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England boss Thomas Tuchel said this month's friendlies are the "last opportunity for players to compete for their ticket" to the World Cup but insisted "no one is on the plane" yet.

Pep Guardiola believes Sunday's League Cup final against Arsenal is the acid test of his side's "level" as Manchester City aim to get their season back on track.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who is currently nursing a hamstring injury, was on Friday left out of the Portugal squad to play pre-World Cup friendlies against tournament co-hosts Mexico and the United States later this month.

Liverpool on Friday condemned racist abuse directed towards defender Ibrahima Konate as "dehumanising, cowardly and rooted in hate".

Far from the Middle East war, fallout from oil disruptions is reverberating across the world, unsettling lives from Lagos to Manila as people adjust to fuel price hikes and gas shortages.

German auto industry exports to China plunged by a third last year as the country's manufacturers face fierce local competition, a study showed Friday, underscoring the sector's deepening crisis.

Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde is to step down at the end of the season after a hugely successful third spell in charge, he announced Friday.

US-Israeli airstrikes after almost three weeks of war have killed Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei and a whole echelon of the political and military elite in the Islamic republic.

Companies selling artificial intelligence models in Europe should pay a "levy" to support cultural industries, the head of French developer Mistral said Friday.

Mohamed Salah will miss Liverpool's trip to Brighton on Saturday with a muscle injury -- a major blow for manager Arne Slot as he hunts a Champions League place next season.

Ukraine's world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh dominated the women's high jump to win the first gold on offer at the world indoor championships in Torun, Poland, on Friday.

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente named in-form Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia in his 27-man squad on Friday as one of four maiden call-ups for friendlies later this month.

Stocks dipped and oil prices steadied Friday, at the end of a turbulent week in which attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure rattled global markets and sparked fears of an energy shock.

Mohamed Salah will miss Liverpool's trip to Brighton on Saturday with a muscle injury -- a major blow for manager Arne Slot as he chases a Champions League place next season.

Seafarers stuck in the Gulf say they are rationing food and water and anxiously hoping supplies will get through Iran's blockade in the war that has stranded them for three weeks.

Firefighters battled another blaze at a Kuwait oil refinery on Friday after a fresh drone attack from Iran where millions were marking the country's New Year with muted celebrations under the shadow of war.

Manchester United duo Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo as well as Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin on Friday earned international recalls as Thomas Tuchel named a 35-man squad for pre-World Cup friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.

Hundreds of Muslim worshippers held Eid prayers at the gates of Jerusalem's Old City Friday, with Israel closing access to the Al-Aqsa mosque and other holy sites over the war with Iran.

Forced by yet another war in Lebanon to flee his home for the second time in just two years, and mourning lost relatives and friends, Hassan Kiki said he feels much older than 16.

Seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan made professional snooker history on Friday by crafting the highest break ever of 153 at the World Open in China.

Firefighters battled a blaze at a giant oil refinery in Kuwait on Friday after a fresh drone attack as Iran kept up a wave of strikes on its neighbours and vowed there was "no concern" about its missile production.

Crude prices dipped Friday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran was being "decimated" and that the war would end earlier than many feared.

A deluge of weight‑loss drugs is set to transform the global fight against obesity as India prepares to unleash low‑cost generic versions of injections like Ozempic after a key patent expired Friday.

The 127 cheetahs living in a Somaliland sanctuary were all torn away from their mothers to be kept as pets in the Gulf, survivors of a trade that threatens the very survival of the species.

Chinese swimming sensation Yu Zidi added to her fast-growing reputation as the 13-year-old phenomenon beat multiple Olympic medallist Regan Smith in the women's 200m butterfly in a personal-best time in Shenzhen.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and daughter Ju Ae tried out the country's new battle tank in large-scale military drills, state media reported on Friday, in the latest sign that she was being groomed as his heir.

Israel launched a new wave of strikes on Tehran on Friday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran was being "decimated", and as Gulf nations faced a fresh set of attacks.

LeBron James tied the NBA record for most regular-season games played in style with a triple-double in the Lakers' win at Miami on Thursday.

China will be in a stronger position to extract concessions from Donald Trump when the US president finally visits Beijing after becoming entangled in his Middle East war, analysts say.

K-pop megastars BTS released a new album Friday billed as reflecting the maturing boy band's Korean roots and identity, as buzz built ahead of their open-air comeback concert in the heart of Seoul.

Coach Joe Montemurro told his Australia team Friday they must be adaptable and "smart" to win the Women's Asian Cup for the first time since 2010 and avenge two gut-wrenching losses against Japan in the continental final.

Victor Wembanyama's game-winner lifted the San Antonio Spurs to a 101-100 triumph over Phoenix and into the NBA playoffs Thursday as the Los Angeles Lakers kept up their postseason push with an eighth straight victory.

Beneath the powder snow at internationally popular Japanese ski resort Niseko, anxiety is mounting among residents over soaring prices and a massive influx of overseas workers.

Real Madrid have a host of brilliant players, including winger Vinicius Junior, but both he and the team as a whole must prove they can play consistently on Sunday against Atletico Madrid in a La Liga derby clash.

Harry Kane praised coach Vincent Kompany's role in Bayern Munich's evolution this campaign as a history-making season beckons for the German giants.

Paris Saint-Germain's comprehensive victory over Chelsea in the Champions League last 16 suggests they are coming back into the form which swept them to European glory last season, but they have not appeared as motivated in the chase for yet another Ligue 1 crown.

A weakened World Trade Organization will gather ministers in Yaounde next week as it seeks a road to reform, amid surging global trade tensions, US tariffs and disruptions caused by the Middle East war.

K-pop megastars BTS release an album Friday billed as reflecting the maturing boy band's Korean roots and identity, as buzz builds ahead of their open-air comeback concert in the heart of Seoul.

Relegation-haunted Tottenham face a crunch clash against fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest as the fight for Premier League survival reaches boiling point.