
Sun shines for Osaka in Madrid
Naomi Osaka passed her first clay-court test of the season with flying colours, snapping the nine-match winning streak of Anastasia Potapova with a smooth 6-3, 6-1 victory to reach the second round of the Madrid Open.
An International Monetary Fund bailout package for crisis-hit Sri Lanka could take up to three months to arrive, the country's central bank chief said on Friday, as anti-government protests over the economic crisis continue to escalate.
Real Madrid will win La Liga at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday if they avoid defeat against Espanyol as Carlo Ancelotti's side look to secure the Spanish title before facing Manchester City in the Champions League next week.
With a tenth straight Bundesliga title secured, Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann wants to settle the future of star striker Robert Lewandowski so he can plan for next season.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been invited to the G20 summit in November, which will also be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the leader of host nation Indonesia said Friday.
World champion Fabio Quartararo overcame an early fall in the wet to clock the fastest time in Friday's two practice sessions for this weekend's Spanish MotoGP.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday that Jurgen Klopp's decision to extend his stay at Liverpool will not have any influence on his own future plans.
In Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, which has been repeatedly battered by Moscow's forces, a team of bomb disposal experts scours the streets to remove the remains of Russian rockets.
Former tennis star Boris Becker was on Friday jailed for two and a half years after being found guilty by a British court of charges relating to his 2017 bankruptcy.
Saudi Arabia's crown prince and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have vowed to reset relations, to end a conflict between the two regional heavyweights since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has slammed "fake news" reports that he is a contender to take charge at Paris Saint-Germain.
The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday announced it would hold a set of meetings on Covid vaccines in June that would include deciding whether to authorize them for the youngest children.
British businessman Jim Ratcliffe has made a £4.25 billion ($5.3 billion) offer to buy Premier League club Chelsea, his company Ineos said on Friday.
Canadian superstar Celine Dion announced Friday the postponement until 2023 of European concert dates for her "Courage World Tour," citing a persistent health issue.
Tesla chief Elon Musk sold about $8.4 billion worth of shares in the electric carmaker in the days after Twitter's board agreed to his $44 billion takeover offer, according to US securities filings.
Alarm is spreading on dance floors in France following needle attacks on dozens of young people in nightclubs, with police in the dark as to the assailants' identity or motives.
Former France international Maxime Medard said he had "no regrets" over his rugby career as he announced Friday that he would be retiring from the game at the end of the season.
A blast in the Afghan capital ripped through a Sunni mosque and killed at least 10 people on Friday, an interior ministry official said.
Taiwan on Friday opened the inaugural Asian Pride Games with a colourful ceremony drawing hundreds of athletes and spectators, as the island shifts away from a zero-Covid policy despite a surge in infections.
Ralf Rangnick says Manchester United must work hard to lure "future top stars" to Old Trafford despite their near-certain absence from the Champions League next season.
Mikel Arteta is confident that Arsenal's crop of young stars can cope with the mounting pressure as they seek to seal a place in next season's Champions League.
European and Asian stock markets rose Friday but Wall Street fell after tech giants Amazon and Apple posted disappointing quarterly results.
The Russian invasion may have shattered their lives and forced them to flee to Albania, but eight young Ukrainian track and field athletes are continuing to chase their sporting dreams.
Thailand's oil and gas conglomerate PTTEP and Malaysia's Petronas announced Friday they would withdraw from the Yetagun gas project in coup-hit Myanmar.
As their wages rose last month, Americans channeled more dollars towards services even as prices continued ticking higher, government data released Friday said.
Thomas Tuchel says Frank Lampard will always be a Chelsea "legend" despite a painful end to his managerial reign at Stamford Bridge as the German prepares to lock horns with the Everton boss.
More than 5.4 million Ukrainians have fled their country since Russia invaded two months ago, the United Nations said, with tens of thousands joining their ranks every day.
Wolfsburg hope the support of a record home crowd can help inspire them to a "miracle" result against Barcelona in their Champions League semi-final, second leg on Saturday following their Camp Nou thrashing.
FIFA said Friday that 23.5 million World Cup tickets were requested in the latest round of sales for the tournament that starts in Qatar in less than seven months.
Power outages compounded the misery of millions of people wilting in a heatwave across India and Pakistan on Friday, with experts blaming climate change for an early onset of roasting summer temperatures.
Germany's iconic Oktoberfest beer festival will once again take place in Munich in 2022 after being cancelled two years running due to the coronavirus, the city's mayor said Friday.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he does not believe his new deal will be the deciding factor in whether star forwards Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane commit their long-term futures to the club.
More than 3,000 people died in the Mediterranean and Atlantic while trying to reach Europe last year -- double the toll from 2020, the United Nations said Friday.
Fabrice Leggeri, a figurehead for impenetrable European frontiers who was frequently accused of tolerating illegal "pushbacks" of migrants, offered his resignation Friday as head of the Frontex border agency.
Libya is losing tens of millions of dollars a day from the shutdown of its oil facilities, while global prices are at their highest in years, the country's oil minister told AFP.
Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick has been appointed coach of Austria's national team, the federation said Friday, but he will continue in a consultancy role at the club.
ExxonMobil's first-quarter profits more than doubled to $5.5 billion, the company reported on Friday, as higher oil prices offset costs connected to exiting its Sakhalin project in Russia.
Eurozone stock markets rose only slightly Friday as the bloc's weak economic data offset hopes China would ease its long-running crackdown on the tech sector -- news that sent Asian equities soaring.
Inside a play tent for displaced children in western Ukraine, 12-year-old Natan said his cat Marquisa was not acting normally, sleeping all day and staying awake all night.
Gunmen have robbed a Pakistani tailor of more than 200 outfits made for customers ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, tying up and beating his staff.