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The US government on Saturday was hours from shutting down after the far right of the Republican Party scuppered final attempts at a temporary budget agreement, throwing into doubt everything from access to national parks to Washington's massive support for Ukraine.

One delivered gas cylinders in government-run Aden for a living and the other cooked meals in rebel-held Sanaa. Now the two athletes from war-torn Yemen find themselves on the same team at the Asian Games.

The frontrunner in Saturday's Maldives presidential vote is an ardent advocate of Chinese investment and has promised to steer the luxury tourism hotspot back towards Beijing's orbit if he wins.

Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was a career politician unexpectedly propelled to the presidency after other contenders were jailed or exiled.

The Maldives began voting Saturday to decide their next president in a referendum on whether to hitch their fortunes to China or India, both vying for influence in the tropical paradise.

Pope Francis will on Saturday elevate 21 clergymen from all corners of the world to the rank of cardinal -- most of whom may one day cast ballots to elect his successor.

Holding buckets of water, Cholifatul Nur sprinkles flowers planted at her young son's grave and wipes clean the stone slab where a scarf of his favourite team is draped a year after his death at an Indonesian football stadium.

Vaccine skeptics are attacking Travis Kelce for participating in a Pfizer advertisement, recycling conspiracy theories about Covid-19 shots as the NFL star is getting attention for his rumored romance with pop icon Taylor Swift.

As rain becomes ever scarcer in northern Guatemala, communities are learning how to carve out makeshift irrigation canals and purify their water to conserve every last precious drop.

The Indonesian stadium where 135 people died last year in one of football's worst tragedies lies empty but intact, despite government pledges to demolish it and rebuild a safer site.

Slovak voters will cast ballots on Saturday in a tight early election seen as key to the country's foreign policy focus and support of Ukraine for the years ahead.

United Nations experts on Friday called on Mexico to crack down on extortion by police and other officials targeting vulnerable migrants in flagrant violation of their human rights.

South Korean rookie Ryu Hae-ran fired seven birdies in a seven-under-par 64 to break free atop a log-jammed leaderboard Friday at the LPGA NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers, Arkansas.

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Jermell Charlo both weighed in at 167.4 pounds on Friday ahead of their duel for Alvarez's undisputed super middleweight world titles.

New Zealand head coach Ian Foster lauded a "statement" win after his All Blacks trounced Italy 96-17 to reignite their World Cup bid on Friday.

Several people were injured after two trains, one of which was the storied Flying Scotsman, collided at Aviemore railway station in the Highlands of Scotland on Friday, police said.

San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler was sacked by the Major League Baseball club on Friday after his team once again failed to reach the playoffs.

Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos's own goal handed his old enemy Barcelona a narrow 1-0 win over Sevilla on Friday in La Liga, taking the Catalans top of the table.

Damar Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills safety who suffered a heart-stopping blow in an NFL game last January, is expected to make his 2023 season debut on Sunday against visiting Miami.

Scrum-half Aaron Smith scored a hat-trick of tries as New Zealand laid down a statement of intent with a 96-17 blitzing of a hapless Italy at the Rugby World Cup on Friday.

Global stocks ended mixed Friday on signs of slowing inflation on both sides of the Atlantic, ahead of an impending government shutdown in the United States.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was awake and recovering from hip surgery on Friday, which his doctor said went off without a hitch.

Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos's own goal handed his old enemy Barcelona a narrow 1-0 win over Sevilla on Friday in La Liga, taking the Catalans top of the table.

The NFL announced tougher penalties on Friday for players who bet on NFL games but reduced sanctions for those who bet on other sports while in the workplace or working.

Welshman Elfyn Evans kept alive his title hopes as Ott Tanak claimed the opening day's honours in the Rally of Chile on Friday.

Borussia Dortmund will spend the night atop the Bundesliga table for the first time since the penultimate round of last season, winning 3-1 at Hoffenheim on Friday despite finishing with 10 men.

The United States called on Belgrade to pull its forces back from the border with Kosovo on Friday after detecting what it called an unprecedented Serbian military build-up.

Turkish civil society leader Osman Kavala on Friday said a decision by the top appeals court that upheld his life sentence disregarded law and human life.

Los Angeles Angels star slugger and pitcher Shohei Ohtani had the best-selling jersey of any Major League Baseball player this season, the first time a Japanese player topped the list.

A former gang leader has been charged with the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas, a prosecutor said Friday.

The leaders of nine Mediterranean and southern European countries called Friday for a "significant increase" in the EU's efforts to tackle the thorny issue of migration at its roots, in origin and transit countries.

Pakistan's Mohammed Rizwan hit an impressive century inside an eerily empty stadium on Friday but his team suffered a heavy defeat to New Zealand in their World Cup warm-up fixture.