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Until Gareth Bale pulled up with cramp late in Wales' 2-1 win over Austria in their World Cup play-off semi-final, there was little to suggest this was a man desperately short of action for his club.

The United States and EU announced Friday a new drive to wean Europe off Russian gas imports and so choke off the billions in revenues that are fuelling Moscow's ruinous war against Ukraine.

Roberto Mancini's future as Italy boss is uncertain after an unimaginable play-off defeat to North Macedonia denied the team he guided to Euro 2020 glory a place at the World Cup.

Australian captain Pat Cummins took two quick wickets to put Australia on the verge of a historic series win in the third Test against Pakistan on Friday.

Germany said Friday it was drastically slashing its energy purchases from Russia amid Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, with oil imports to be halved by June and coal deliveries to end by the autumn.

Loik Le Priol, the main suspect in the murder of former star Argentine rugby player Federico Martin Aramburu in Paris, is to be handed over to France, a Hungarian court ruled Friday.

Leather jacket, sunglasses and a gigantic missile: North Korean state media announced the launch of Pyongyang's largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile with an attempt at old school Hollywood flair on Friday.

A giant diamond nicknamed "The Rock" went on display for the first time in Dubai on Friday ahead of an auction where it is expected to fetch up to $30 million.

Italy is once again reeling after failing to reach a second straight World Cup, throwing away automatic qualification before falling to a devastating defeat in the play-offs to North Macedonia.

Jared Leto has been a star for decades, but it's only now at 50 that he is fronting his first major blockbuster -- transforming into a vampire for new Marvel flick "Morbius".

Qatar's top World Cup organiser has hit back at Louis van Gaal for criticising the decision to hold the event in the Gulf state, saying the Netherlands coach has failed to understand the Arab world's passion for football.

Two major Sri Lanka newspapers are suspending their print editions because of a lack of paper, their owner said Friday, the latest casualties in the island's economic crisis.

Days after the Taliban staged a cruel U-turn on allowing Afghan girls back to school, Adeeba Haidari feels as if she is in prison.

Favourites Australia beat Bangladesh by five wickets in howling winds in Wellington to maintain their perfect record at the Women's Cricket World Cup on Friday.

Opener Imam-ul-Haq hit a fighting half-century to take Pakistan to 136-2 at lunch on the final day of a delicately poised deciding third Test against Australia in Lahore on Friday.

US President Joe Biden will travel to a town near the Polish-Ukrainian border Friday, trying to signal Western resolve in the face of a Russian invasion that has increasingly turned to a grinding war of attrition.

Hundreds of school students rallied outside Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's official Sydney residence Friday kicking off a "global climate strike" demanding action to stop the world heating up.

As free speech was curtailed, her friends imprisoned and the Russian economy tanked in the days after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, Marina packed her bags and fled Moscow.

Lax laws and sweetheart deals are becoming a thing of the past for big tech firms, particularly in Europe where a series of rulings is posing a major threat to one of Google's flagship products.

Australia's spectacular Great Barrier Reef is suffering "mass bleaching" as corals lose their colour under the stress of warmer seas, authorities said Friday, in a blow widely blamed on climate change.

A jailed Corsican nationalist whose death in prison has turned him into a martyr for some is to be buried on Friday amid unease in Paris about fierce public support for the convicted killer.

Favourites Australia beat Bangladesh by five wickets in howling winds in Wellington to maintain their perfect record at the Women's Cricket World Cup on Friday.

Szymon Janiewski employed 10 Ukrainians at his small construction company in Poland until war broke out in their homeland.

Every year in early spring, German farmers Torben Reelfs and Tim Nandelstaedt turn the soil and plant the first sugar beets of the season on their plot of land in western Ukraine.

The city of Miami Beach on Thursday imposed a midnight curfew to stem a wave of violence it has linked to 'spring break', a US college tradition which sees an influx of partygoers into Florida every year.

Two-goal hero Kaoru Mitoma could be Japan's secret weapon at the World Cup and will also hope to eventually make his mark in the Premier League with a Brighton side crying out for firepower.

Tigrayan rebels agreed to a "cessation of hostilities" on Friday, a new turning point in the nearly 17-month war in northern Ethiopia following the government's announcement of an indefinite humanitarian truce a day earlier.

Crowding, confrontations and full-on attacks. Japan's many train fans are mostly mild-mannered enthusiasts passionate about the country's famed rail system, but a small group is gaining surprising notoriety.

Canada crashed to their first defeat of 2022 World Cup qualifying on Thursday as a 1-0 loss to Costa Rica delayed their bid to reach the finals for the first time in 36 years.

US President Joe Biden will travel to a town near the Polish-Ukrainian border Friday, trying to signal Western resolve against a Russian invasion that has increasingly turned to a grinding war of attrition.

Coach Graham Arnold has urged a demoralised Australia to be positive as he came under mounting pressure Friday after their failure to automatically qualify for a fifth successive World Cup.

Markets fluctuated in Asia on Friday as traders struggled to build on a rally in New York, with focus on the impact of the Ukraine war, surging inflation and Federal Reserve plans to fight it.