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Exploitative contracts that force young female Japanese pop stars to forego relationships and sex are at the heart of director Koji Fukada's latest film, which has premiered in Cannes.

Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic dominated tennis for the best part of two decades but it is debatable whether Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner can emulate that, Nadal's former coach Carlos Moya told AFP.

The almost cathedral-like silence of Court Philippe Chatrier is broken only by the thrumming of large squeegees scraping the clay: it's 6.30am and the groundstaff team quietly enters the arena to tend to the soon-to-be centuries-old ochre of Roland Garros.

Nottingham Forest's historic Champions League dream is still alive as they brace for a dramatic showdown against Chelsea, while Liverpool will finally get their hands on the Premier League trophy.

The Cannes film festival is set to hand out its coveted main awards Saturday after a politically charged fortnight of screenings and celebrity sightings.

The CannesFestival draws to a close on Saturday, with a wry Iranian film about political prisoners and a Ukrainian-directed drama about despotism among the frontrunners to pick up the Palme d'Or top prize.

At least eight people were wounded in a drone and missile attack on Kyiv Saturday, city authorities said, just as Russia and Ukraine were in the middle of a major prisoner swap.

Jenny Bae grabbed a one-stroke lead at the Mexico Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba, carding a second consecutive 69 to sit at six-under-par (138) after 36 holes at El Camaleon.

The United Nations chief said Friday that Palestinians were enduring "the cruelest phase" of the war in Gaza, where more than a dozen food trucks were looted following the partial easing of a lengthy Israeli blockade.

Canterbury Crusaders winger Sevu Reece said he was delighted to break a "curse" and become Super Rugby's highest try-scorer, lifting his team atop the standings in the process.

American Ben Griffin and Germany's Matti Schmid shared the lead at 11 under par after Friday's second round of the PGA Tour's Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.

Leading Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa was arrested Friday on charges of conspiring to sabotage upcoming parliamentary and regional elections that the opposition has vowed to boycott.

The Justice Department said Friday it reached a preliminary agreement with Boeing to settle a long-running criminal probe into deadly 737 MAX crashes, drawing condemnation from some crash victim families.

Anthropic launched its latest Claude generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) models on Thursday, claiming to set new standards for reasoning but also building in safeguards against rogue behavior.

US President Donald Trump on Friday threw his support behind a new "partnership" between US Steel and Japan's Nippon Steel, sending the American firm's share price skyrocketing on hopes of an end to the long-running saga over foreign ownership of a key national asset.

German police on Friday said they had arrested a woman after at least 17 people were injured in a knife attack at the main station in the northern city of Hamburg.

Napoli climbed back to the top of Italian football after sealing the Serie A title on Friday, bouncing back from disaster to win the Italian championship for the fourth time.

Bath captain Ben Spencer praised his side's "intensity" after they cruised past Lyon 37-12 on Friday to win the Challenge Cup in Cardiff and keep their hopes of a treble alive.

Shares of steelmaker US Steel skyrocketed on Friday after President Donald Trump announced his support for a "partnership" with Japan's Nippon Steel.

Napoli secured their fourth Serie A title on Friday, a second league crown in three seasons which came in firebrand coach Antonio Conte's first season at southern Italy's biggest club.

Bath cruised past Lyon 37-12 on Friday to win the Challenge Cup in Cardiff to keep their hopes of a treble alive.

Antonio Conte has dragged Napoli back from disaster and restored them to the top of Serie A but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season.

Scott McTominay has moved from the sidelines at Manchester United to centre stage for Napoli after winning his first league title in a superb debut season in Serie A.

Napoli sealed the Serie A title on Friday after beating Cagliari 2-0 to hold off Inter Milan and win the Italian championship for the fourth time.

A United Nations human rights expert warned Friday of intensifying persecution of independent judges, lawyers and others fighting corruption in Guatemala, urging its contentious attorney general to stop "criminalization."

Rescuers on Friday pulled out all 260 mine workers who had been stuck for more than 24 hours in an underground shaft in South Africa, the mine's operator said.

Zimbabwe's Brian Bennett said he felt as if he was back in Harare after a loyal band of travelling fans cheered him all the way to a record-breaking century in a one-off Test against England at Trent Bridge on Friday.

British rookie Oliver Bearman was hit with a 10-place grid penalty for the Monaco Grand Prix on Friday for overtaking under red flag conditions during second practice.

SpaceX said Friday it will make another launch attempt next week of the massive Starship rocket -- key to CEO Elon Musk's long-term vision of colonizing Mars -- after two consecutive in-flight explosions earlier this year.

Pop great Billy Joel cancelled a series of global tour dates after being diagnosed with a brain condition that worsened because of recent performances, he announced Friday.

A Paris court on Friday handed prison sentences to a gang of robbers who stole $10 million in jewellery from reality TV star Kim Kardashian in Paris in 2016, although none of the accused are set to return to jail and the verdicts were more lenient than requested by the prosecution.

A judge suspended Friday the Trump administration's move to block Harvard from enrolling and hosting foreign students after the prestigious university sued, calling the action unconstitutional.