Iran frees South Korean ship it held amid dispute over funds
A South Korean oil tanker held for months by Iran amid a dispute over billions of dollars seized by Seoul was freed and sailed away early Friday, just hours ahead of further talks between Tehran and world powers over its tattered nuclear deal.
Northern Ireland leaders seek calm after violence escalates
Authorities in Northern Ireland sought to restore calm Thursday after Protestant and Catholic youths in Belfast hurled bricks, fireworks and gasoline bombs at police and each other. It was the worst mayhem in a week of street violence in the region, where Britain's exit from the European Union has unsettled an uneasy political balance.
Reigning Mrs. World arrested over onstage melee in Sri Lanka
Police in Sri Lanka on Thursday arrested the reigning Mrs. World for pulling the crown off the head of the winner of a Mrs. Sri Lanka beauty pageant and allegedly causing injuries. She was later released on bail.
Business
Australia to buy extra 20 million doses of Pfizer vaccine
Australia said Friday that it has finalized a deal to buy an extra 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine as it rapidly pivots away from its earlier plan to rely mainly on the AstraZeneca vaccine.
World
China report accuses US of causing humanitarian disasters
China accused the U.S. of causing humanitarian disasters through foreign military interventions in a report Friday that was the latest broadside by Beijing amid increasingly contentious relations with the Biden administration.
World
COVID-19 patient receives lung transplant from living donors
Doctors in Japan announced Thursday they have successfully performed the world's first transplant of lung tissue from living donors to a patient with severe lung damage from COVID-19.
Business
Asian shares mostly lower on strong China price data
Shares fell Friday in most Asian markets after China reported a stronger than expected rise in prices that could prompt authorities to act to cool inflation.
Business
Kim compares North Korea's economic woes to 1990s famine
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for waging another "arduous march" to fight severe economic difficulties, for the first time comparing them to a 1990s famine that killed hundreds of thousands.
World
UN chief: Sudan-South Sudan dispute will keep UN in Abyei
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has informed the Security Council that he couldn't provide options to reduce and terminate the nearly 3,700-strong peacekeeping force in the disputed Abyei region on the Sudan-South Sudan border because of differences between the two countries.
World
Djibouti votes as president Guelleh seeks a 5th term
The Horn of African country of Djibouti is going to the polls on Friday as President Ismail Omar Guelleh seeks a fifth term in the small but strategically important nation home to military bases for the United States, China and others.
World
St. Vincent to evacuate thousands under volcano threat
Empty cruise ships were scheduled to arrive Friday at the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent to help transport thousands of people who evacuated their homes under the fiery glow of La Soufriere volcano which officials said could erupt at any moment.
World
Ecuador, Peru to elect presidents amid strengthened pandemic
A surging coronavirus pandemic that has brought on new lockdown measures and exacerbated fatigue in Ecuador and Peru has left many voters generally indifferent to the names they will see on the ballots Sunday, when the neighboring South American nations are set to choose new presidents.
Business
Japan to raise virus steps in Tokyo, 3 months ahead of Games
Japan is set to strengthen anti-virus measures in Tokyo on Friday to curb the rapid spread of a more contagious coronavirus variant just three months before the Olympics begin in the capital where most people are not yet vaccinated.
World
St. Vincent warns of volcanic eruption, orders evacuations
Authorities on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent said Thursday they believe an active volcano is in danger of erupting and have ordered mandatory evacuations.
World
Lawmaker seeks to end Louisiana's 'slavery exception' clause
A Louisiana lawmaker has put forward legislation to amend the state's Constitution to abolish forced labor as punishment for those convicted of a crime.
World
Puerto Rico to shutter schools amid spike in COVID-19 cases
Puerto Rico's health secretary announced Thursday that all public and private schools in the U.S. territory would close for two weeks amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Business
Singapore's designated future leader steps aside, citing age
Singapore's designated future leader, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, has taken himself out of the running in a surprise decision, saying in a letter released Thursday that a younger person with a "longer runway" should be the next prime minister.
World
Nicaragua slowly begins vaccinations for people over 60
Nicaragua has begun slowly vaccinating people over 60, using an AstraZeneca vaccine made in India.
World
Myanmar junta limits internet, seizes satellite TV dishes
An information blackout under Myanmar's military junta worsened Thursday as fiber broadband service, the last legal way for ordinary people to access the internet, became intermittently inaccessible on several networks.
World
Brazil top court orders probe of Bolsonaro's pandemic steps
A Brazilian Supreme Court justice ordered the Senate on Thursday to investigate the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis and the full court ruled that churches can be barred from reopening during the pandemic, threatening to further strain tensions between President Jair Bolsonaro and the judiciary.
World
Mexico detains cartel leader, local politician in 2 raids
Mexican prosecutors say they have detained one of the leaders of the Gulf Cartel, and in a related raid at a different house found a local politician with three guns.
World
In Peru, authorities allowed secret burials of virus victims
When Andrea Wong reached the field in the Amazon forest, she was confused. There were dozens of crosses planted in the red soil, but nothing to distinguish her father's grave.
World
Kenya court suspends gov't move to close 2 refugee camps
Kenya's high court on Thursday suspended the government move to shut down two camps that hold hundreds of thousands of refugees from war-torn neighboring countries.
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