Japan's lower house of parliament passed a bill Friday that allows ageing Emperor Akihito to step down, as it also called for a rare debate on the role of women in the male-dominated monarchy.

Japan has not had an imperial abdication in two centuries and there was no law to deal with 83-year-old Akihito's surprise retirement request after nearly three decades on the Chrysanthemum Throne.

Greek police early Friday began evacuating the last remaining migrants and refugees from a makeshift camp at Hellinikon, a disused former airport and ex-Olympic facility south of Athens, officials said.

"About 450-500 people are in the camp," police spokesman Theodoros Chronopoulos told AFP.

A masked gunman set fire to a gaming room at a casino in the Philippine capital on Friday, igniting a toxic blaze that killed 36 people, authorities said, but they insisted it was not a terrorist attack.

The victims suffocated inside one of the main gambling venues of the upscale Resorts World Manila, while dozens of other people were injured in a panicked crush to escape, police said.

The United States presented a draft UN Security Council resolution Thursday that would impose new sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, diplomats said.

The text -- drafted in agreement with China, traditionally Pyongyang's sole diplomatic and military ally -- was expected to be submitted to a Council vote on Friday.

President Donald Trump's administration asked the US Supreme Court on Thursday to reinstate its controversial ban on travelers from six Muslim majority nations despite repeated setbacks in the lower courts.

Gunfire was reported at a hotel and a casino resort in the Philippine capital on Friday, the operator of the complex said, and the Islamic State group (IS) quickly claimed responsibility.

The Economist on Thursday backed the Liberal Democrats in Britain's upcoming general election, saying the main Conservative and Labor parties had "turned away" from liberalism.

The American aid agency Mercy Corps has announced an internal probe into accusations that two of its workers in Greece sexually exploited refugees.

At least 44 migrants, including women and babies, were found dead after their vehicle broke down in the desert of northern Niger while on the way to Libya, local officials said Thursday.

Venezuela's opposition called for weekend protests as Thursday's deadline neared for candidates for an assembly to re-write the constitution -- a gathering opponents slam as a naked power grab by the leftist government.