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AFP Sport examines each group following Friday's draw in Doha for the 2022 Qatar World Cup:

Ukraine refused Friday to deny it had carried out an airstrike on Russian soil, as hopes of de-escalation faded in President Vladimir Putin's war and evacuation operations for besieged Mariupol failed.

The first aid convoy in three months reached Ethiopia's war-stricken Tigray region on Friday, the UN said, a week after the government and Tigrayan rebels agreed to a conditional humanitarian truce.

The United States and Iran go into the World Cup with political and football grudges that their coaches, Gregg Berhalter and Dragan Skocic, are keen to defuse before the teams meet in November.

The UN said Yemen's warring parties have agreed to a two-month extendable truce starting Saturday, the first day of Ramadan for many Muslims, and an accord on fuel shipments and Sanaa airport.

A top United Nations official will visit Moscow this weekend to try to secure a "humanitarian ceasefire" in Ukraine, UN chief Antonio Guterres said Friday.

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, sidelined by a sprained ligament in his left foot, won't return to action before the playoffs, the NBA team said Friday.

Brazil coach Tite said he was happy to have been placed in Group G following Friday's World Cup draw in Doha as it will give his team more time to prepare.

Liang Wenbo's position on the world snooker tour is under review after the Chinese cueman was fined for assaulting a woman in the northern English city of Sheffield, officials said.

Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre said a performance on Saturday will be in support of Russia's "military operation" in Ukraine, with all proceeds going towards the families of Russian soldiers who died in combat.

Sri Lanka's president declared a state of emergency Friday giving sweeping powers to security forces a day after hundreds tried to storm his house in anger over an unprecedented economic crisis.

Norway's eighth-ranked Casper Ruud reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final on Friday, beating surprise package Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets at the Miami Open.

Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan has signed to play for Yorkshire in the Twenty20 Blast, the English county announced Friday.

The UN's cultural agency on Friday said it had confirmed that at least 53 Ukrainian historical sites, religious buildings and museums had sustained damage during Russia's invasion of the country.

Honduran authorities on Friday seized properties, financial holdings and other assets belonging to ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who is awaiting extradition to the United States to face drug-trafficking charges, the public ministry said.

France coach Didier Deschamps said the defending champions have "a lot of respect" for Denmark after the teams were drawn in the same World Cup group on Friday.

The United States announced Friday it was lifting a public health order imposed because of the Covid-19 pandemic that required the immediate expulsion of migrants arriving at the southern border.

England manager Gareth Southgate is wary of the little time he will have to prepare his squad for the 2022 World Cup despite a kind draw for the group stages on Friday.

To save the world from the worst ravages of climate change, slashing carbon pollution is no longer enough -- CO2 will also need to be sucked out of the atmosphere and buried, a landmark UN report is expected to say on Monday.

Four-time champions Germany and 2010 winners Spain were drawn to meet in the same group at the World Cup finals on Friday.

Citing the need to counteract the "Putin price hike" following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, President Biden has announced a sweeping plan to make unprecedented use of US emergency oil stockpiles.

Two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar says he expects a tense race in Sunday's prestigious one-day cobbled classic the Tour of Flanders.

Germany and Spain will clash at this year's World Cup after Friday's draw in Doha placed the two former winners in the same group, while geopolitical rivals the United States and Iran were also drawn together.

Russian journalist Andrei Babitsky died at home in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk aged 57, regional media and Radio Free Europe reported.

The United States announced Friday it was lifting a public health order imposed because of the Covid-19 pandemic that required the immediate expulsion of migrants arriving at the border.

Amazon workers in New York voted Friday to establish the first US union at the e-commerce giant, a milestone for a company that has steadfastly opposed organized labor in its massive workforce.

NASA on Friday begins a critical two-day-long test of its giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket complete with a mock countdown, as the agency gears up to return humans to the Moon.

Simon Harmer gave credit to English county Essex after spinning South Africa into a dominant position on the second day of the first Test against against Bangladesh at Kingsmead on Friday.

Japan's Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama withdrew from the US PGA Tour Texas Open on Friday with a neck injury less than a week before he was set to launch his title defense at Augusta National.

US lawmakers backed the decriminalization of marijuana nationwide in a vote Friday that will eliminate punishments for providing or possessing the drug if it is signed into law by President Joe Biden.

Stock markets wavered on Friday as a solid US jobs report raised expectations of an aggressive US interest rate hike to tame runaway inflation.

Street protests gripped Sri Lanka Friday as demonstrators blocked main roads across the country, a day after hundreds tried to storm the president's home in anger over an unprecedented economic crisis.