A short walk beneath the dense Amazon canopy, the forest abruptly opens up. Fallen logs are rotting, the trees grow sparser and the temperature rises in places sunlight hits the ground. This is what 24 years of severe drought looks like in the world's largest rainforest.

But this patch of degraded forest, about the size of a soccer field, is a scientific experiment. Launched in 2000 by Brazilian and British scientists, Esecaflor — short for "Forest Drought Study Project" in Portuguese— set out to simulate a future in which the changing climate could deplete the Amazon of rainfall. It is the longest-running project of its kind in the world, and has become a source for dozens of academic articles in fields ranging from meteorology to ecology and physiology.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned the U.S. and a large audience of Indo-Pacific nations Friday night that they risk a dangerous double standard as they concentrate on a potential conflict with China if that shift comes at the cost of abandoning Ukraine.

Macron's remarks come as the U.S. is considering withdrawing troops from Europe to shift them to the Indo-Pacific. He warned that abandoning Ukraine would eventually erode U.S. credibility in deterring any potential conflict with China over Taiwan.

China will resume Japanese seafood imports it banned in 2023 over worries about Japan's discharge of treated but slightly radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, a Japanese minister said Friday.

Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the agreement was reached after officials met in Beijing and the imports will resume once paperwork is complete.

Elon Musk is leaving Washington after a short but turbulent stint in government and getting back to his numerous businesses, each with their own set of issues for the billionaire to address.

Start with his electric car company Tesla. While how much Musk accomplished in his role as President Donald Trump's chief cost-cutter is up for debate, it's clear his association with right-wing politics damaged Tesla's brand and tanked sales.

For the fourth French Open in a row, tournament director Amélie Mauresmo was asked about a lack of women's matches during the tournament's night sessions — there was one in 2022, one in 2023, zero in 2024 and, as of Friday, zero in 2025.

And for the fourth French Open in a row, Mauresmo dismissed the issue, saying at a news conference Friday, when she also was pressed about placing women's matches in the noon slot at Court Philippe-Chatrier, when attendance tends to be sparse: "The funny thing is that it's the same questions, year after year."

Scientists say 4 billion people, about half the world's population, experienced at least one extra month of extreme heat because of human-caused climate change from May 2024 to May 2025.

The extreme heat caused illness, death, crop losses, and strained energy and health care systems, according to the analysis from World Weather Attribution, Climate Central and the Red Cross.

Ukraine is ready to resume direct peace talks with Russia in Istanbul on Monday, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, following days of uncertainty over whether Kyiv would attend a further meeting proposed by Moscow.

But Ukrainian officials have insisted that the Kremlin provide a promised memorandum setting out its position on ending the more than three-year war, before the two delegations sit down to negotiate.

At least 88 people have been confirmed dead after floods submerged Mokwa, a market town in Nigeria's Niger State, on Thursday, an official said.

Husseini Isah, head of the operations office in Minna, capital of Niger State, said that many more are still at risk, with rescue efforts underway on Friday. Earlier reports said at least 20 died.

A key U.S. inflation gauge slowed last month as President Donald Trump's tariffs have yet to noticeably push up prices, while American incomes jumped.

Friday's report from the Commerce Department showed that consumer prices rose just 2.1% in April compared with a year earlier, down from 2.3% in March and the lowest since September. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.5% from a year earlier, below the March figure of 2.7%. Economists track core prices because they typically provide a better read on where inflation is headed.

Senior Iranian officials on Thursday dismissed speculation about an imminent nuclear deal with the United States, emphasizing that any agreement must fully lift sanctions and allow the country's nuclear program to continue.

"Iran is sincere about a diplomatic solution that will serve the interests of all sides. But getting there requires an agreement that will fully terminate all sanctions and uphold Iran's nuclear rights—including enrichment," Abbas Araghchi, the country's foreign minister, wrote in a post on the X.