United States

Judge further weakens travel ban

In another setback for US President Donald Trump, a federal judge in Hawaii has further weakened his already diluted travel ban by expanding the list of family relationships with US citizens that visa applicants can use to get into the country. The ruling is the latest piece of pushback in the fierce fight set off by the ban Trump first attempted in January. It will culminate with arguments in front of the US Supreme Court in October.

Saudi Arabia

Migrants perish in building blaze

Eleven South Asian workers have died in a fire that engulfed the building where they lived, officials said. The kingdom's civil defense said the fire, which broke out on Wednesday in the southwestern city of Najran, injured another six. Saudi media, quoting civil defense, say the victims were from India and Bangladesh. Nearly a third of Saudi Arabia's population, or around 9 million people, are foreigners, many of them South Asian migrant workers who take jobs in construction.

Middle East

Police killed near Jerusalem holy site

Israel's police chief said two officers were killed in an attack by Palestinian assailants near a major Jerusalem shrine. Roni Alsheich said the policemen died of wounds sustained in the attack earlier on Friday. The rare gunfight took place inside a sacred hilltop compound in Jerusalem, known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary. The compound is the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest in Islam, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

United Kingdom

Teenager arrested after acid attacks

British police said on Friday they arrested a teenager after five acid attacks on Thursday in east London left several people with facial injuries including one with "life-changing" effects. One of the victims had been on a moped when two assailants pulled up alongside him in another moped and threw a corrosive substance in his face, the Metropolitan Police said. One of the pair then stole the vehicle.

Australia

Senator resigns over dual citizenship

A popular senator for the Australian Greens Party, Scott Ludlam, resigned from the Senate on Friday, after the revelation that he is a dual citizen of Australia and New Zealand. This is in breach of the Australian Constitution which stipulates that a person who is a citizen of a foreign power is incapable of being chosen as a senator, or member of the House of Representatives, in the country. Ludlam was born in New Zealand and moved to Australia at 9.

Spain

At least 10 injured in bull-run finale

At least 10 people were hurt at Pamplona's final bull run of 2017, though no one was gored as runners, many wearing traditional white shirts with red neckties, raced through the narrow city streets chased by a dozen bulls and steers. Around 2,000 people a day take part in the centuries-old tradition, in which specially bred animals are released from their pen to stampede through a 875-meter stretch of the city to the bull ring as runners attempt to dodge out of their way.