Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings will split "Jeopardy!" hosting duties for the remainder of 2021.

Sony Pictures Television announced the plan Thursday, the same week that episodes filmed by ousted host Mike Richards are airing.

A drawing newly attributed to Vincent van Gogh that has never been displayed publicly before is going on show at the Amsterdam museum that bears the Dutch master's name.

The "new" Van Gogh, "Study for 'Worn Out,'" from November 1882, is part of a Dutch private collection and was known to only a handful of people, including a few from the Van Gogh Museum.

Firefighters wrapped the base of the world's largest tree in a fire-resistant blanket as they tried to save a famous grove of gigantic old-growth sequoias from wildfires burning in California's rugged Sierra Nevada.

The colossal General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park's Giant Forest, some other sequoias, the Giant Forest Museum and other buildings were wrapped for protection against the possibility of intense flames, fire spokeswoman Rebecca Paterson said.

Nine European countries on the Mediterranean are holding a summit in Athens Friday afternoon to discuss issues ranging from climate change to migration and Afghanistan.

The one-day gathering, dubbed the EUMED 9, brings together the leaders of Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Greece and Cyprus, and recent additions Slovenia and Croatia. Portugal is sending its foreign minister, while European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen will also attend the meeting.

Forces loyal to a powerful Libyan commander say they are now battling their former allies, Chadian rebels who have sought refuge in southern Libya as they fight the government in Chad's capital, N'Djamena.

The self-styled Libyan army led by commander Khalifa Haftar said it launched an operation against the Chadian fighters in the Libyan towns of Tamsah and Tarbo, on the border with Chad.

The White House is warning state and local governments about severe cuts to disaster relief, Medicaid, infrastructure grants. school money and other programs if Congress fails to raise the U.S. debt limit.

A fact sheet for state and local officials that was obtained by The Associated Press is an attempt to ratchet up the public pressure on Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. President Joe Biden has insisted so far on bipartisan backing to increase the cap on debt that was almost entirely accrued before he took office, but McConnell, R-Ky., has been unmoved and has repeatedly said that Democrats must act on their own.

An app created by allies of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny disappeared from Apple and Google stores on Friday as polls opened across Russia for three days of voting in a parliamentary election.

It comes as Russian authorities seek to suppress the use of Smart Voting, a project designed by Navalny to promote candidates that are most likely to defeat those backed by the Kremlin. This weekend's election is widely seen as an important part of President Vladimir Putin's efforts to cement his grip on power ahead of the 2014 presidential election, for which control of the parliament is key.

Lebanon's incoming finance minister signed a contract on Friday with a New-York-based company to conduct a forensic audit of the country's central bank, a key demand of the international community to restore confidence in the crisis-struck country.

Alvarez & Marsal had pulled out of an earlier deal late last year, complaining that after months of work it was not able to acquire the information it needed to conduct its audit. The withdrawal was a blow to calls for accountability in the country mired in decades of corruption which many consider a key reason for the economic meltdown.

French President Emmanuel Macron met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris Thursday to discuss international crises and European issues, days before elections that will determine who succeeds her after 16 years in office.

Key topics include the diplomatic and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, the fight against Islamic extremists in Africa's Sahel region and European Union affairs, both leaders said before their meeting, to be followed by a working dinner.

A trio of Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after a 90-day stay aboard their nation's first space station in China's longest mission yet.

Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo landed in the Shenzhou-12 spaceship just after 1:30 p.m. (0530 GMT) after having undocked from the space station Thursday morning.