Former Iraqi President Barham Salih is on track to become the next head of the U.N. refugee agency, according to a letter from U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres shared with The Associated Press on Friday.

Salih, 65, is set to succeed longtime UNHCR veteran Filippo Grandi as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Grandi took office on Jan. 1, 2016, and his second five-year term expires on Dec. 31. He had succeeded Guterres in the post.

Russia's Central Bank has filed a lawsuit against Belgian financial institution Euroclear, the Brussels-based clearing house that holds most of Moscow's frozen assets in Europe, the bank said Friday.

It wasn't immediately clear what the lawsuit could achieve since it was filed in Moscow.

A 6.7 magnitude earthquake shook northeastern Japan and caused small tsunami waves but no apparent damage Friday, days after a stronger quake in the same region.

Friday's quake occurred off the east coast of Aomori prefecture, in the north of Honshu, the main Japanese island, at a depth of 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) at 11:44 a.m., according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, which issued a tsunami advisory that was lifted about two hours later.

Swiss singer Nemo, who won the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, said Thursday they will return the winner's trophy because Israel is being allowed to compete in the politically troubled pop music competition.

In an Instagram video, Nemo held the microphone-shaped glass ornament and said "today I no longer feel like this trophy belongs on my shelf."

The head of Yemen's internationally recognized government has called on separatists to withdraw from territories they they have recently captured in the southeastern parts of the country, according to the government-run news agency.

The secessionist Southern Transitional Council, STC, a group backed by the United Arab Emirates, this month seized most of the the provinces of Hadramout and Mahra, including oil facilities. The move raised fears that the relative calm in the country's stalemated civil war might be shattered.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that negotiators are wrestling with the question of territorial possession in U.S.-led peace talks on ending the war with Russia, including the future of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of the world's 10 biggest atomic plants.

Zelensky revealed details of the ongoing discussions before he headed Thursday into urgent talks with leaders and officials from about 30 countries that support Kyiv's efforts to obtain fair terms in any settlement to halt nearly four years of fighting.

Ocean temperatures warmed by human-caused climate change fed the intense rainfall that triggered deadly floods and landslides across Asia in recent weeks, according to an analysis released Wednesday.

The rapid study by World Weather Attribution focused on heavy rainfall from cyclones Senyar and Ditwah in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka starting late last month. The analysis found that warmer sea surface temperatures over the North Indian Ocean added energy to the cyclones.

Scientists in Britain say ancient humans may have learned to make fire far earlier than previously believed, after uncovering evidence that deliberate fire-setting took place in what is now eastern England around 400,000 years ago.

The findings, described in the journal Nature, push back the earliest known date for controlled fire-making by roughly 350,000 years. Until now, the oldest confirmed evidence had come from Neanderthal sites in what is now northern France dating to about 50,000 years ago.

Women's World Cup champion Spain widened its points lead atop the FIFA rankings Thursday over the second-placed United States.

Spain retained its UEFA Nations League title since the last rankings update in August, while the U.S. won four of five friendlies played in that time.

The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso and a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday raised further questions about his future.

Arsenal remains perfect in this season's competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champion Paris Saint-Germain was held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao.