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Japan should sanction Myanmar as it has done for Russia over its Ukraine invasion, a United Nations expert said Thursday, slamming the junta's "barbarism and oppression".

The Bank of Japan announced a review of its longstanding monetary easing measures on Friday, but said it would maintain them for the time being in the first policy decision under new governor Kazuo Ueda.

Pope Francis heads to Hungary Friday for a three-day visit likely to be dominated by the war in Ukraine and his meeting with nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose views often clash with his own.

Jaylen Brown scored 32 points and Jayson Tatum added 30 as the Boston Celtics held off the Atlanta Hawks in a 128-120 thriller on Thursday to win their NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoff series four games to two.

Samer and his family thought they had found safety in Lebanon after fleeing Syria's war nearly a decade ago, but amid growing anti-refugee sentiment, Beirut handed his brother to the Syrian army.

The hero of last year's French Cup triumph for Nantes, Ludovic Blas hopes for a repeat success on Saturday against Toulouse as he nears the end of what is likely his final season with the Canaries.

Ecuador on Thursday declared members of organized crime groups to be terrorists, a distinction that allows the military to pursue them with greater freedom.

War-ravaged Libya is better known for its oil wealth than its forests, but environmentalists hope to save its remaining green spaces from logging, development and the impacts of climate change.

Brandishing a bolt-action rifle, civil servant Sanjeet Kumar is one of 5,000 Kashmir villagers who have joined all-Hindu militia units armed and trained by Indian forces to fight off rebel attacks.

Once jailed for murder, Cao Yongsheng now makes a living caring for the dead, benefitting from a bold rehabilitation scheme that's giving some of China's most serious criminals a second life as funeral workers.

Four more teams will take part in Australia's fast-growing women's rugby league competition this year with a new broadcast deal seeing every match on free-to-air television, officials said.

Sudanese fighter jets pounded paramilitary positions in Khartoum on Thursday while deadly fighting and looting flared in Darfur, despite the army and a rival force agreeing to extend a ceasefire deal.

Asian stocks were up on Friday, tracking big gains on Wall Street fuelled by strong tech earnings and mixed, but manageable, macroeconomic data.

Sweden's Linnea Johansson fired a superb seven-under par 64 on Thursday to grab the first-round lead in the LPGA LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club.

Women are a rare sight in Japanese politics, but 20-year-old Rinka Saito is determined to run for office one day because "you can't have true democracy without diversity".

The 11-time world champion Kelly Slater has been handed a career lifeline with a wildcard to continue on the World Surf League, keeping his Paris Olympic dream alive.

In a clamorous bazaar, hot-blooded Pakistani men seek a cold-blooded cure for their sexual ills -- freshly rendered lizard fat, marinated in scorpion oil and garnished with filaments of a fiery red spice.

Draped in a colorful campaign banner and wearing an oversize "God, Guns and Trump" medallion around her neck, Angela Wilkinson insisted at a political rally that her hero will oust Joe Biden from the White House next year.

Robert Lewandowski and Barcelona are aiming to find their spark on Saturday against Real Betis, with the Catalans limping towards the La Liga title.

The future of Manchester United could be decided on Friday when the deadline passes for a third round of bidding to buy the Premier League giants.

As Paris Saint-Germain close in on a record 11th French title, most of the remaining interest in Ligue 1 surrounds the fight for Champions League qualification and the battle to avoid finishing in the four relegation places.

Stuart Lancaster will leave his post as Leinster's senior coach with "his prestige in the sport way beyond" what it was when he stepped down as England coach after the 2015 Rugby World Cup debacle, Irish rugby great Tony Ward has told AFP.

With bills targeting transgender youth multiplying at an alarming rate, Mary knew it was time to leave Texas -- and fast.

Paraguayans go the polls Sunday for the South American country's closest presidential race in many years, with a center-leftist coalition hoping to end an almost unbroken, seven-decade run for the ruling right-wing Colorado party.

The United Nations is deeply flawed but it has proven effective in condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the embattled nation's UN envoy told AFP on Thursday.

The Carolina Panthers drafted quarterback Bryce Young with the number one overall pick in the NFL draft on Thursday with the Houston Texans also taking a quarterback in C.J. Stroud with the second pick.

Pirouette, leap, air guitar, stomp. In a practice room in central England, dancers move gracefully in unison, combining classical ballet with new, heavy metal-inspired steps.

Online retail titan Amazon on Thursday reported that its cloud and ads units helped it beat earnings expectations in the first quarter of this year despite shoppers and businesses being more careful about spending.

Martin Scorsese unveiled the first footage from his film "Killers of the Flower Moon" Thursday at CinemaCon, where his lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio and pop superstar Rihanna were among the surprise guests.

Climate activists attacked a famous Degas sculpture in a Washington museum Thursday, smearing its Plexiglas enclosure with paint.

The top two teams in Major League Soccer clash on Saturday when the New England Revolution host FC Cincinnati at Gillete Stadium.

Three years after the Covid-19 pandemic canceled Major League Baseball's first planned regular-season games in Mexico City, the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants are finally set to play ball there.