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The Republic of Ireland's Nations League fixture with Israel on October 4 will be held behind closed doors at a neutral venue overseas, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) announced on Friday.

Fans put off by prices, some denied visas, and locals more fired up about basketball: the 2026 World Cup is kicking off without much enthusiasm in the United States.

A US appeals court on Friday upheld the conviction of disgraced cryptocurrency tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried as part of a sweeping fraud case.

Premier League referees will be able to book players for hair-pulling instead of sending them off after a change of emphasis in the rules for the 2026-27 season.

American Jackson Koivun, the world's top-ranked amateur golfer, said Friday he will turn professional after competing in next week's US Open.

Lando Norris edged fellow Briton George Russell by just 0.009s to top second practice on Friday for the Barcelona-Catalunya Formula One Grand Prix.

Danny van Dijk thinks that this time turning his street in The Hague completely orange is going to work, as the Netherlands again target a long-awaited first World Cup title.

Giotto's Santa Croce frescoes are receiving the final touches of a four-year restoration in Florence, with scaffolding poised to be removed ahead of an official reveal in September.

The shock resignations of two UK defence ministers has thrown British military resources into the spotlight, after they slammed upcoming spending plans for falling short and lacking innovation.

Jude Bellingham says every member of England's World Cup squad must feel "loved" as he admitted things were not right off the pitch at Euro 2024.

Shares in Elon Musk's SpaceX jumped 11 percent to $150 on their first day of trading Friday after the biggest initial public offering in history, making the polarizing entrepreneur the world's first trillionaire as he vowed to take humanity to Mars.

Wall Street pushed higher on Friday as SpaceX shares began trading following world's largest initial public offering, while oil prices slid on hopes of an agreement to end the Middle East war.

Iran's foreign minister insisted on Friday that a deal with the United States to end the war in the Middle East had never been closer, after US President Donald Trump furiously accused Tehran of negotiating in bad faith.

Wimbledon's 20 percent increase in prize money has been welcomed as a "significant step forward" by the sport's top players.

British artist David Hockney, one of the most influential and defining figures in contemporary art whose paintings captured the world in brilliant colour, has died aged 88, his publicist announced Friday.

Several hundred people gathered in southwestern France on Friday to bid farewell to an 11-year-old girl whose suspected murder sparked protests across the country and exposed failures in the country's judicial system.

Belgian Maxim Van Gils won the mountainous sixth stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes on Friday as his Australian teammate Luke Tuckwell finished third and took the leader's yellow and blue jersey.

Pele's 1958 World Cup winners' medal is expected to fetch £500,000 ($670,000) when it is auctioned in England later this month.

US President Donald Trump said Friday that Tehran's stated version of a deal on stopping the war is not what was agreed to, with the White House insisting Tehran would dismantle its nuclear program.

The Ebola outbreak is spreading into new areas of the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo and is bigger in scale than hitherto detected, the World Health Organization warned Friday.

Multiple African and Asian midwifery experts have been denied visas for a major international conference in Portugal, threatening progress on saving millions of babies' lives, organisers and invitees said Friday.

The board of the Kennedy Center and the US Justice Department have appealed a federal judge's ruling ordering the removal of President Donald Trump's name from the performing arts venue.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has banned two-time long distance world champion Gudaf Tsegay for four months after she failed to apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for a banned substance.

Wall Street opened mixed on Friday, when SpaceX was set to begin trading following world's largest initial public offering, while oil prices slid on hopes of an agreement to end the Middle East war.

Elon Musk's SpaceX began its first day as a public company on Wall Street Friday after the biggest initial public offering in history, with the polarizing entrepreneur promising he will take humanity to Mars.

A US deportation flight headed to the Central African Republic on Friday, lawyers told AFP, carrying nationals from Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and Georgia.

Afghans scrapped protest plans in Herat on Friday as heavily armed security forces were deployed in the city, after an earlier rally against tightening restrictions on women was violently dispersed.

Chinese actress Xin Zhilei said she was keen for new experiences and did not want to limit herself, as she helped kick off the Shanghai International Film Festival on Friday.

New Zealand's most prolific run-scorer and arguably greatest batsman Kane Williamson announced his immediate retirement from international cricket on Friday in the middle of their series against England.

Cristiano Ronaldo said on Friday that he was feeling "very positive" before flying out of Lisbon with the Portuguese team to their World Cup base camp in Palm Beach, Florida.

British artist David Hockney, one of the most influential and defining figures in contemporary art whose paintings captured the world in brilliant colour, has died aged 88, his publicist announced Friday.

George Russell was quickest in opening practice for the Barcelona-Catalunya Formula One Grand Prix on Friday, followed by McLaren's Oscar Piastri two tenths behind.