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Germany said Friday it had deported 81 Afghan men convicted of crimes to their Taliban-controlled homeland, as Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government looks to signal a hard line on immigration.

Emergency crews rescued 18 workers trapped in a gold mine in Colombia on Friday, the government said.

Rory McIlroy continued to battle driving woes during a topsy-turvy front nine of his second round at the British Open on Friday, as 2023 champion Brian Harman moved into the lead at Royal Portrush.

Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles insisted he was ready to bring his showman persona to a sell-out London Stadium in the 11th Diamond League meet of the season on Saturday.

The EU on Friday adopted a sweeping new package of sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine war, looking to pile more pressure on the Kremlin by lowering a price cap for Moscow's oil exports.

Liverpool are preparing to launch a bid for Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike after missing out on Newcastle's Alexander Isak, according to reports on Friday.

European and Asian stocks markets closed out the week broadly higher Friday following Wall Street's latest record highs sparked by healthy US retail data and upbeat earnings.

At least three wild elephants were found dead across Sri Lanka on Friday, officials said, a day after six young rescued elephants were returned to the jungle under a conservation drive.

Players line up inside Nintendo's booth at a Japanese game fair to try upcoming Switch 2 titles, but, for once, the company's chirpy red-capped mascot Mario is nowhere to be seen.

Former Liverpool and Manchester United star Paul Ince has been banned from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay £7,085 ($9,524) after a drink-driving offence.

Spanish firefighters on Friday were bringing under control a forest fire near Madrid that had cloaked the capital in a huge cloud of acrid smoke.

Two of the most senior Christian leaders in the Holy Land travelled to Gaza on Friday after Israeli fire killed three at the Palestinian territory's only Catholic church, provoking international condemnation.

An improved Scotland finished their season-ending Pacific tour on a high note Friday, scoring seven tries to outclass Samoa 41-12 in a fast-paced Test in Auckland.

Under Israeli bombardment and diplomatic pressure, Ahmed al-Sharaa pulled troops from Syria's Druze heartland -- a move that exposes the interim leader's weakness just as he sought to assert control.

Donald Trump's administration said it would seek the release of grand jury testimony related to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, as the US president sought to dispel lingering political fallout over his team's handling of the late financier's sex trafficking case.

The Hollywood fairytale that is Wrexham AFC is only just beginning, the club's chief executive said Friday as the Welsh side continued its unlikely quest to crack the English Premier League.

Snoop Dogg has become co-owner of Championship side Swansea City in an unlikely alliance between the world of rap and football, the Welsh club announced.

Pakistan will ban for five years the construction of new hotels around picturesque lakes in the north that attract tens of thousands of tourists each year, a government agency said.

Hundreds of television and radio stations across the United States risk seeing their resources evaporate, after President Donald Trump prevailed Friday in scrapping federal funding for public broadcasting.

After two weeks of negotiations, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is still far from finalizing rules for extracting coveted metals on the high seas despite heightened pressure triggered by US efforts to fast-track the controversial practice.

Markets headed into the weekend on a broadly positive note Friday, as investors took up New York's latest record highs sparked by healthy US retail data and upbeat earnings from some of Wall Street's big names.

North Korea has barred foreigners from a newly opened beach resort, the country's tourism administration said this week, just days after Russia's top diplomat visited the area.

British and Irish Lions assistant coach Johnny Sexton said on Friday his team was taking no notice of bookmakers who have the visitors overwhelming favourites to win the opening Test against the Wallabies.

Stephen Colbert's "The Late Show", long a staple of late-night television, will come to an end in 2026, the comedian and network CBS said on Thursday.

The British and Irish Lions have blocked Wallabies backrower Pete Samu from appearing for a First Nations and Pasifika XV against them because he did not play Super Rugby this season, the visitors confirmed Friday.

State authorities blamed the management of India's Royal Challengers Bengaluru cricket team for last month's deadly stampede during celebrations for their first IPL title.

US President Donald Trump threatened to sue The Wall Street Journal and owner Rupert Murdoch Thursday over a story about an alleged off-color letter he wrote to Jeffrey Epstein, amid lingering political fallout over his administration's handling of the late financier's sex trafficking case.

Serbia's youthful anti-graft protesters have celebrated what may prove to be the country's last ever EXIT music festival, but hope the energy it generated will still boost their fight for change.

US Republicans early Friday approved President Donald Trump's plan to cancel $9 billion in funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, vowing it was just the start of broader efforts by Congress to slash the federal budget.

Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith.

The All Blacks were hit by an injury blow Friday on the eve of the third Test against France, losing experienced wing Rieko Ioane to a hamstring injury.

China is prepared to take measures and has a "plentiful" toolbox to avoid an economic slump in the second half of the year, its commerce minister said Friday as he admitted it faced a "very severe and complex situation".