Militants shot dead at least 29 people including women and children in an attack Saturday on an Iranian military parade claimed by the Islamic State group, as Tehran accused a US ally in the region of the assault.

The Vatican on Saturday announced a historic accord with China on the appointment of bishops in the Communist country as Pope Francis recognised seven Beijing-appointed bishops in a move that could pave the way for a rapprochement between the Catholic Church and the world's most populous country.

An Indian bishop accused of raping a nun was refused bail Saturday, and ordered to remain in police custody to face questioning in a case that has triggered outrage among clergy.

The woman whose sexual assault allegation threatens to bring down Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee was given until Saturday afternoon to decide on testifying in the Senate -- hours after the US president claimed her accusation could not be true.

The Vatican announced Saturday it had reached an historic accord with China on the appointment of bishops in the Communist country which has so far named its own officials to a sole Beijing-recognised Catholic church.

A titanic takeover battle for European TV operator Sky between Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox and US cable giant Comcast culminates Saturday in a rare blind auction.

Pope Francis kicked off a Baltic tour in Catholic Lithuania on Saturday where he will honour victims of the region's Nazi and Soviet occupations as the Church reels from fresh clerical abuse scandals.

Pope Francis kicks off a Baltic tour in Catholic Lithuania on Saturday where he will honour victims of the region's Nazi and Soviet occupations as the Church reels from fresh clerical abuse scandals.

Facebook said Friday a dating service it teased early this year is being rolled out in Colombia.

Dozens of people from across Mexico who are searching for missing relatives this week journeyed to the city of Guadalajara, where a scandal has erupted over a truck full of unidentified bodies that overflowed local morgues.

Gunmen on Friday killed a Mexican journalist who had received threats after reporting on corruption in the southern state of Chiapas, his newspaper said, in what was at least the ninth murder of a reporter in the country this year.

Kevin Anderson and Jack Sock spoiled the doubles debut of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic but Team Europe still led Team World 3-1 after the first day of the 2018 Laver Cup.

Former French president Francois Hollande has fuelled controversy over India's multi-billion-dollar 2016 purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets, saying that France was given no choice on the Indian partner for manufacturer Dassault.

Donald Trump faced a new challenge to his authority Friday after US media reported that his deputy attorney general had discussed ways to force him from office on grounds of incompetence, just months into his presidency.

Gunmen shot and killed a Mexican journalist as he left his home in the southern state of Chiapas, his newspaper said Friday, at least the ninth reporter murdered in the country this year.

Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy's most important drive leading to the Ryder Cup might have come in a car instead of with a golf club.

Tiger Woods edged closer to snapping a five-year winless drought as the 14-time major winner maintained a share of the lead on Friday at the halfway stage of the Tour Championship.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday denounced "awful abuses" of Muslim Uighurs detained in Chinese reeducation camps.

Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Friday that his country will seek a bilateral trade deal with Canada if negotiations fall through for a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Chile will not negotiate with Bolivia over the latter's territorial claims to land lost in a 19th century war between the two countries, foreign affairs minister Roberto Ampuero said on Friday.

From the kitchen to the car, Amazon on Thursday sought to make its Alexa digital assistant and online services a bigger part of people's lives with an array of new products and partnerships.

Prime Minister Theresa May hit back Friday at the European Union after it roundly rejected her Brexit plan, saying its refusal to compromise was "not acceptable" and warning she was still prepared to walk away from the talks.

Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Friday ordered the arrest of the management of a ferry that capsized in Lake Victoria, as the death toll climbed to 131 and rescue workers pressed on with the search to find scores more people feared drowned.

The Sundance Kid may have a few acting adventures left in him.

Uncapped Surrey batsman Rory Burns is set to replace Alastair Cook at the top of England's order after being named in a 16-man squad on Friday for the upcoming three-Test tour of Sri Lanka.

Israel's coordination with Russia on its attacks in Syria remains unchanged despite the deadly downing of a Russian plane and the Jewish state retains its right to decide on military actions, an Israeli official said Friday.

The death toll from a landslide in the central Philippines has risen to 29, police said Friday, as rescuers frantically dug for survivors of the latest tragedy in the storm-hit nation.

Facebook said Friday a dating service it teased early this year is being rolled out in Colombia.

New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art made a surprise announcement Friday it would reboot stalled renovations of its modern and contemporary wing, and temporarily turn over the building housing the works to the nearby Frick Collection.

Italian designer Antonio Marras unleashed a procession of fauvist travellers on the catwalk Friday in a collection dedicated to "those who have still not left and those who are forced to leave".

President Donald Trump's outburst demanding to know why a university academic accusing his Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault in the 1980s failed to come forward sooner, saw a new #MeToo era hashtag storm the internet Friday.

Alcohol kills three million people worldwide each year -- more than AIDS, violence and road accidents combined, the World Health Organization said Friday, adding that men are particularly at risk.

Italy's fashion industry responded Friday to accusations of widespread underpaid and undeclared subcontracted work in a New York Times article, saying that the problem is limited and already being dealt with.

Ireland will hold a referendum on October 26 to repeal its constitutional law forbidding blasphemy, Dublin announced on Friday.

German authorities said Friday they were blocking a plan to rebuild part of the Berlin Wall for a massive film-art project in the German capital.

Few places are more peaceful than the gentle slopes of France's Alsace wine region -- but should any heinous crimes like grape theft occur, Jason the horse is on hand to catch the perpetrators.

The mighty Heera marched through a crowded slum chewing bamboo, oblivious that freedom from life as one of Delhi's last six elephants at work in the polluted city could be just around the corner.

Jose Augustin Hernandez is a 53-year-old local government official in Cuba -- who is transgender, sports a flamboyant pink wig and goes by the name Adela.

More than half of all countries will likely fail to hit the UN target of reducing premature deaths from a quartet of chronic diseases by a third before 2030, researchers said Friday.

Financial giant John Hancock is converting all its life insurance policies to an incentive-based system using activity tracking, a move aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles but which also raises privacy questions.

One of the largest swinging bells in the world, weighing 55 tons (7,850 stone), was unveiled in the Polish city of Krakow on Thursday ahead of being installed at a major pilgrimage site in Brazil.

Indiana Jones's signature fedora fetched more than half a million dollars at a blockbuster London auction of rare memorabilia from some of the most iconic movies of the past 40 years.

A local canoeing association filed a lawsuit on Thursday to ensure access to a section of the Potomac River that abuts a Trump golf course where the president plays frequently.

The decision by a fiercely pro-Western region of Ukraine to ban Russian-language arts, from songs to books and films, prompted widespread condemnation on Thursday even as it remained unclear how it would be implemented.

A cockpit mix-up left more than 30 passengers on an Indian plane bleeding from their ears and noses Thursday after the crew reportedly forgot to flick a switch regulating cabin air pressure.

Three years ago, asphyxiated by Venezuela's economic meltdown, Francisco Rojas and his wife Elena packed up four suitcases with the barest of essentials and walked out of their Caracas apartment.

A Toronto marketing company is looking to recruit six "cannabis enthusiasts" to test strains of pot and report back on their characteristics.

Madagascar's seasonal outbreak of plague, which has so far killed two people, is "under control", Health Minister Yoel Rantomalala said Thursday.

It's a devastating disease driving a dementia epidemic ruining tens of millions of lives, but with no new medical treatment since the turn of the century the fight against Alzheimer's is foundering.

Eliminating dead-but-toxic cells occurring naturally in the brains of mice designed to mimic Alzheimer's slowed neuron damage and memory loss associated with the disease, according to a study published Wednesday that could open a new front in the fight against dementia.

The mother was admitted at 9:30 am, the birth recorded at 9:35. Women often arrive in extremis at the Doctors Without Borders maternity hospital in southeastern Afghanistan, one of the most active in the world, with more than 60 babies born daily.

Sewing needles were taken off the shelves at a major Australian supermarket chain Thursday amid a national panic over sharp objects being found inside strawberries and other fruit.

Qu Jianguo, 64, had a futuristic medical visit in Shanghai as he put his wrist through an automated pulse-taking machine and received the result within two minutes on a mobile phone -- without a doctor present.

US environmental regulators are under increasing pressure over a controversial pesticide known for laying waste to nearby crops as well as the harmful weeds it is meant to control.

Former Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan claims he had to use a disguise to watch his former club at St James' Park after his fall-out with controversial owner Mike Ashley.

Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric has reached a deal with Spanish prosecutors, admitting he evaded taxes and agreeing to an eight-month jail sentence likely to be converted into a fine, daily El Mundo reported Saturday.

Former Wimbledon champion Andy Murray will play two tournaments in China before bringing an end to his troubled campaign.

Manchester City defender Kyle Walker says he was stung by criticism from Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino after he left the north London club.

The organisers of the round-the-world Golden Globe Race said Saturday they were scrambling to rescue missing Indian sailor Abhilash Tomy, but admitted he was "as far from help as you can possibly be".

Paris Saint-Germain manager Thomas Tuchel admitted Saturday he was left puzzled by the lack of cohesion between his trio of star strikers against Liverpool.

Japan's Naomi Osaka crushed Italian Camila Giorgi 6-2, 6-3 in Tokyo on Saturday to set up a Pan Pacific Open final against Czech Karolina Pliskova.

Disgraced cricketers Steve Smith and David Warner made stunning returns to Australian cricket Saturday, with the pair both notching up big scores in front of some of the largest grade-level crowds the country has seen.

Malaysian badminton star Lee Chong Wei has early-stage nose cancer and is being treated in Taiwan, sports officials said Saturday, after weeks of speculation about his health.

Kevin Anderson and Jack Sock spoiled the doubles debut of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic but Team Europe still led Team World 3-1 after the first day of the 2018 Laver Cup.

Former world number one Rory McIlroy is making a bid to close out his season in style by winning the 2018 Tour Championship.

Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy's most important drive leading to the Ryder Cup might have come in a car instead of with a golf club.

Tiger Woods edged closer to snapping a five-year winless drought as the 14-time major winner maintained a share of the lead on Friday at the halfway stage of the Tour Championship.

Grigor Dimitrov and Kyle Edmund won their opening matches Friday to give Team Europe a 2-0 lead over Team World going into the night session on day one of the Laver Cup.

Tiger Woods hasn't competed in France since 1994 as a teen amateur, but the 14-time major champion is excited to tee off next week in Paris at the 42nd Ryder Cup.

Unai Emery has warned his Arsenal stars to fix their leaky defence in time for Sunday's Premier League clash against Everton.

Rising star Simon Yates, fresh from his victory in the Tour of Spain, will carry the baton for Britain at the cycling world championships at Innsbruck this week on an Alpine course that suits him better than Chris Froome or Geraint Thomas.

Ronnie O'Sullivan fears for the future of snooker but is not yet ready to call time on his rivalry with fellow old-timers John Higgins and Mark Williams.

Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has a tough decision to make over whether to pick Alvaro Morata or Olivier Giroud for a testing encounter with West Ham on Sunday.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola claims he is happy with the form of young striker Gabriel Jesus even though the Brazilian appears to be suffering a hangover from his country's disappointing World Cup campaign.

Paul Pogba's fine form for Manchester United this season is evidence that post-World Cup hangovers are as much mental as physical, according to the club's manager Jose Mourinho.

World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua may have proclaimed himself "the best in the division" ahead of putting his titles on the line against Russia's Alexander Povetkin at Wembley Stadium but he also stressed a defeat would not signal the end of his career.

New York Jets coach Todd Bowles has reprimanded running back Isaiah Crowell over his controversial "toilet paper" touchdown celebration against Cleveland, vowing the "inexcusable" end zone routine will never be seen again.

Experienced batsman Shoaib Malik hit a six and a boundary to pull off a sensational last over three wicket win for Pakistan against a spirited Afghanistan in the Asia Cup in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

Dallas Mavericks veteran Dirk Nowitzki is ready to start his record 21st consecutive NBA season from the bench, the team confirmed Friday.

Lyon reacted to a UEFA ruling on Friday that they must play their next Champions League match behind closed doors by saying they would appeal again, this time to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Unheralded Englishman Oliver Fisher fired the first round of 59 in the European Tour's 46-year history on a remarkable second day of the Portugal Masters on Friday.

A titanic takeover battle for European TV operator Sky between Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox and US cable giant Comcast culminates Saturday in a rare blind auction.

Malaysian badminton star Lee Chong Wei has early-stage nose cancer and is being treated in Taiwan, sports officials said Saturday, after weeks of speculation about his health.

New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art made a surprise announcement Friday it would reboot stalled renovations of its modern and contemporary wing, and temporarily turn over the building housing the works to the nearby Frick Collection.

Rihanna is now Ambassador Rihanna, after her home country tasked her with promoting investment and tourism.

Italian designer Antonio Marras unleashed a procession of fauvist travellers on the catwalk Friday in a collection dedicated to "those who have still not left and those who are forced to leave".

Bianca Jagger once defended the Sandinista revolution of Daniel Ortega. But today, the Nicaraguan rights campaigner wants to see the controversial leader leave office in her homeland.

A museum dedicated to late and notorious Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar has been shut down in Medellin, according to local authorities.

The Sundance Kid may have a few acting adventures left in him.

Italy's fashion industry responded Friday to accusations of widespread underpaid and undeclared subcontracted work in a New York Times article, saying that the problem is limited and already being dealt with.

Opening his era in charge of the New York Philharmonic, Jaap van Zweden could not have been clearer that he welcomes fresh ideas.

Kenya on Friday overturned a ban on Rafiki, a film about a lesbian love affair and the first ever movie from the country to be shown at the Cannes film festival.

Olympic legend Michael Phelps called for new leadership in the fight against drugs in sport on Friday after the World Anti-Doping Agency controversially reinstated Russia's tainted anti-drugs body.

A 19-year-old singer in Kyrgyzstan has filed a complaint with police after receiving death threats over a music video she released targeting gender discrimination in the ex-Soviet republic.

There is a disturbance in the Force.

Pop-country superstar Carrie Underwood on Thursday got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame -- the latest honor for the Grammy-winning onetime champion of TV reality show "American Idol."

"Serial," the hit US internet radio sensation and most downloaded podcast in history, is back for season three. This time, focused on explaining to listeners how ordinary American criminal justice functions.

More than 150 works by American artist Alexander Calder, including his famous mobiles, will go on display starting Friday at Montreal's Museum of Fine Arts, Canada's first retrospective dedicated to the influential sculptor.

Fendi presented a jungle-themed collection aimed at the inner Lara Croft, Prada shone with its own impression of strong women and Emporio Armani invaded an airport on the second day of Milan Fashion Week on Thursday.

Former rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter on Thursday and will serve 28 years in prison for running over and killing a man three years ago.

Rockers Wolf Alice defied the odds to win Britain's prestigious Mercury Prize on Thursday for their second album "Visions of a Life", beating off competition from heavyweights Arctic Monkeys and Noel Gallagher.

There is a disturbance in the Force.

Indiana Jones's signature fedora fetched more than half a million dollars at a blockbuster London auction of rare memorabilia from some of the most iconic movies of the past 40 years.

The decision by a fiercely pro-Western region of Ukraine to ban Russian-language arts, from songs to books and films, prompted widespread condemnation on Thursday even as it remained unclear how it would be implemented.

Mexico's President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a stickler for austerity who has vowed to fly only commercial, spent three hours stuck on a grounded plane because of bad weather, Mexican media reported Thursday.

Fendi and Max Mara presented jungle-themed collections aimed at the inner Lara Croft on the second day of Milan Fashion Week on Thursday, with Emporio Armani and Prada to come.

A pair of debut novels, including one in verse, feature among six "miracles of stylistic invention" shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, judges of the British award announced on Thursday.

In a move with the power to shake up the music industry, Spotify said Thursday that it will allow select artists to upload songs directly without record labels or distributors.

Astronauts traveling through space on the long trip to Mars will not have the usual backup from mission control on Earth and will need to think of themselves as Martians to survive, Canada's most famous spaceman half-jokingly said Friday.

The Canadian government on Friday ordered a new review of the Trans Mountain pipeline to the Pacific taking into account the impact of increased tanker traffic on endangered killer whales along the coast.

It has been a question plaguing the museum dedicated to one of America's greatest presidents: Is the hat real?

The number of rhino killed for their horns by poachers in South Africa dipped by 26 percent in the first eight months of the year, officials said on Friday.

The death toll from a landslide in the central Philippines has risen to 29, police said Friday, as rescuers frantically dug for survivors of the latest tragedy in the storm-hit nation.

Indian authorities Friday ordered a probe into the deaths of a dozen endangered wild Asiatic lions, half of them cubs, over the last 10 days, officials said.

A Japanese space probe Friday released a pair of exploring rovers towards an egg-shaped asteroid to collect mineral samples that may shed light on the origin of the solar system.

The mighty Heera marched through a crowded slum chewing bamboo, oblivious that freedom from life as one of Delhi's last six elephants at work in the polluted city could be just around the corner.

Dozens of farmers and local officials stormed out of a meeting with France's new environment minister on Thursday as he confirmed two more bears would soon be released into the Pyrenees mountains.

Singapore Airlines said Friday it has stopped accepting lion bones for cargo after the carrier was singled out in a report for transporting the animal parts from South Africa.

A gadget to "translate" dog barks for humans, a "babypod" that plays music inside the mother's vagina for unborn babies and the world's first self-colonoscopy method were among the whacky inventions on show Friday at a new Tokyo exhibition.

California restaurants will soon stop providing plastic straws unless customers explicitly ask for them, under a new law signed on Thursday by the state's environment-friendly governor.

Coca-Cola, Walmart and other big multinationals pledged on Thursday to help reduce plastic pollution in the world's oceans in support of a campaign by five of the G7 industrialized nations.

At least 34 people have died in northern Ghana during flooding caused by heavy rains and waters spilling from a dam in neighbouring Burkina Faso, relief agency officials said Thursday.

A strange fossil that looks a bit like a giant leaf, or a fingerprint the size of a coffee table, has intrigued scientists for decades.

As global warming outpaces efforts to tame it, scientists have proposed building massive underwater structures to prevent an Antarctic glacier the size of Britain from sliding into the sea and lifting the world's oceans by several metres.

Indonesia's president has signed a moratorium on all new palm oil plantation development, an official said Thursday, in a move hailed by environmentalists.

Dozens of farmers and lawmakers stormed out of a meeting Thursday with France's new environment minister after he confirmed that two more bears would soon be released into the Pyrenees mountains.

There might not be a maniacal cat-killer on the loose in London after all, or at least not a human one.

It's a devastating disease driving a dementia epidemic ruining tens of millions of lives, but with no new medical treatment since the turn of the century the fight against Alzheimer's is foundering.

Eliminating dead-but-toxic cells occurring naturally in the brains of mice designed to mimic Alzheimer's slowed neuron damage and memory loss associated with the disease, according to a study published Wednesday that could open a new front in the fight against dementia.

Qu Jianguo, 64, had a futuristic medical visit in Shanghai as he put his wrist through an automated pulse-taking machine and received the result within two minutes on a mobile phone -- without a doctor present.

US environmental regulators are under increasing pressure over a controversial pesticide known for laying waste to nearby crops as well as the harmful weeds it is meant to control.

Scientists have created a self-flying glider that uses machine learning to navigate rising air currents, in an experiment that could help our understanding of how birds migrate.

The German authorities on Wednesday suspended an operation to evict protesters, holed up in forest treehouses to block the expansion of an open-pit coal mine, after the death of a journalist.

Firefighters trying to put out a record number of wildfires in westernmost Canada recently found themselves in an unexpected tug-o-war with a fire devil for control of their hose.

Eliminating dead-but-toxic cells occurring naturally in the brains of mice designed to mimic Alzheimer's slowed neuron damage and memory loss associated with the disease, according to a study published Wednesday that could open a new front in the fight against dementia.