Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across southern Lebanon early Sunday in what it said was a pre-emptive strike on Hezbollah, as the group said it had launched hundreds of rockets and drones to avenge the killing of one of its top commanders last month.

The Israeli military said its fighter jets attacked "thousands" of Hezbollah rocket launchers in south Lebanon that were aimed at northern and central Israel.

Ons Jabeur, the 2022 U.S. Open women's runner-up, withdrew from this year's tournament Thursday because of a shoulder injury.

Jabeur was to be the No. 17 seed in the tournament that begins Monday. The U.S. Tennis Association said Elise Mertens, the next-highest player eligible to be seeded, will become the No. 33 seed.

Valentina Petrillo fell in love with athletics as a 7-year-old while watching Italian sprinter Pietro Mennea win gold in the 200 meters at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

"I said I wanted to be like him," said Petrillo, a transgender woman who was raised as a boy. "I wanted to put on the blue (Italy) shirt, I wanted to go to the Olympics. But — and there was a but — I wanted to do it as a woman because I didn't feel like a man, I didn't feel like myself."

The Dutch Grand Prix has generally been a party for Max Verstappen and his legions of orange-clad fans. This year could be very different.

Verstappen has won all three races at the beach-side Zandvoort track since the Dutch Grand Prix returned to the Formula 1 schedule in 2021.

Kamala Harris introduced herself to the country she hopes to lead in the climactic moment of the Democratic national convention on Thursday — and despite chatter about potential mystery guests, Beyoncé's only appearance was over the loudspeakers.

In the end, it was the most traditional of convention moments coming through television screens: the candidate, her running mate and their families bathed in the cheers of supporters, with balloons floating from the rafters.

Jude Bellingham has sustained a right-leg muscle injury, Real Madrid said Friday.

Madrid did not say how many games the England midfielder would miss but media reports said he could be out for up to a month.

No Hollywood star seems as intrinsically tied to Venice as George Clooney.

Twenty-six years ago he attended his first Venice Film Festival with the instant classic "Out of Sight"; 19 years ago, it's where he debuted his sophomore film, "Good Night, and Good Luck," which earned him his first best director nomination; and 10 years ago, it's where he exchanged vows with then Amal Alamuddin, at the Aman Venice, a five-star hotel perched alongside the Grand Canal.

British energy bills are set to start rising again this autumn, the sector regulator announced on Friday, sparking fears that fuel poverty will worsen amid an ongoing cost of living crisis.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers have issued a ban on women's voices and bare faces in public under new laws approved by the supreme leader in efforts to combat vice and promote virtue.

The laws were issued Wednesday after they were approved by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, a government spokesman said. The Taliban had set up a ministry for the "propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice" after seizing power in 2021.

Google will soon give California millions of dollars to help pay for local journalism jobs in a first-in-the-nation deal, but journalists and other media industry experts are calling it a disappointing agreement that mostly benefits the tech giant.

The agreement, which was hashed out behind closed doors and announced this week, will direct tens of millions of public and private dollars to keep local news organizations afloat. Critics say it's a textbook political maneuver by tech giants to avoid a fee under what could have been groundbreaking legislation. California lawmakers agreed to kill a bill requiring tech to support news outlets they profit from in exchange for Google's financial commitment.