ABBA is releasing its first new music in four decades, along with a concert performance that will see the "Dancing Queen" quartet going entirely digital.

The forthcoming album "Voyage," to be released Nov. 5, is a follow-up to 1981's "The Visitors," which until now had been the swan song of the Swedish supergroup. And a virtual version of the band will begin a series of concerts in London on May 27.

Global stock markets were mixed Friday as investors waited to see whether U.S. hiring in August was weak enough to persuade the Federal Reserve to postpone the winding down of economic stimulus.

Tokyo advanced after Wall Street hit its second record this week. Shanghai and Hong Kong declined.

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group said Friday it will spend $15.5 billion to support President Xi Jinping's campaign to spread China's prosperity more evenly, adding to pledges by tech companies that are under pressure to pay for the ruling Communist Party's political initiatives.

Alibaba said it will invest in 10 projects for job creation, "care for vulnerable groups" and technology innovation. Its 100 billion yuan ($15.5 billion) pledge includes 20 billion yuan ($12.5 billion) for a fund to "cut income inequality" in the company's home province of Zhejiang, south of Shanghai.

The U.N. weather agency says the world — and especially urban areas — experienced a brief, sharp drop in emissions of air pollutants last year amid lockdown measures and related travel restrictions put in place over the coronavirus pandemic.

The World Meteorological Organization, releasing its first ever Air Quality and Climate Bulletin on Friday, cautioned that the reductions in pollution were patchy — and many parts of the world showed levels that outpaced air quality guidelines. Some types of pollutants continued to emerge at regular or even higher levels.

German automaker Daimler on Friday dismissed a "cease and desist" demand from two environmental groups to commit to ending the sale of combustion engine vehicles by 2030.

Lawyers for Greenpeace and the group Deutsche Umwelthilfe have threatened to sue Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen unless they sign a legal pledge not to put new gas-fueled vehicles onto the market from the end of this decade.

The European Union and drugmaker AstraZeneca said Friday that they reached a deal to end a damaging legal battle over the slow pace of deliveries of the company's COVID-19 vaccines.

The European Commission, which is the EU's executive branch, said AstraZeneca made a "firm commitment" to deliver a total of 300 million doses by March next year, as agreed under the advance purchasing agreement the two sides signed a year ago. About 100 million doses have already been supplied.

While the NFL rightfully boasts about a player vaccination rate above 93%, the other folks on the field for games — the officials — are nearly at 100%.

According to the league, the 121 officials are 99% vaccinated, which should make their jobs a bit easier, says former NFL officiating chief Mike Pereira.

American players and the entire U.S. soccer community waited 1,424 days for this moment. Neither a triumph nor another tumble, the night showed problems mixed among promise.

"First reaction is disappointed," defender Tim Ream said after a 0-0 draw at El Salvador on Thursday night in the opener of pandemic-delayed World Cup qualifying.

In a soccer world increasingly embracing technology to make sure referees' on-field decisions are correct, CONCACAF appears content to live with blown calls in its most important games.

While the Union of European Football Associations started using Video Assistant Referees in all World Cup qualifiers this week, replays will not be used to help get calls right in qualifiers involving the United States.

A Palestinian man was killed by Israeli gunfire on Thursday night, Gaza health officials said, during a violent protest along the Israeli border.

Hundreds of Palestinians took part in protests held at five locations, demanding an end to Israel's 14-year blockade of Gaza.