A slow-moving tropical storm had a far-reaching impact in much of Japan on Friday, dumping heavy rain around Tokyo and flooding roads and riverside areas in the south.
Flooding was reported in a number of areas in Kanagawa prefecture, west of Tokyo, where floodwater blocked roads, stalling vehicles and traffic. Warnings for heavy rain and potential landslides included the densely populated capital, Kanagawa and nearby Shizuoka prefecture.

The Kremlin says it has "no worries" about President Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit to Mongolia, a county that is a member of the International Criminal Court, which last year issued a warrant for his arrest.
The visit, scheduled for Sept. 3, will be Putin's first trip to an ICC member state since the warrant was issued in March 2023 over suspected war crimes in Ukraine.

Global shares mostly rose Friday as markets continued to be moderately optimistic about the prospects of technology companies and the relative health of global economies.
France's CAC 40 advanced 0.5% to 7,678.10 in early trading. Germany's DAX edged up nearly 0.1% to 18,927.74, while Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.3% to 8,404.82. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up nearly 0.2% at 41,510.00. S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% to 5,632.50.

A mudslide triggered by heavy monsoon rain hit a house in a remote part of northwestern Pakistan, killing 12 people, mostly children, a rescue official said Friday.
Inayat Ali, an official of the state-run emergency service, said the mudslide happened overnight in Upper Dir in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near Afghanistan. He said rescuers retrieved the bodies of nine children, two women and a man.

Germany deported Afghan nationals to their homeland on Friday for the first time since August 2021, when the Taliban returned to power.
Government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit described the 28 Afghan nationals as convicted criminals but did not immediately respond to a request for comment to clarify their offenses.

One of two doctors charged in connection with Matthew Perry's death is set to appear Friday in a federal court in Los Angeles, where he is expected to plead guilty to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine.
Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, reached a plea agreement with prosecutors earlier this month and would be the third person to plead guilty in the aftermath of the "Friends" star's fatal overdose last year.

Japan's Defense Ministry Friday sought a record 8.5 trillion yen ($59 billion) budget for the next year to fortify its deterrence on southwestern islands against China's increasing threat, while focusing on unmanned weapons and AI to make up for the declining number of servicemembers as a result of the country's shrinking population.
The ministry's request for 2025 marks the third year of Japan's rapid five-year military buildup plan under the government's ongoing security strategy. Japan aims to spend 43 trillion yen ($297 billion) through 2027 to double its annual military spending to around 10 trillion yen, making it the world's third-largest military spender after the United States and China.

It's a showdown between the world's richest man and a Brazilian Supreme Court justice.
The justice, Alexandre de Moraes, has threatened to suspend social media giant X nationwide if its billionaire owner Elon Musk doesn't swiftly comply with one of his orders. Musk has responded with insults, including calling de Moraes a "tyrant" and "a dictator."

The Swiss city of Basel will host next year's Eurovision Song Contest from May 13 to 17, organizers announced Friday.
The mostly German-speaking city on the Rhine River bordering both France and Germany was selected over Geneva in a faceoff that generated buzz and anticipation across Switzerland.

More than 100 tons of dead fish were collected in and around the port of Volos in central Greece after a mass die-off linked to extreme weather fluctuations, authorities said Thursday.
The dead freshwater fish filled the bay 320 kilometers (200 miles) north of Athens, and nearby rivers. Water levels were swollen by floods in 2023, followed by months of severe drought.
