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Kusal Mendis was left stranded on 85 as Australia wrapped up Sri Lanka's first innings for 257 early on day two of the second Test in Galle on Friday.

The crack of a gunshot and the blonde man flinches behind the lectern, clutching his ear.

Geneticist Zhang Huarong walks through the forest near his Hong Kong research lab, gesturing towards a rotting incense tree stump that is one of over a dozen illegally felled for the valuable wood inside.

Klay Thompson's scorching start carried the Dallas Mavericks to a 127-120 victory over the NBA champion Boston Celtics, the new-look Mavs turning the tables in the NBA Finals rematch.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was voted the NFL's Most Valuable Player on Thursday pipping Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson for the award.

Taiwan detected six Chinese balloons off the island, the defence ministry said Friday, as Beijing maintains military pressure to push its claim of sovereignty.

Full crowds in Tokyo for this year's World Athletics Championships can make up for fans being locked out of the city's pandemic-postponed Olympics in 2021, the event's CEO told AFP.

Nick was enjoying his Saturday off work in Pennsylvania when he received an unexpected and alarming message: cryptocurrencies, buoyed since Donald Trump's November 5 election win, were in freefall.

Most Asian equities advanced Friday as investors head into the weekend awaiting the release of US jobs data, while traders kept a nervous eye on Washington as the Trump administration presses ahead with a hardball trade agenda.

Hollywood star Jesse Eisenberg, who played Mark Zuckerberg in 2010 hit "The Social Network", told AFP the Facebook owner had evolved from having "a sense of righteousness" into "somebody obsessed with power".

If there is one question that will define Sunday's Super Bowl it is this - can the Kansas City Chiefs stop the Philadelphia Eagles' explosive running-back Saquon Barkley?

Rukaya al-Zubaidi placed a cautious foot on a skateboard and then struggled to find her balance as others glided back and forth at Baghdad's first park dedicated to the sport.

A serial rapist and murderer was put to death by nitrogen gas in Alabama on Thursday, the fourth use of the controversial execution method in the southern US state.

The Kansas City Chiefs chase a historic hat-trick of Super Bowl titles when they take on the Philadelphia Eagles here Sunday as New Orleans hosts the NFL showpiece just five weeks after a deadly attack in the city's party district.

First-time All-Star Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo will be NBA All-Star tournament teammates after being selected for the same roster by Charles Barkley in Thursday's All-Star Draft.

E-commerce giant Amazon reported strong earnings Thursday but, like its big tech peers Microsoft and Google, saw its stock price fall on concerns over high AI investment costs.

The former interpreter to Shohei Ohtani, who admitted stealing almost $17 million from the Japanese baseball star to pay off illegal gambling debts, was sentenced to 57 months in prison on Thursday.

Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen and American Jennifer Kupcho each fired a six-under par 65 to share the lead after Thursday's first round of the LPGA Founders Cup.

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim believes Marcus Rashford was unable to see football "the way I see it" before the unwanted England striker was shipped out of Old Trafford.

A new contingent of Kenyan police officers arrived in Haiti on Thursday to bolster a UN-backed security mission, AFP journalists observed, as the United States reiterated its support but called for a "new direction."

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou conceded his under-strength squad were no match for a rampant Liverpool as the Reds progressed to the League Cup final with a 4-0 win on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump's trade envoy nominee Jamieson Greer told his confirmation hearing Thursday that universal tariffs were worth studying, adding that he would work to restructure global trade ties.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday slapping sanctions on the International Criminal Court for "baseless" investigations targeting America and its close ally Israel, the White House said.

Ferran Torres hit a hat-trick as Barcelona routed Valencia 5-0 on Thursday to cruise into the Copa del Rey semi-finals.

A judge on Thursday paused a scheme masterminded by billionaire Elon Musk to slash the size of the US government by encouraging federal workers to quit through a mass buyout.

Liverpool overturned a first leg deficit to reach the League Cup final with a 4-0 win on Thursday and ramp up the pressure on Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou.

Fiorentina honoured Edoardo Bove in perfect fashion on Thursday by defeating Inter Milan 3-0 in a match which was stopped in December for the midfielder's on-pitch heart attack.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday supervised the seizure of a second aircraft belonging to Venezuela's leftist government in less than a year, showing a hard line despite nascent diplomacy.

E-commerce giant Amazon reported Thursday its fourth-quarter net income nearly doubled to $20 billion, driven by strong holiday sales, but its outlook for the coming quarter came in less than hoped for by analysts.

US President Donald Trump's trade envoy nominee Jamieson Greer told his confirmation hearing Thursday that universal tariffs were worth studying, adding that he would work to restructure global trade ties.

The UN's climate chief, seeking to shore up solidarity on combating global warming as the United States retreats from its leadership role, appealed to nations' self-interest in a speech Thursday.

A convicted British conman who featured in a Netflix documentary was sentenced on Thursday to six years in prison by a French court for running over and injuring two police officers while trying to escape.