Ireland voted overwhelmingly to liberalise some of the strictest abortion laws in Europe on Friday, according to an exit poll in a historic referendum in the traditionally Catholic country.

Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was charged with rape and a sex crime in New York on Friday, in what was hailed a landmark for the #MeToo movement, nearly eight months after his career imploded in a blaze of accusations of misconduct.

One day after abruptly pulling the plug on a high-stakes summit with North Korea, US President Donald Trump said Friday the meeting with Kim Jong Un could go ahead after all -- possibly even on the originally scheduled date of June 12.

European countries have until the end of May to propose ways to mitigate the effects of the US withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran, a senior Iranian official said Friday.

The Netherlands and Australia on Friday took the first step towards dragging Russia to court over the shooting down of flight MH17, accusing Moscow of being responsible for the disaster over war-torn eastern Ukraine in 2014.

The World Health Organization has received widespread praise for its quick response to an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, although observers warn prevention and information to affected communities remain insufficient.

A doctor warned Friday that bitter-tasting pumpkins and squashes can contain potent toxins, after two women were poisoned by their dinners and lost most of their hair.

The EU's flagship new data protection laws came into effect on Friday but hit an early hitch as several major US news websites were blocked to European users.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday faced a Socialist no-confidence motion and calls for a snap election after his Popular Party was found guilty of benefiting from illegal funds in a massive graft trial.

Brazil's auto industry was completely shut down on Friday because of a truckers' strike that has severely affected supplies throughout the country, a manufacturers' association said.

Signatories of the Iran nuclear deal met in Vienna on Friday in a bid to save the agreement, as Iran warned the deal had been put "in intensive care" by Washington's dramatic withdrawal earlier this month.

US President Donald Trump on Friday welcomed North Korea's response to his decision to call off a high-stakes summit next month, after Kim Jong Un's regime said it was still willing to talk "at any time."

Daniel Ricciardo hides a streak of raw determination behind his sunny smile and he is looking for 'payback' in Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix after missing out on a merited win in 2016.

The Netherlands and Australia are holding Russia "accountable" for the 2014 downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, Dutch officials said Friday, in a move likely to lead to legal action.

A federal judge granted a restraining order Thursday forcing prison guards in Alaska to stop giving Muslim inmates pork as they break their fasts during Ramadan, rights campaigners said.

Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta's decision to join Japan's Vissel Kobe could make the J-League a serious option for the world's top footballers, former Shimizu S-Pulse manager Steve Perryman said.

A Catholic priest has been quarantined after being infected with the Ebola virus in the town of Mbandaka in the Democratic Republic of Congo, medical sources said Thursday.

A federal court jury on Thursday ordered Samsung to pay Apple $533 million for copying iPhone design features in a patent case dating back seven years.

The Brazilian government and transport unions struck a deal late Thursday to halt for 15 days a nationwide truckers' strike that has caused severe shortages of fuel and food in some areas.

A thrilling run inspired by Mohamed Salah has taken Liverpool to Saturday's Champions League final in Kiev against Real Madrid, where now Jurgen Klopp's side must stop the Spanish giants from winning the trophy for the third year running.

"Star Wars" fan favorite Boba Fett is to get his own spin-off movie in Lucasfilm's epic space franchise, US entertainment media reported on Thursday.

US intelligence agencies offered no evidence to back President Donald Trump's claim that the FBI planted a "spy" in his campaign, congressional Democrats said Thursday after a closed-door briefing.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) will launch fact-checking sites in English, Spanish and Portuguese with financial support from Facebook, the international news agency announced on Thursday.

At least two people were killed and 50 wounded as clashes flared in Nicaragua after peace talks between the government and opposition collapsed, the Red Cross and victims' relatives said Thursday.

North Korea on Friday said it was still willing to talk to the United States after President Donald Trump cancelled a summit between the two countries, a decision Pyongyang described as "extremely regrettable".

Dozens of actress, models and ex-employees have come out to accuse veteran producer Harvey Weinstein, 66, of harassment, abuse and rape dating as far back as the 1990s.

Obese hospital patients are more likely to survive an infectious disease than people of normal weight, according to research that pointed Friday to seemingly paradoxical benefits of a condition loaded with health risks.

The two highest scoring sides in this season's Champions League face off for the title when defending champions Real Madrid and Liverpool go head-to-head in Kiev on Saturday (1845GMT).

Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka are making their returns to Grand Slam tennis at the French Open, while world number one Simona Halep is bidding to finally win her first major title.

Rafael Nadal eyes his 11th French Open title while former champions Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka battle their way back from injury.

Favourites Montpellier trounced the underdogs Lyon 40-14 in the French Rugby Union Top 14 semi-finals on Friday, scoring four tries on the way in front of almost 60,000 fans.

Bernard Tomic came through qualifying at the French Open on Friday to set up a first round clash with Australian compatriot, and fellow troubled soul, Nick Kyrgios.

Montpellier beat Lyon 40-14 in the French Rugby Union Top 14 semi-finals on Friday, scoring four tries on the way in front of almost 60,000 fans.

Pakistan again showed England how to play in their own conditions in the first Test at Lord's on Friday before suffering a blow when Babar Azam was ruled out of the remainder of this two-Test series with a wrist injury.

Northern Irish golf star Rory McIlroy played such a sublime second round of golf at the PGA Championship on Friday he had defending champion Alex Noren quipping about early retirement.

Who are the players looking to take down the top stars in this year's French Open:

Former UEFA president Michel Platini, who was banned from football activities over a two million Swiss francs (1.8 million euros, $2 million) payment from FIFA, has been cleared by a Swiss prosecutor, French daily Le monde reported on Friday.

Pakistan again showed England how to play in their own conditions as they maintained their dominant position in the first Test at Lord's.

Liverpool's mayor said his bid to get stranded football fans to Kiev for the Champions League final against Real Madrid failed on Friday after he was unable to find crew for back-up planes.

Jurgen Klopp expressed his admiration for Zinedine Zidane a day before he leads Liverpool into the Champions League final hoping to stop the French legend's Real Madrid side from winning the trophy for a third year in succession.

Cristiano Ronaldo is fit and ready to shine again in a Champions League final, believes Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane as the Spanish giants go for a third straight European Cup against Liverpool on Saturday.

Kiev has attracted a wave of negative publicity due to the problems faced by supporters wanting to get there for Saturday's Champions League final, but Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos insists it will always have a place in his heart.

Houston Rockets star guard Chris Paul will miss the team's crucial NBA playoff game Saturday at defending champion Golden State with a strained right hamstring, the Rockets announced Friday.

Northern Irish golf star Rory McIlroy played such a sublime second round of golf at the PGA Championship on Friday he had defending champion Alex Noren quipping he thought about quitting.

Jurgen Klopp is in no doubt that Zinedine Zidane has shown himself to be as good a coach as he was during a wonderful playing career, as the two men prepare to lead their Liverpool and Real Madrid sides into Saturday's Champions League final.

Brighton completed the signing of Deportivo La Coruna striker Florin Andone for an undisclosed fee on Friday, the Premier League club announced.

Japan's Naomi Osaka admitted Friday it felt "weird" to be seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time and seeing her transformation from razor-sharp social media star to a player suddenly feared when she walks onto a tennis court.

Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki says that Serena Williams' comeback will force the current top-ranked players to raise their games at the French Open.

Flamboyant former tennis world number one Ilie Nastase was pulled over by Bucharest traffic police twice on Friday on suspicion of drink driving and a few hours later for driving without a licence, the Romanian authorities said.

German star Alexander Zverev insisted on Friday that he should no longer be tagged as part of tennis' 'next generation', as he bids to win his first Grand Slam title at the French Open.

Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov will continue his recent rise with his first French Open appearance next week, but insists winning the title at such a young age is "impossible".

Elliot Daly will start England's non-cap international on Sunday against the Barbarians at full-back, with Danny Cipriani having to settle for a place among the replacements.

Senior Russian sports officials have admitted to "some unacceptable manipulations of the anti-doping system" and the existence of a "systemic doping scheme" in a letter to international sports leaders.

Saracens number eight Billy Vunipola will start Saturday's Premiership final against defending champions Exeter at Twickenham after recovering from a tight hamstring.

In handcuffing powerful movie producer Harvey Weinstein Friday, US authorities justice appeared to confirm that no one escapes the long arm of the law in the United States.

Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was charged with rape and a sex crime in New York on Friday, in what was hailed a landmark for the #MeToo movement, nearly eight months after his career imploded in a blaze of accusations of misconduct.

One of Harvey Weinstein's accusers said Friday she was "elated" at seeing him indicted for rape and sex crime.

The scandal surrounding Harvey Weinstein erupted on October 5 last year, with the publication in The New York Times of a first series of accusations from women who claimed to have been harassed or assaulted by the movie mogul.

The Nobel Foundation on Friday said this year's literature prize, already postponed until 2019 due to a sexual assault scandal, may be delayed further.

For decades, he was the kingmaker lording it over Hollywood who Meryl Streep famously called "God." But on Friday, Harvey Weinstein was arrested and charged with rape, the most famous pariah of the #MeToo cause.

The head of Kenya's film commission has slammed a decision to impose a domestic ban a Kenya-made film about lesbian love that received a standing ovation at this month's Cannes festival.

A deformed bottle of wine, a colander in the place of a woman's head or a ceramic plate with inlaid fish bones: For the first time, the intimate connection between Pablo Picasso's work and gastronomy is on display in his Barcelona museum.

French President Emmanuel Macron has met with Russian rights activists who urged him to pressure Vladimir Putin to free a hunger-striking Ukrainian film director, they said on Friday.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Danny Boyle will direct the next James Bond film, with actor Daniel Craig returning for the fifth time as the legendary British spy, the movies' producers announced Friday.

"Star Wars" fan favorite Boba Fett is to get his own spin-off movie in Lucasfilm's epic space franchise, US entertainment media reported on Thursday.

Dozens of actress, models and ex-employees have come out to accuse veteran producer Harvey Weinstein, 66, of harassment, abuse and rape dating as far back as the 1990s.

For decades he was the Hollywood kingmaker capable of building or breaking careers. Meryl Streep famously called him "God" but now Harvey Weinstein, his name mud and his career over, faces arrest for sexual assault.

Octogenarian Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman apologized Thursday after a report of multiple sexual harassment accusations, making the actor the latest high-profile figure to face allegations of misconduct in the #MeToo era.

Disgraced former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein is expected to surrender to authorities in New York on Friday following a months-long investigation into allegations that he sexually assaulted women, US media reported.

Hollywood movie star Morgan Freeman apologized Thursday over reports that multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct.

Graffiti or street artists in Belgrade are playing out a football rivalry on the city's walls in a development far from the image of ultranationalism and violent Balkan fans.

Moses Farrow, the adopted son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen, released a lengthy personal essay Wednesday, disputing allegations that his father molested his sister and accusing his mother of abuse.

Stormy Daniels was granted the keys to the Californian city of West Hollywood on Wednesday to celebrate her court battle with President Donald Trump over a sexual encounter she claims they had more than a decade ago.

Warner Bros is set to produce an animated film based on an early book by the author of the "Game of Thrones" saga, a source familiar with the matter told AFP Wednesday.

The death of Philip Roth has reopened a decades-old debate about the extent to which the American literary master was a misogynist and whether his work should be re-examined in the #MeToo era.

A full-fledged bidding war for key assets of Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox erupted Wednesday as media and cable giant Comcast announced it plans an all-cash bid that would top an existing offer from Walt Disney Co.

Michael Jackson's estate has slammed an upcoming television special about the late King of Pop, describing it Wednesday as a "crass and unauthorized" effort to exploit the singer's name.

If Philip Roth is credited with a damning premonition of the Trump presidency in his 2004 novel "The Plot Against America," the late novelist was profoundly shocked by the reality of 21st century US politics.

Tributes poured in Wednesday honoring the late US literary giant Philip Roth, whose prolific career as a novelist, essayist and critic chronicled the American experience in the 20th century.

Four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has welcomed back the "beautiful" grid girls at this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, saying their return is "a lovely thing".

Philip Roth, a giant of US literature whose work explored what it meant to be American, male and Jewish, was a towering figure among 20th century novelists whose five-decade career won him legions of awards around the world.

Cyclone Mekunu on Friday lashed southern Oman with high winds and rain, killing at least one person and wounding three a day after wreaking havoc on the Yemeni island of Socotra.

Subtropical Storm Alberto formed in the Caribbean on Friday, giving an early kickoff to the Atlantic hurricane season one week ahead of schedule.

A doctor warned Friday that bitter-tasting pumpkins and squashes can contain potent toxins, after two women were poisoned by their dinners and lost most of their hair.

Scientists in South Africa on Friday launched the world's first optical telescope linked to a radio telescope, combining "eyes and ears" to try to unravel the secrets of the universe.

Fluffy white weasels that once frolicked in snowy fields unnoticed now have a target on their back thanks to global warming, scientists said Thursday.

They roam Morocco's southern desert, braving the searing heat to scour the undulating sands for bounty fallen from the sky.

A conservation agency has constructed what is believed to be the world's longest cat-proof fence in central Australia to save native wildlife and vegetation ravaged by the feline predators.

An Indian woman who was bitten by a snake in her sleep and unknowingly breastfed poisoned milk to her daughter has died along with the child, police said Friday.

She fought through a male-dominated world to become perhaps Iran's first female manufacturing boss, and was on the cusp of major success with the help of a European investor.

A US oversight agency said Thursday that a flooded Arkema chemical plant in Texas, where organic compounds ignited during last year's Hurricane Harvey, was inadequately prepared for a catastrophic flood.

After the most expensive hurricane season on record last year, US officials said Thursday to expect a more normal Atlantic season in 2018 with five to nine hurricanes in total.

After the most expensive hurricane season on record last year, US officials said Thursday to expect a more average Atlantic season with five to nine hurricanes in total.

Vladimir Putin on Thursday appointed a firebrand nationalist politician, who oversaw Russia's once proud space industry, to manage its space agency in a move analysts said spells more trouble for the embattled sector.

Seventeen people were missing and hundreds of others evacuated from their homes Thursday after a cyclone hit Socotra, with Yemen's government declaring the island a "disaster province".

Ten families and a group of reindeer-herding youngsters have filed suit against the European Union, seeking stronger measures against the global warming they say is already harming their livelihoods.

Ten families from Europe, Kenya, and Fiji have filed suit against the European Union, seeking to limit global warming's threats to their homes and livelihoods, their lawyers said Thursday.

People around the world beset by drought, heatwaves, rising seas and storm surges made worse by global warming are calling for "climate justice," and many are pleading their case in court.

The French government is preparing a plan to deal with a new invasion of stinky seaweed that is covering the beaches of some its islands in the Caribbean, causing health problems for residents and threatening key fishing and tourism industries.

NASA's new administrator, a former lawmaker nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the US space agency, admitted Wednesday he has changed his mind about climate change and now believes that humans are the main driver of greenhouse gas emissions.

Failing to cap global warming at two degrees Celsius or less could cost the world economy tens of trillions of dollars over the next 80 years, researchers warned Wednesday.

A toxic weedkiller linked to Parkinson's disease and banned in more than 30 countries will not be outlawed in Thailand, after authorities announced Wednesday they would instead restrict its use.

As carbon dioxide rises due to the burning of fossil fuels, rice will lose some of its protein and vitamin content, putting millions of people at risk of malnutrition, scientists warned on Wednesday.

Hostility towards ethnic minorities is contagious and the acceptability of destructive behaviour towards them can easily change depending on how others behave, according to a new study by a Czech-Slovak team.

The human brain is disproportionately large. And while abundant grey matter confers certain intellectual advantages, sustaining a big brain is costly -- consuming a fifth of energy in the human body.

The German government approved a draft law Wednesday that paves the way for energy giants RWE and Vattenfall to receive hundreds of millions of euros in compensation for the country's decision to phase out nuclear power.

Rwanda has become the official tourism partner of English football club Arsenal FC, whose players will sport a "Visit Rwanda" logo on their sleeves, the club announced Wednesday.

Authorities in Hamburg said Wednesday they would ban some diesel vehicles from two major arteries to improve air quality, making the German port city the first to take the long-feared step.