strong” on TV cameras after matches in Melbourne. Artsakh is the Armenian term for the breakaway state of Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian-majority region located in Azerbaijani territory that has been the focus of decades of conflict . Armenian forces took control of large swathes of territory in and around Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s; fighting then flared intermittently until 2020, when Azerbaijan seized control over large parts of those territories during a bloody, six-week war. “I have Armenian roots,” Khachanov told reporters after his quarterf...

[ad_1] Tokyo, Japan CNN  —  Japan’s population has fallen for the 12th consecutive year, as deaths rise and the birth rate continues to sink, according to government data released Wednesday. The population stood at 124.49 million in 2022 – representing a decline of 556,000 from the previous year, figures show. That figure represents both the natural change in population – meaning deaths and births – and the flow of people entering and exiting the country. The natural change last year was the biggest on record, with a fall of 731,000 – cushioned by the influx of people entering Japan, which provided an increase of 175,000, said Cabinet Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno in a news conference on Wednesday. “It is essential to take firm measures to address the declining birthrate, which is a major factor in the decline in population, as one of the top priority ...

[ad_1] Hong Kong CNN  —  China is planning to offer free fertility treatment to citizens under its national insurance scheme in a bid to reverse its plummeting birth rate. The National Healthcare Security Administration said on Friday it would extend its coverage to help shoulder the costs for families trying to conceive. It said the new coverage would include assisted reproductive technology (ART) techniques and also cover labor analgesia to ease pain in childbirth. The most commonly performed ART procedure is in vitro fertilization (IVF). The administration described China’s falling population as one of the biggest obstacles to national development and stressed it had already added ovulation-inducing drugs to its coverage, to help “reduce the burden of infertility.” The expanded coverage is part of a wider attempt by Chinese authorities to persuade more people t...

[ad_1] London CNN  —  The British pound crashed to a record low last fall as investors rebelled against budget plans by former Prime Minister Liz Truss. Now, it’s enjoying a comeback. Sterling hit its highest level against the US dollar in 10 months on Tuesday, topping $1.25 for the first time since June 2022. The pound, which has advanced about 3.3% versus the greenback since the start of 2023, is the best-performing currency among developed economies this year. The UK currency has been boosted by indications the country’s economy is holding up better than expected. Activity is now thought to have expanded 0.1% in the final three months of last year, up from a previous estimate of no growth at all. Gross domestic product growth in January has been estimated at 0.3% after dropping 0.5% in December. This resilience is bolstering expectations the Bank of England will maintain ag...

[ad_1] CNN  —  One of Cambodia’s last remaining independent media outlets has been shut down by Prime Minister Hun Sen ahead of national elections in July, in a move condemned by rights groups as a blow to press freedom. Based in the capital Phnom Penh, Voice of Democracy (VOD), a local outlet run by the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, published radio and online reports about labor and rights issues , environmental crime and political corruption . It reported last week that Hun Manet, son of the prime minister, allegedly signed an agreement to donate aid to Turkey, which was struck by a catastrophic earthquake last week. The report alluded to an apparent overstep of his authority. Hun Sen refuted the report and issued statements on Facebook accusing the outlet of attacking his son and hurting the “dignity and reputation” of the Cambodian government. H...

[ad_1] Paris CNN  —  Impromptu protests broke out in Paris and across several French cities Thursday evening following a move by the government to force through reforms of the pension system that will push up the retirement age from 62 to 64. While the proposed reforms of France’s cherished pensions system were already controversial, it was the manner in which the bill was approved – sidestepping a vote in the country’s lower house, where President Emmanuel Macron’s party crucially lacks an outright majority – that arguably sparked the most anger. And that fury is widespread in France. Figures from pollster IFOP show that 83% of young adults (18-24) and 78% of those aged over 35 found the government’s manner of passing the bill “unjustified.” Even among pro-Macron voters – those who voted for him in the first round of last year’s presidential election, before a runoff with hi...