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Yemen's Iran-backed Huthis on Friday threatened to escalate attacks on Red Sea shipping after overnight strikes by the United States and Britain killed 16 people, according to rebel media.

Skipper Codie Taylor led from the front with two tries as the Canterbury Crusaders kept their Super Rugby title defence alive Friday with a 43-10 beating of Moana Pasifika, whose dream of making the playoffs ended.

African startups, addressing overlooked needs, are putting the spotlight on a burgeoning tech scene, despite challenges like inequality and limited digitalisation.

Norwegian track stars Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Karsten Warholm lit up the Oslo Diamond League and the Nordic country's two Olympic champions now insist all their attention will turn to next week's European championships and then the Paris Games.

The United States and Britain carried out air strikes on Yemen in what they said was a bid to degrade Iran-backed rebels' maritime attack capabilities, with Huthi media on Friday reporting 16 killed.

The United States and China will resume military-to-military communications "in the coming months", US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday, as Beijing hailed the "stabilising" security relations between the countries.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg Friday downplayed Kremlin threats of escalation after President Joe Biden secretly lifted restrictions on Ukraine using US-supplied weapons against targets inside Russian territory, as five people were killed in an overnight strike on Kharkiv.

Mastering words such as "cricetine" and "indumentum", 12-year-old Bruhat Soma clinched victory Thursday in the United States' spelling bee.

Most markets rose Friday after falling for much of the week, with below-forecast US data injecting some fresh life into hopes the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year.

Israeli forces on Friday struck targets across the Gaza Strip, with witnesses reporting air raids around the southern city of Rafah, the latest focus of the nearly eight-month war.

An Indian court has urged the government to declare a national emergency over the country's ongoing heatwave, saying that hundreds of people had died during weeks of extreme weather.

Pakistan's mangoes are normally a source of national pride and much-needed income, but farmers are blaming climate change for the parasites and extreme weather ruining much of this season's crop.

Gutted buildings, vacant windows and blocks bombed to rubble show the price paid by the western Myanmar town of Pauktaw for victory against the junta in the country's civil war.

The US and Chinese defence chiefs held rare direct talks in Singapore on Friday, offering hopes for more military dialogue that could help prevent disputes over Taiwan and other flashpoint issues from spinning out of control.

Players could strike in their bid to cut down on the number of matches they play, England's Professional Footballers' Association warned FIFA.

North Korean state media on Friday released images of leader Kim Jong Un supervising tests of a multiple rocket launcher system, a day after Seoul accused Pyongyang of firing a volley of short-range ballistic missiles.

Tim Tszyu's WBA super-welterweight interim world title fight against unbeaten American Virgil Ortiz was called off Friday on doctor's orders with the Australian still struggling from a nasty head injury.

The Dallas Mavericks, fueled by 36 points each from Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, routed the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-103 on Thursday to clinch the Western Conference crown and book an NBA title showdown with the Boston Celtics.

The campaign for Vinicius Junior to land his first Ballon d'Or is well under way, but the Real Madrid forward has his priorities straight.

Reigning champion Iga Swiatek will hope for an easier third round at the French Open as she turns 23 Friday after saving a match point against Naomi Osaka, while Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner both target a place in the last 16.

Kenya had been hoping the late world marathon record-holder Kelvin Kiptum could break the two-hour barrier at the Paris Olympics, the head of Kenyan athletics said, calling his tragic death "devastating".

Asian markets rose Friday after falling for much of the week, with below-forecast US data injecting some fresh life into hopes the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year.

Russia is using North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine, a new Pentagon report says, citing debris analysis to confirm long-standing allegations that Pyongyang has been sending weapons to Moscow.

In a small Cambodian town near the banks of the Mekong River, law student Oeun Bunthav tenses his slender torso and steels himself for an elbow strike to his head.

A seemingly ordinary villa in the heart of Tripoli holds a lifetime of works by the late Libyan artist Ali Gana, whose family has turned his house into a unique museum.

Just after sunrise on the Afghan day of rest, two goldfinches puffed their chests and belted a song, surrounded by men straining to hear which chirped stronger in an age-old pastime.

Russian strikes killed three people in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the regional governor said early Friday, hours after the United States authorised Kyiv to use American weapons to hit targets inside Russia in defence of the embattled region.

The thriving economy of southern Brazil has been brought to its knees by historic floods, with vast agricultural land unusable and factories paralyzed.

Donald Trump on Thursday became the first former US president ever convicted of a crime after a New York jury found him guilty on all charges in his hush money case, months before an election that could see him yet return to the White House.

The US and Chinese defence chiefs were in Singapore on Friday for a major security forum where they are set to hold rare direct talks, with Taiwan and other flashpoint disputes expected to dominate the three-day event.

Borussia Dortmund face the acid test after a fairytale run to Saturday's Champions League final as a star-studded Real Madrid roll into Wembley expecting to be crowned European champions for a 15th time.

Aidan O'Brien and James Fanshawe may have both trained winners of the Champion Hurdle but whilst the former will be bidding for his 10th Epsom Derby triumph on Saturday the latter will be saddling just his second runner in the 'blue riband' of flat racing.