Scorching temperatures are expected to continue across Japan on Friday. People are advised to take measures to avoid heatstroke.

Heatstroke alerts have been issued across the country, including parts of the northern prefecture of Hokkaido, the eastern prefectures of Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama and Tokyo, and the western prefectures of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japan Meteorological Agency says the current high temperatures are life-threatening. Officials say the heatwave is being caused by a high-pressure system covering Japan.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced Thursday that it would allow an 8 billion-U.S.- dollar merger between Paramount and Skydance Media.

Rescuers in the northern Philippines used boats to pick up residents stranded by flooding Friday as Typhoon Co-May was downgraded to a tropical storm and the death toll from a week of monsoon rains edged higher.

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced on Thursday that it will keep key interest rates unchanged at its latest rate-setting meeting. The deposit facility rate, through which the central bank steers the monetary policy stance, remains unchanged at two percent. Inflation in the euro area inched up to two percent in June from 1.9 percent in May, according to data released by the statistical office of the European Union.