Wall Street inched toward modest gains before the open Friday as markets continue to erase last week's sweeping losses.

Futures for the S&P 500 climbed 0.2% before the bell Friday while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.1% higher.

The nations of Central Europe were bracing on Friday for severe flooding forecast to hit the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Germany, Slovakia and Hungary over the weekend.

Czech authorities were erecting metal barriers or protective walls from sandbags, while water was released from dams to make space in reservoirs. Residents have been warned to get ready for possible evacuations.

Two men have been charged with burglary over the theft of an artwork by street artist Banksy from a London gallery, police said Friday.

The Metropolitan Police force said Larry Fraser, 47, and James Love, 53, are alleged to have taken "Girl with Balloon" from the Grove Gallery on Sunday night.

Justin Timberlake is expected to plead guilty Friday following his June arrest in the Hamptons for drunken driving.

The boy band singer-turned-solo star and actor will appear in Sag Harbor Village Court on Friday to formally enter a new plea, prosecutors said.

Even as she promoted her efforts to boost clean energy, Vice President Kamala Harris said in Tuesday's debate that the Biden-Harris administration has overseen "the largest increase in domestic oil production in history because of an approach that recognizes that we cannot over rely on foreign oil."

The comment by Harris, a longtime climate hawk who backed the original Green New Deal, surprised supporters and opponents alike — and conflicted with frequent boasts by Harris and President Joe Biden that they are champions in the fight to slow global warming.

The death toll in the aftermath of a typhoon in Vietnam climbed to 233 on Friday as rescue workers recovered more bodies from areas hit by landslides and flash floods, state media reported.

Flood waters from the swollen Red River in the capital, Hanoi, were beginning to recede, but many neighborhoods remained inundated and farther north experts were predicting it could still be days before any relief is in sight.

Russia's central bank raised its key interest rate by a full percentage point to 19% to combat high inflation as government spending on the military strains the economy's capacity to produce goods and services and drives up workers' wages.

The central bank said in a statement Friday that "growth in domestic demand is still significantly outstripping the capabilities to expand the supply of goods and services." It held out the prospect of more rate increases to return inflation from the current 9.1% to the bank's target of 4% in 2025.

Real Madrid remains with the Spanish league's highest spending limit following the summer transfer window, while Barcelona improved significantly but remained well bellow its rival's cap.

The league released the cost limits for each team on Thursday, with Madrid's cap reaching nearly 755 million euros ($833 million), up from 727 million euros ($803 million).

Liverpool has yet to allow a goal this season and Mohamed Salah has scored in each of the three games — all victories.

If this is what contract distractions look like at Anfield, new manager Arne Slot is fine with it.

Aircraft assembly workers walked off the job early Friday at Boeing factories near Seattle and elsewhere after union members voted overwhelmingly to go on strike and reject a tentative contract that would have increased wages by 25% over four years.

The strike started at 12:01 a.m. PDT, less than three hours after the local branch of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers announced 94.6% of voting workers rejected the proposed contract and 96% approved the work stoppage, easily surpassing a two-thirds requirement.