CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said Friday he’s hopeful the Biden administration will roll back a “cruel” sanctions policy and instead give room for diplomacy that could lead to the reopening of the U.S. Embassy and the release of several jailed… Read more
GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization's emergencies chief said Friday that the impact of new variants of COVID-19 in places like Britain, South Africa and Brazil remains to be seen, citing human behavior for some recent rises in infection counts. Read more
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The global death toll from COVID-19 topped 2 million Friday, crossing the threshold amid a vaccine rollout so immense but so uneven that in some countries there is real hope of vanquishing the outbreak, while in other, less-developed parts of the world, it seems a far-off dream. Read more
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s president indicated on Friday that he would be open to easing tensions with neighboring Greece by floating the possibility of a face-to-face meeting with the Greek prime minister following months of saber-rattling over energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean. Read more
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A strong 5.9 magnitude earthquake swayed buildings in Guatemala's capital Friday morning. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Read more
PARIS (AP) — A French computer programmer transferred more than $500,000 in Bitcoin to far-right activists just before his death last month, including some involved in last week’s riot in Washington, researchers said Friday. Read more
AMSTERDAM (AP) — The European Union's drug regulator said Friday that COVID-19 vaccine documents stolen from its servers in a cyberattack have been not only leaked to the web, but “manipulated" by hackers. Read more
PARIS (AP) — French oil and gas company Total said it has decided to withdraw from energy association American Petroleum Institute because it disagrees on climate-related policies. Read more
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A Chinese lawyer who represented a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist was stripped of his law license on Friday amid efforts by Beijing to crush opposition to its tighter control over the territory. Read more
MILAN (AP) — Italy’s fashion chamber is opening on Friday the first Milan Fashion Week that won't have VIPS populating runway front rows, as the reality of Italy's persistent resurgence of the coronavirus has forced an all-virtual format for presenting menswear previews. Read more
MEXICO CITY (AP) — One day after Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office announced it was dropping the drug trafficking case against its former defense secretary, Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Friday that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had “fabricated” the accusation… Read more
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer has said it will temporarily reduce deliveries to Europe of its COVID-19 vaccine while it upgrades production capacity, Norwegian health officials said Friday. Read more
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda opposition presidential candidate Bobi Wine says military has entered his home and “we are in serious trouble.” Read more
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his entire Cabinet resigned Friday to take political responsibility for a scandal involving investigations into child welfare payments that wrongly labeled thousands of parents as fraudsters. Read more
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (AP) — Honduran migrants began walking toward the Guatemalan border before dawn Friday, driven by deepening poverty and the hope of a warmer reception if they can reach the United States border. Read more
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch media report Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s government is resigning over scandal involving child welfare fraud probes. Read more
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard conducted a drill Friday that saw “suicide drones” crash into targets and explode, triangle-shaped aircraft that strongly resembled those used in a 2019 attack in Saudi Arabia that temporarily cut the kingdom's oil pr… Read more
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norwegian officials have adjusted their advice on who gets the COVID-19 vaccine in light of a small number of deaths in older people, leaving it up to each doctor to consider who should be vaccinated. Read more
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s government has banned travel from South America and Portugal to ensure a new variant of COVID-19 found in Brazil doesn’t derail the country’s vaccination program, although there are no signs the variant has reached the U.K. Read more
LONDON (AP) — The British economy looks set to fall back into recession after official figures on Friday showed that it shrank by 2.6% month-on-month in November, when much of the country was in a second coronavirus lockdown. Read more
BERLIN (AP) — German authorities on Friday gave immediate permission for work to resume on a subsea pipeline bringing natural gas from Russia. Read more
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia said Friday it will withdraw from an international treaty allowing observation flights over military facilities following the U.S. exit from the pact. Read more
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia announces its withdrawal from Open Skies Treaty following US exit. Read more
HONG KONG (AP) — An American lawyer who became the first foreigner arrested under Hong Kong's national security law said Friday that the courts now have a choice between the new law and the city's legally enshrined freedoms, as China cracks down on dissent in the Asian financial capital. Read more
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda's electoral commission says President Yoweri Museveni leads in Thursday's election with results in from 29% of polling stations, receiving 63% of ballots while top opposition candidate Bobi Wine has 28%. Read more
BEIJING (AP) — A city in northern China is building a 3,000-unit quarantine facility to deal with an anticipated overflow of patients as COVID-19 cases rise ahead of the Lunar New Year travel rush. Read more
MADRID (AP) — While most of Europe kicked off 2021 with earlier curfews or stay-at-home orders, authorities in Spain insist the new coronavirus variant causing havoc elsewhere is not to blame for a sharp resurgence of cases and that the country can avoid a full lockdown even as its hospitals… Read more
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top challenger in upcoming elections is promising a tough line toward Iran and the Palestinians, yet expressed confidence he has the tools to avoid what appears to be a collision course with the incoming Biden administration. Read more
BEIJING (AP) — President Xi Jinping is asking former CEO Howard Schultz of Starbucks to help repair U.S.-Chinese relations that have plunged to their lowest level in decades amid a tariff war and tension over technology and security. Read more
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Flying rocks. Burning tires. Acrid smoke. Deadly gunfire. Read more
SAO PAULO (AP) — Hospital staff and relatives of COVID-19 patients rushed to provide facilities with oxygen tanks just flown into the Amazon rainforest's biggest city as doctors chose which patients would breathe amid dwindling stocks and an effort to airlift some of them to other states. Read more
HONG KONG (AP) — The U.S. government has blacklisted Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. and China’s third-largest national oil company for alleged military links, heaping pressure on Beijing in President Donald Trump’s last week in office. Read more
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's federal police arrested Argentine golfer Ángel Cabrera on Thursday for extradition to his homeland to face charges for several crimes allegedly committed from 2016 to last year, two officers said. Read more
BEIJING (AP) — China says it is now treating more than 1,000 people for COVID-19 as numbers of cases continue to surge in the country’s north. Read more
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A strong, shallow earthquake shook Indonesia's Sulawesi island just after midnight, causing landslides and sending people fleeing from their homes in the nighttime darkness. At least three people had died and 24 were injured, but Indonesian officials said they were … Read more
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea rolled out developmental ballistic missiles designed to be launched from submarines and other military hardware in a parade that punctuated leader Kim Jong Un’s defiant calls to expand his nuclear weapons program. Read more
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — The latest campaigning by Manchester United star Marcus Rashford forced British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to act on inadequate meal parcels being sent to needy children. Read more
SAO PAULO (AP) — Scores of COVID-19 patients in the Amazon rainforest's biggest city will be transferred out of state as the local health system collapses and dwindling stocks of oxygen tanks mean Brazilians have started to die breathless at home. Read more
PARIS (AP) — A court in eastern France convicted a delivery driver of anti-Semitic discrimination an Thursday for refusing to take orders for kosher food, and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the Algerian man would be deported after he completes his prison sentence. Read more
BRUSSELS (AP) — The head of NATO said Thursday that all those responsible for last week’s deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol should be held accountable, and he expressed confidence that American institutions are up to the job. Read more
MILAN (AP) — Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has been hospitalized in the principality of Monaco to undergo medical tests for heart problems, his press office confirmed on Thursday. Read more
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — The leaders of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan on Thursday launched three new infrastructure projects intended to boost economic ties between the two neighbors. Read more
LONDON (AP) — British fishing communities were among the strongest supporters of Brexit. But now some say they face ruin because of new red tape imposed by the U.K.'s departure from the European Union. Read more
PARIS (AP) — A Tintin drawing by the Belgian artist Herge sold Thursday in Paris for 2.6 million euros ($3.1 million), breaking the record for the most expensive comic book art in history. Read more
Russia's prison service said Thursday that top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny faces immediate arrest once he returns from Germany. Read more
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Police have used tear gas to disperse crowds at a rally in Athens organized to protest plans to set up a state security division at university campuses. Read more
Germany has too many loopholes in its coronavirus lockdown rules, the head of the country's disease control agency said as figures published Thursday showed the highest number of daily deaths since the start of the pandemic. Read more
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Officials say fire in Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh has destroyed hundreds of homes. No casualties are reported. Read more
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — A Zimbabwean court has denied bail to prominent journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, who has been in detention for almost a week on accusations of publishing a falsehood. Read more
MOSCOW (AP) — Europe’s top human rights court agreed Thursday to look into Ukraine’s complaint against alleged human rights violations in the Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula. Read more
