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Japan's largest trade union said Friday it had secured the highest wage hikes since 1991 in preliminary data that stokes speculation the central bank will finally shift away from its outlier ultra-loose monetary policy.

Asian markets sank in line with Wall Street on Friday after a sharper-than-expected jump in US wholesale prices dealt a blow to hopes for interest rate cuts, while the uncertainty also sent bitcoin tumbling.

From the hatch of a US aircraft, the destruction wrought by months of war on the Gaza Strip stretched out below in grey piles of debris along the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean.

Saodat Shermatova "cried with joy" after Uzbekistan, a predominantly Muslim former Soviet republic, lifted a ban last month on women working as bus drivers.

Sporadic explosions and gunfire rang out from a popular hotel in the Somali capital early Friday, an AFP correspondent said, many hours after Al-Shabaab fighters attacked the site near the presidential palace.

British telecoms giant Vodafone said Friday it has agreed to sell its Italian unit to Swisscom for eight billion euros ($8.7 billion), completing efforts to overhaul the UK group's European operations.

Russians started voting on Friday in a three-day presidential election that is set to hand veteran leader Vladimir Putin another six-year term as the raging conflict in Ukraine spreads further into Russian territory.

The Catholic Church in Hong Kong said Friday that confessions by devotees to priests would remain confidential under the city's upcoming national security law.

South Korea's "Squid Game" actor O Yeong-su has been found guilty of sexual misconduct, a local court said Friday, after he was charged with assaulting a woman in 2017.

Japanese auto giants Nissan and Honda said Friday they had agreed to explore a strategic partnership in electric vehicles and other areas.

Thai tourist hotspot Chiang Mai was blanketed by hazy smog Friday, as residents and visitors to the usually picturesque northern city were left wheezing in the toxic air.

Vienna's first museum on the shock "Actionist" art movement opens its doors on Friday, aiming to highlight the work of its four key artists who long faced contempt and even persecution for their radical actions.

A missile strike damaged a merchant ship in the Red Sea off Yemen, marine security monitors said Friday, as the country's Iran-backed Huthi rebels threatened to expand their months-long harassment campaign which has disrupted global trade.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said on Friday that Israeli fire killed 20 people and wounded 155 waiting to receive desperately needed aid in the besieged territory, but Israel said the reports were "erroneous".

Exiled centre Joe Marchant said he is confident England can compete with France's physicality on Saturday to give themselves a chance of lifting the Six Nations.

When rapper Ghali sang "I'm a true Italian" to 10 million television viewers last month, he spoke for hundreds of thousands of people born to immigrants in Italy who struggle to obtain citizenship.

Naomi Osaka will play the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time in four years when Japan face Kazakhstan in a qualifier in Tokyo next month, the team said Friday.

Sporadic explosions and gunfire rang out from a popular hotel in the Somali capital early Friday, an AFP correspondent said, many hours after Al-Shabaab fighters attacked the site near the presidential palace.

The results of key wage hike negotiations in Japan will be announced Friday, with a win for workers expected to set the stage for a hotly anticipated shift away from the central bank's ultra-loose monetary policy.

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said Thursday that his country has stored more than $400 million in bitcoin in an offline "cold wallet" as the cryptocurrency forges new record highs.

Jaylen Brown scored 37 points as the Boston Celtics unleashed a dominant offensive performance to blow past the Phoenix Suns 127-112 on Thursday.

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz fought off swarming bees and Alexander Zverev on Thursday to set up a semi-final clash with Jannik Sinner at Indian Wells.

Manchester United are aiming to derail Liverpool's bid for a quadruple and salvage a difficult second season for Erik ten Hag in Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final.

Ireland seek to make up for their frustration on missing out on historic back-to-back Six Nations Grand Slams by being crowned tournament champions in beating Scotland at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will receive French President Emmanuel Macron in Berlin on Friday after tensions between the leaders blew out into the open over differences on how to support Ukraine.

The US ambassador to China said Friday that Beijing's position on a potential TikTok ban in the United States was "supremely ironic" given the ruling Communist Party's censorship of online platforms within its borders.

The Netherlands was set to announce Friday who it has chosen for a multi-billion-euro contract to build four submarines for its navy, with a consortium headed by France's Naval Group favoured over German and Swedish rivals.

Filipino single mother Mary Ann Eduarte delayed chemotherapy for her breast cancer for several years and instead took food supplements falsely promoted on social media as cures for the deadly disease.

Asian markets sank in line with Wall Street on Friday after a sharper-than-expected jump in US wholesale prices dealt a blow to hopes for interest rate cuts.

Fourth-placed Borussia Dortmund host Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday hoping to keep their noses in front in their battle to finish in the Champions League placings.

Nice sat second in the Ligue 1 table at the season's halfway stage, but a dramatic drop-off in form since the turn of the year has left them at risk of failing to qualify for Europe.

Jaylen Brown scored 37 points as the Boston Celtics unleashed a dominant offensive performance to blow past the Phoenix Suns 127-112 on Thursday.