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Fifteen years before Tunisia's Ons Jabeur became the first Arab or African woman to win a top-flight tennis title, her adolescent sparring partner could see she was destined for glory even if he suffered a broken arm in the process.

Asian markets saw a sustained bump Friday following China's decision to lower a key benchmark rate, injecting optimism among traders that it could boost the world's second-largest economy from its Covid-battered knees.

Yoshimi Yamashita said she felt "pride and responsibility" on Friday after being named one of three woman referees for Qatar, a first for the men's World Cup.

Thirty years after mobs demolished a historic mosque in Ayodhya, triggering a wave of sectarian bloodshed that saw thousands killed, fundamentalist Indian Hindu groups are eyeing other Muslim sites -- even the world-famous Taj Mahal.

Gleaming football stadiums built for the Asian Cup may turn into "white elephants" after China withdrew as hosts, experts say, with President Xi Jinping's World Cup dreams more remote than ever.

Tucked away in a workshop under a London Underground line, cars are undergoing a green metamorphosis as they shed their cylinders, spark plugs and pistons for electric engines.

The heart-rending case of a woman denied an abortion by four hospitals despite the foetus having an aggressive tumour has sparked an outcry over women's rights in largely Catholic Croatia.

A new generation of Scandinavian filmmakers is making waves, following in the footsteps of Ingmar Bergman, Lars von Trier and the Dogme movement, with three directors in competition at Cannes this year.

Europe's most dramatic title race will finally reach its climax on Sunday when AC Milan take the field at Sassuolo ready to end an 11-year Scudetto drought and announce their return to the top table.

War may be far away but tensions from the Ukraine conflict are causing an unprecedented chill in a remote Arctic town where Russian and Ukrainian coalminers have worked side by side for decades.

A new and more serious reality looms large for Sweden's conscripts as their military service now takes place in the shadow of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

China on Friday announced it would cut a key interest rate in a boost to home buyers and debt-mired developers as the country's economy is slowed by Covid-19 restrictions ripping across major cities.

The renewed Russian offensive in Ukraine's Donbas has turned the eastern region into "hell", President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as the United States approved a gargantuan $40-billion aid package for the country.

A 1955 Mercedes-Benz, one of only two of its kind, was auctioned off earlier this month for a whopping 135 million euros ($143 million), making it the most expensive car ever sold, RM Sotheby's announced Thursday.

Four of Europe's top five leagues come to a conclusion this weekend, with plenty still to be decided and the Premier League and Serie A titles still up for grabs.

Asian markets opened higher Friday, as bargain-hunters capitalised on the battering Wall Street took the day before after decades-high inflation sparked recession fears.

Jayson Tatum scored 27 points as the Boston Celtics roared back to level the NBA Eastern Conference finals series with a 127-102 thrashing of the Miami Heat in game two on Thursday.

Horrific fractures, punctured lungs and a traumatic miscarriage: Jay Doucet has seen the severity of his patients' injuries worsen as more migrants fall from a growing border wall in their bid to evade a pandemic-imposed legal blockade.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is set to meet with billionaire Elon Musk on Friday, according to a government source.

The world's political and business elite will hobnob in Davos next week after a two-year break caused by Covid, with the Ukraine war set to dominate the exclusive Swiss mountain summit.

American aerospace giant Boeing's Starliner capsule was heading for the International Space Station Thursday, in a critical uncrewed test flight that followed years of failures and false starts.

The man narrowly tipped to become Australia's next prime minister predicted a "close" outcome in Saturday's vote, as he barnstormed the country in an eleventh-hour bid to defend a shrinking lead.

Carlos Alcaraz will bid to become only the eighth teenager to win a men's Grand Slam title at the French Open, which starts on Sunday.

Horrific fractures, punctured lungs and a traumatic miscarriage: Jay Doucet has seen the severity of his patients' injuries worsen as more migrants fall from a growing border wall in their bid to evade a pandemic-imposed legal blockade.

She was the Princess Diana of the 19th century. An impossibly glamorous Austro-Hungarian empress whose star-crossed love life and tragic end entranced the public.

The leaders of Japan, India, Australia and the United States meet in Tokyo next week seeking common ground on countering China, despite differences over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It's no mystery why Jordanian Lina Fayyad has been nicknamed "Fierce Savage" -- watching as she lands successive blows in the cage, it's clear she is poised to take mixed martial arts by storm.

In a hall on Japan's Sado island, 71-year-old Yoshikazu Fujimoto strikes the imposing drum mounted before him, producing a boom so powerful that it reverberates through the floorboards.

Elias Chebbi inspected a beehive in a field in Tunisia, minutes after a buzz on his phone warned him of a potential problem.

Pop sensation Harry Styles is set to release his third album Friday, a balmy collection whose twangy synths and soft acoustics compliment personal lyrics in his most intimate record yet.

As the football world prepares to head to Qatar in six months' time, this World Cup is set to bookend the era in which Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been the sport's two pre-eminent players.

AFP Sport runs the rule over the eight stadiums which will host matches at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from November 21 to December 18: