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The helmsman of a huge container ship that ran aground in Norway just a stone's throw away from a cabin as its owner slept was probably asleep as well at the time of the accident, Norwegian media reported Friday.

Sri Lanka's former skipper Angelo Mathews said on Friday he will retire from Test cricket after playing in the first match against Bangladesh next month but will continue white-ball cricket.

The banning of fugitive ex-leader Sheikh Hasina's party offers a sliver of justice for Bangladeshis demanding she face trial for crimes against humanity but also raises concerns about the inclusivity of elections.

British right-wing newspaper The Telegraph has agreed a takeover by US investment group RedBird Capital Partners, ending a two-year saga marked by UK government intervention over press freedoms.

Suriname President Chan Santokhi has vowed days ahead of elections that his country will maintain its rare status as a carbon negative nation, despite plans to exploit massive oil reserves.

Ivan Toney on Friday earned a surprise recall to Thomas Tuchel's England squad for internationals against Andorra and Senegal.

Son Heung-min "showcased the strength" of South Korean football to the world by lifting the Europa League trophy with Tottenham, the country's FA said on Friday.

Donald Trump's administration has revoked Harvard University's ability to enroll foreign nationals, putting the future of thousands of students at risk, with China on Friday slamming the "politicization" of educational exchanges.

Equities mostly rose Friday following the previous day's US bond-fuelled sell-off with traders tracking a slight pullback in Treasury yields as Donald Trump's signature tax-cutting budget passed a key congressional vote.

Germany's economy grew more than previously thought at the start of the year, as its exports surged before US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs, official data showed Friday.

Flood victims confronted damage from a record deluge in eastern Australia on Friday, returning to find their homes caked in silt, cars half submerged and streets littered with debris.

Equities were mixed Friday following the previous day's US bond-fuelled sell-off with traders tracking a slight pullback in Treasury yields as Donald Trump's signature tax-cutting budget passed a key congressional vote.

Iranian and US negotiators meet in Rome on Friday for a fifth round of nuclear talks, after a public disagreement over Tehran's uranium enrichment.

Parts of northern Europe have seen their worst drought in decades in recent weeks, with farmers from Scotland to the Netherlands fearing the dry spell will dent harvests if it continues.

China's UFC champion Zhang Weili said her recent foray into art-house cinema has been "really interesting" and thinks MMA and acting have more in common than one might expect.

Britain's King Charles III will travel to Canada early next week for a brief but "impactful" visit, at a time when President Donald Trump is floating the idea of making his northern neighbour the 51st US state.

French maitre d'hotel Jean-Francois Pomares says he never has time to see a film at the Cannes Festival, but he has met many of its stars over the years including a young Sharon Stone.

Fifty years after the death of General Francisco Franco, thousands of monuments, plaques and street names honouring the dictator remain in place across Spain -- a legacy some believe has lingered far too long.

On a trail bordering the last green vestiges of Penteli, the mountain above Athens ravaged by fires last year, cyclists and runners enjoyed the closing days of spring before the summer heat.

Sawang Janpram is in a league of his own at the World Masters Games in Taiwan -- at 105 he is the oldest competitor and the only person in his age group.

Japanese inflation spiked at a two-year high in April, data showed Friday, as rice prices almost doubled, turning focus on the central bank as it mulls more interest rate hikes amid Donald Trump's trade war.

A battle has broken out over plans to open a new help centre for crack addicts near Frankfurt's main railway station, an area notorious for its bustling illegal drugs scene.

Australian Olympic champion Cam McEvoy has rubbished a record claimed by a Greek swimmer using performance-enhancing drugs and dismissed the relevance of the Enhanced Games.

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Friday that he had again pressed US President Donald Trump on tariffs, in a phone call ahead of fresh talks on easing the levies.

Newly crowned NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Oklahoma City Thunder to an imposing 118-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to open up a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals on Thursday.

Southeast Asian leaders will express deep concern over US President Donald Trump's tariff blitz when they meet at a summit Monday, warning that the unilateral move posed huge challenges to economic growth and stability in the region, according to a draft statement seen by AFP.

US President Donald Trump hosted a closed-door dinner for hundreds of top investors in his crypto memecoin Thursday, as sign-holding protesters outside and Democratic opponents decried the event as blatant "corruption."

As American bombers flew overhead, pioneering professor Hoang Xuan Sinh completed her thesis by the light of a kerosene lamp in the Vietnamese jungle, with letters from French maths genius Alexandre Grothendieck as her only guidance.

Asian equities stabilised Friday following the previous day's US bond-fuelled sell-off with traders tracking a slight pullback in Treasury yields as Donald Trump's signature tax-cutting budget passed a key congressional vote.

Director Nadav Lapid said his new film "Yes" about a musician asked to re-write the Israeli national anthem is a response to his country's "blindness" to suffering in Gaza.

On a mission to record all of Ireland's bird species, many of which are dying out, Irishman Sean Ronayne calls his unique audio archive a tool to both raise alarm and bring hope.

A French court is to give a verdict on Friday in the trial of 10 people accused of robbing reality TV star Kim Kardashian of some $10 million worth of jewellery in Paris.