
White House site blames China for Covid-19 'lab leak'
The White House on Friday unveiled a revamped Covid-19 website that promoted the contentious theory that the virus leaked from a Chinese laboratory, framing it as the pandemic's "true origins."
Carlos Alcaraz battled into the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open on Friday with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Alex de Minaur after Casper Ruud's title defence was ended by Holger Rune.
US Vice President JD Vance on Friday met Italy's Giorgia Meloni in Rome and later prayed at the Vatican during an Easter visit against a backdrop of transatlantic trade tensions.
Remco Evenepoel said even he was surprised as he won the Brabantse Pijl one-day race on Friday in Belgium on his comeback, four months after a serious training accident.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca said he maintains the full backing of the club's owners despite growing disquiet among the Blues' fanbase.
A mob beat to death a member of Pakistan's persecuted Ahmadiyya minority on Friday after hundreds of radical Islamists surrounded their place of worship in the port city of Karachi, police said.
Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli strike Friday on a vehicle near the southern coastal city of Sidon killed one person, with Israel announcing that an attack in the same area had targeted a Hezbollah operative.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said he would bet on Kai Havertz returning before the end of the season as his recovery from a hamstring injury is ahead of schedule.
Top US officials gave mixed signals about the prospect of a Ukraine ceasefire on Friday, bringing uncertainty to the peace process just as Russia abandoned a moratorium on striking Ukrainian energy targets.
A woman injured during a fatal cryotherapy session at a gym in France's capital earlier this week is now brain-dead, the prosecutor's office said Friday.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick on Friday demanded to meet with La Liga officials over what he called a "joke" schedule, saying Spanish football was failing to take care of players.
Harry Maguire said the "maddest game" of his life summed up a topsy-turvy Manchester United career after scoring the winner in a 5-4 victory over Lyon to send his team into the Europa League semi-finals.
A trial of nearly 200 people, among them students and journalists, arrested over Turkey's biggest protests in more than a decade opened in Istanbul on Friday.
Gaza's civil defence rescue agency said Friday that Israeli strikes killed at least 24 people, including 10 from the same family, after Hamas signalled its rejection of Israel's latest ceasefire proposal.
Launched as a powerful statement days after Russia's 2022 invasion, Ukraine's bid for EU membership is stuttering in the face of hardening opposition from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso on Friday refused to shut down speculation he could be set for a move to Real Madrid in the summer.
US strikes on a Yemeni fuel port killed at least 74 people, Huthi rebels said Friday, in the deadliest attack of Washington's campaign against the Iran-backed group.
Former England assistant Steve Holland was fired by Japanese side Yokohama F-Marinos, the club said Friday, less than four months after he took over as manager.
US Vice President JD Vance met with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Friday, ahead of celebrating Easter at the Vatican and a meeting with the pope's right-hand man.
After his scene-stealing turn as Ken in the 2023 blockbuster hit "Barbie", Oscar-nominated actor Ryan Gosling is taking on another huge pop culture franchise: the "Star Wars" universe.
Hamas on Friday urged the international community to exert immediate pressure to end Israel's complete blockade of the Gaza Strip that has been in place since March 2.
Russia said Friday that a 30-day pause on Ukrainian energy site strikes has expired, a step away from peace just as Washington threatened to exit ceasefire efforts if progress was not made soon.
US strikes on a Yemeni fuel port killed at least 58 people, Huthi rebels said Friday, in the deadliest attack of Washington's campaign against the Iran-backed group.
Historians are rethinking the way the Holocaust is being presented in museums as the world marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the last Nazi concentration camps this month.
Two men on their way to help with rescue efforts were found dead on Friday after a spring storm drenched parts of northern Italy and dumped more than a metre of snow in other areas across the Alps, shutting ski areas, halting transport and killing at least one other person.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot believes maintaining the squad that is romping towards the Premier League title is more important than major new signings.
Scores of penitents whipped themselves bloody under a scorching Philippine sun while others were nailed to crosses in a polarising Good Friday tradition drawing the most extreme of Catholic devotees.
The new US ambassador to Israel prayed at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Friday, delivering a handwritten message from President Donald Trump calling for peace in Israel.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou took aim at his critics after beating Eintracht Frankfurt to reach the Europa League semi-finals and keep dreams of ending the club's 17-year trophy drought alive.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said Washington could soon exit efforts to reach a Ukraine ceasefire if it decided peace was not "doable", after meeting European and Ukrainian officials in Paris.
Sofia Stasyuk flinches every time she hears the increasingly frequent missile blasts and thuds of air defence over her Ukrainian hometown of Sumy.
Russia fired a fresh volley of missiles and drones at Ukraine overnight, wounding dozens of people, Kyiv said Friday, as the United States warned it could end efforts to broker a ceasefire if it did not see progress soon.
Tokyo led most Asian markets higher Friday on optimism about a Japan-US trade deal as investors keep tabs on countries' tariff talks with the White House.
Two people were still missing in Italy on Friday after unusually heavy spring storm across the Alps dumped more than a metre of snow in some areas, shutting ski areas, halting transport and leaving at least one person dead.
It had been nearly two years since AFP journalist Abdelmoneim Abu Idris Ali set foot in his home in war-torn Khartoum, after the sound of children playing in the street gave way to the fearsome fire of machine guns.
US strikes on a Yemeni fuel port killed at least 38 people, Huthi rebels said Friday, in one of the deadliest attacks of Washington's renewed campaign against the Iran-backed group.
Renee Slegers' Arsenal will go into the first leg of their Women's Champions League clash against European giants Lyon on Saturday with "belief and bravery" after a remarkable turnaround on her watch.
Along one of the many dirt tracks leading into Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp there is a large hidden compound, where inside, twice a week, adolescent girls gather to learn taekwondo, the martial arts lessons offering a safe space in the often chaotic settlement.
Sky-high tariffs imposed on China by US President Donald Trump have triggered a slump in factory orders, manufacturers told AFP this week -- with some fearing business may never return.
Thousands of pilgrims camped overnight outside Sri Lanka's holiest Buddhist temple in anticipation of Friday's display of a prized relic that will be shown to the public for the first time in 16 years.