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France's political parties scrambled Friday to break a parliamentary deadlock brought on by an inconclusive snap election, as the outgoing prime minister vowed to prevent any government with far-right or hard-left members.

A would-be attacker who planned to kidnap, rape and murder one of the UK's top celebrities was on Friday given a life sentence with a minimum jail term of 15 years.

After two falls in the previous two days, Primoz Roglic withdrew from the Tour de France before Friday's 13th stage with his bid for the title in tatters ahead of a pair of daunting mountain stages this weekend.

Nepali Prime Minister and former Maoist guerrilla commander Pushpa Kamal Dahal lost a parliamentary vote of confidence on Friday barely 18 months after taking office, throwing open the Himalayan republic's revolving door leadership.

Saudi Arabia will host the inaugural Esports Olympics in 2025 the International Olympic Committee said on Friday.

Her three-month-old daughter swaddled on her back, Jeanne d'Arc Nyiramahirwe is determined to make her voice heard as she runs for a parliamentary seat in Rwanda's elections.

European stock markets on Friday extended recent gains but Tokyo tanked with focus firmly on central bank activity.

At least two people were killed and nine injured Friday when scaffolding collapsed off a 19-story building under construction in the western Swiss city of Lausanne, police said.

A man wanted in connection with the deaths of the wife and two daughters of a British horseracing commentator has now been arrested on suspicion of murder, police said on Friday.

James Anderson bowed out of international cricket on the winning side as England thrashed the West Indies by an innings and 114 runs on the third day of the first Test at Lord's on Friday.

Heavy combat and bombardment hit Gaza City and other parts of the Palestinian territory on Friday as mediators pushed on with efforts to halt the war raging into its tenth month.

Contentious plans to open the UK's first new coal mine in decades appeared doomed Friday after it emerged the new Labour government will not defend the project's previous approval in court.

Leading contender Primoz Roglic has withdrawn from the Tour de France before the start of stage 13, the day after being involved in a crash, his team said on Friday.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk's X platform is misleading users with its blue checkmarks for certified accounts, and is also violating EU content rules, Brussels said Friday, in a finding that could lead to hefty fines.

Four migrants drowned in the Channel overnight off France's northern coast while trying to cross to Britain, French maritime police said Friday.

Production has yet to begin, but TotalEnergies' controversial East African oil project is already taking a dire environmental toll in Uganda's largest national parks, a leading conservationist group said Friday.

Every time Lamine Yamal scores, he holds up his fingers to sign the numbers 304 -- the postcode of Rocafonda, the modest Catalan district where he grew up, which is bursting with pride over the 16-year-old's success in Euro 2024.

China and Russia's joint military activities around Japan are of "grave concern" and North Korea poses a greater threat than ever, Tokyo's defence ministry said Friday.

The Seine has been clean enough to swim for most of the past 12 days, Paris city hall said Friday, just weeks ahead of the Olympic Games.

Swedish telecommunications equipment manufacturer Ericsson said Friday it had suffered a $1.0 billion quarterly loss after writing down the value of its purchase of US cloud-based communications operator Vonage.

Senior citizens sway to old-time tunes at a former kindergarten in northern China, as educators turn their sights away from children in the face of a rapidly ageing population and a baby bust.

A dozen men crowded around an employment agent early in the morning in suburban Shanghai, waving their identification cards as they scrambled to secure a 12-hour shift at a warehouse.

Socialite sisters Kim and Khloe Kardashian were among the global celebrities spotted in India on Friday to attend a lavish three-day wedding ceremony staged by Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani.

Countries on the frontlines of climate change have warned they cannot wait another year for long-sought aid to recover from disasters as floods and hurricanes wreak havoc across the globe.

At least 63 people were missing in Nepal on Friday after a landslide triggered by heavy monsoon rains swept two buses off a highway and into a river, authorities said.

Wallabies captain James Slipper stressed Friday the importance of following up their Sydney victory over Wales with another win in Melbourne to start building consistency under new coach Joe Schmidt.

What if Hollywood, a key Democratic financial pillar, cut off Joe Biden's campaign funding? That possibility now looms large after actor George Clooney and other wealthy donors urged the US president to withdraw from the White House race.

Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban jetted off to Florida on Thursday to meet with former US president Donald Trump after the end of the NATO summit in Washington.

Around 60 bodies were found under the rubble of a Gaza City neighbourhood, officials in the Hamas-run territory said Thursday, after Israel's military declared an end to its operation there.

The Philippines will "stand our ground" in a dispute with Beijing over the South China Sea, a top security official said Friday, eight years after an international ruling against China in the territorial contest.

"Why didn't I pick up on his pain?" asked Marie-Noelle Cullieret, whose 24-year-old son killed himself after he failed a pilot's exam.

Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, spent the last two decades transforming the stodgy petrochemicals giant he inherited into a global empire spanning telecoms, retail, cricket and luxury fashion.