U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday slammed Iranian efforts to control the Strait of Hormuz, following a report that Tehran has created an authority to approve transit through the vital waterway.

"Iran now claims that they own, that they have a right to control, an international waterway... That's an unacceptable thing that they're trying to normalise," Rubio told reporters during a visit to Rome.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday that Europe needs the United States, and vice versa, as America's top diplomat wrapped up two days of fence-mending talks in Italy and the Vatican following weeks of tensions over the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.

Tajani reaffirmed strong trans-Atlantic ties and said he hoped "tensions have been calmed" with Rubio's visit. He said the two discussed the Iran war and spillover into Lebanon, as well as the situation in Venezuela and Cuba. The U.S. secretary of state also met Friday with Premier Giorgia Meloni.

Spanish authorities on Friday were preparing to receive more than 140 passengers and crew members on board a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship headed for the Canary Islands, where health officials have said they will perform careful evacuations.

The vessel is expected to reach the Spanish island of Tenerife, off the coast of West Africa, on Saturday or Sunday.

World shares retreated and oil prices fell back Friday as the fragile ceasefire with Iran was strained by missile and drone attacks that prompted U.S. retaliatory strikes on Iranian military facilities.

U.S. futures rose despite the latest flare up in the conflict. The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.5%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3%.

The United Arab Emirates said it responded to another Iranian missile barrage on Friday, hours after the U.S. said it traded fire with Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz, in the latest blows to a shaky month-old ceasefire.

The UAE’s Defense Ministry said three people were wounded after air defenses engaged two ballistic missiles and three drones launched by Iran. It was not clear if all were successfully intercepted. Authorities told people to stay away from any fallen debris.

Russia's army said Friday it was responding "symmetrically" to attacks by Ukraine during a unilateral two-day ceasefire ordered by Moscow that Kyiv never agreed to.

The Russian defense ministry said in a statement on social media that Ukraine fired hundreds of drones across the front line as well as tank and artillery attacks, adding that Moscow's troops were "responding symmetrically."

It would be a day to remember at Camp Nou if Barcelona can beat Real Madrid and clinch the Spanish league in one swoop.

Barcelona hosts Madrid on Sunday savoring the opportunity to celebrate a second straight La Liga crown with a victory or even a draw when it plays its fiercest rival.

A dozen U.S. Democratic Senators have called for the U.S. Central Command to answer questions about American coordination with Israel in declaring broad " evacuation zones " in Lebanon and Iran, alleging that the practice may violate international law.

The letter underlines how the Democratic Party — both its leaders and the base — has grown increasingly critical of Israel.

Israel on Thursday indicted a Jewish man over a violent attack on a nun near Jerusalem's Old City last week, the latest in a string of high-profile incidents targeting Christians and religious symbols.

The indictment identified the man as Yona Schreiber, 36, from the Israeli-occupied West Bank settlement of Peduel. It comes after a video of the assault received wide condemnation from foreign and Christian leaders.

British voters cast ballots Thursday in local and regional elections that could shake up the country's politics and deliver a heavy blow to embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Starmer's center-left Labour Party is bracing for big losses in polls that will choose about 5,000 local councilors and a handful of mayors across England, as well as semiautonomous parliaments in Scotland and Wales.