Lotto fever was running high on Friday as the U.S. Mega Millions lottery jackpot soared to a record $1 billion, hours before the drawing for what is also the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.

More than 130 years after construction first began, Barcelona's towering Sagrada Familia cathedral is finally to get a building permit, the city council and the monument's official blog said.

Britain's Prince Harry climbed Australia's Harbour Bridge on Friday, accompanied by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, during a royal tour that broke with the staid routine of such events to involve the royal couple in a group hug on Bondi Beach.

Britain's Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, arrived with the gift of much-needed rain and cheer on Wednesday for the rural Australian city of Dubbo, where farmers are struggling with a prolonged drought.

A gargantuan touring book sale that touts itself as the world's largest is making its first stop in the Middle East, filling a huge hangar in Dubai with stacks of 3 million discounted books, open around the clock.

An Austrian computer repairman has amassed what he believes could be the world's biggest collection of old Apple computers, but it might all soon be destroyed unless someone can take it off his hands.

Egypt has resumed the restoration of Cairo's monumental 13th century al-Zahir Baybars mosque, a sign that vital cultural work is finally getting back under way after seven years of political turmoil.

Twice a week refugees from Sudan and South Sudan gather in a church courtyard in Cairo to play basketball, unfazed by political differences at home.

"Milkman" by writer Anna Burns scooped the 2018 Man Booker Prize on Tuesday, with the Northern Irish writer winning the literary award for her third full-length novel.

Shinta Ratri, the matron of an Indonesian Islamic boarding school, corrects the pronunciation of a group of fellow Muslims as they chant the phrase "only one God" in Arabic and prepare to pray together.