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Japan confirmed Friday the first fatal bear attack of 2026 after a record 13 deaths last year, with reports pointing to a jump in sightings as the animals emerge hungry from hibernation.

Three hikers, including two foreigners, died and 10 were missing after Mount Dukono on Indonesia's eastern Halmahera island erupted Friday, spewing an ash cloud about 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) into the air, a local police chief said.

For years, Syrian brown bears Nairi, Aram and their cub Lola were trapped in a three-metre-wide cage in Armenia's capital Yerevan, living in their own faeces and fed with sweets.

Japanese baseball is considering punishing players for dangerous swings, reports said Friday, as an umpire remains unconscious three weeks after being accidentally hit on the head by a bat.

A Copa Libertadores match between hosts Independiente Medellin of Colombia and defending champions Flamengo of Brazil was abandoned Thursday after home fans set off flares and lit fires in the stands.

Japanese auto giant Toyota forecast Friday a 22-percent fall in net profit in the year to next March, as it struggles with the effects of US tariffs and the Middle East war.

Bangladesh's deadliest measles outbreak in decades is stretching its health system, with children filling hospital wards and doctors struggling to contain a surge in infections that have killed more than 300 youngsters.

Russia and Ukraine launched major attacks on each other on Friday, with a two-day unilateral ceasefire that Moscow had declared around its World War II commemorations appearing to be in tatters.

The rules of the Eurovision Song Contest -- the biggest live televised music event -- have evolved to keep pace with technological, artistic and geopolitical changes over the past 70 years.

The former chairman of one of China's biggest state-owned airlines has been charged with bribery, state media said Friday, nearly a year after he was investigated for graft.

The Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away late to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 125-107 in an NBA playoff thriller on Thursday, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference semi-final series.

Already fighting to avoid relegation from the Bundesliga, Wolfsburg on Saturday host a Bayern Munich side still smarting from their Champions League elimination by holders Paris Saint‑Germain.

With the sting of Champions League disappointment fading but not forgotten, Barcelona are aiming to clinch back-to-back La Liga titles on Sunday when they host bitter rivals Real Madrid.

The young Ukrainian lieutenant talked back too much so his Russian jailers beat him to a pulp.

Stocks sank and oil prices jumped Friday as US-Iran clashes in the Strait of Hormuz jolted hopes for a deal to end the war and reopen the crucial waterway.

Malaysia is resorting to cloud seeding to bring much-needed rain to the country's "rice bowl" north, where a drought has delayed planting of the staple crop and raised supply fears.

Donald Trump is poised to be the first US president visiting China in almost a decade, but an uneasy trade truce and tensions over Iran and Taiwan loom over his trip next week.

US President Donald Trump is due to visit China on May 14-15, where he is expected to meet leader Xi Jinping, after delaying an earlier summit because of the Iran war.

In an overcrowded camp in Sudan's Blue Nile state, Awatif Awad has been fighting to keep her five children alive as the region becomes a new front line in the country's three-year war.

North Korea plans to deploy a new type of artillery along its southern border, state media said Friday, potentially putting Seoul within striking range as Pyongyang deepens its hostility towards South Korea.

The European Union's climate monitor said Friday that ocean temperatures are edging toward record highs as conditions shift toward a potentially powerful El Nino weather pattern.

The Detroit Pistons thwarted Cleveland's comeback bid to beat the Cavaliers 107-97 on Thursday and take a 2-0 lead in their NBA playoff series.

Pope Leo XIV marks one year as leader of the Catholic Church Friday with a visit to southern Italy, returning to his flock after weeks dominated by a clash with Washington.

In a football league of big men trying to lose weight, the five-a-side teams feature names like OB City, Big Bananas and Heavy Touch FC.

US President Donald Trump heads for a superpower summit with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping next week hoping the Iran war will not spoil the mood in Beijing.

Russia said Friday it intercepted drones bound for Moscow after warning of a potential retaliatory strike on Kyiv despite a two-day unilateral ceasefire it declared around its World War II victory holiday.

New York's governor on Thursday ordered federal immigration agents operating in her state to not wear masks, a move likely to be challenged by President Donald Trump's administration after courts overturned a similar effort in California.

Arsenal are firmly back in control of the Premier League title race and a win at struggling West Ham on Sunday could all but seal the Gunners' first English title in 22 years.

The grass pitch for the World Cup final was installed Thursday at a stadium near New York, a milestone as anticipation builds for the top football tournament.

Two Australian women "kept a female slave" after travelling to Syria in 2014 to support the Islamic State group, police said Friday after they were charged in Melbourne.

Venezuela's prisons ministry on Thursday acknowledged the death in custody of a political prisoner nearly a year after his passing and after his mother spent months searching for him.

PHILADELPHIA, PA / ACCESS Newswire / May 8, 2026 / TruMerit, a global leader in healthcare workforce development and credential verification, today announced that it has issued its first verifiable digital credentials to healthcare professionals through a new partnership with Credivera, marking a major step forward in secure, portable credential verification for the global healthcare workforce.