G-7 leaders agree on conditions to recognize and work with the Taliban, but fail to persuade President Joe Biden to extend the US troop withdrawal date from Afghanistan. Also, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will meet with President Biden for talks in Washington on Thursday. And Algeria has cut diplomatic ties with Morocco.
War, violence, persecution, human rights violations and other factors caused nearly 3 million people to flee their homes last year, even though the COVID-19 crisis restricted movement worldwide, the UN refugee agency said in a report Friday.
Global operation by Australia and the American FBI leads to the arrest of more than 800 suspected criminals. And the Nigerian government bans Twitter after the platform deleted a tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari. Also, a man in a pickup truck rams into a Muslim immigrant family in Canada on the street, killing four people.
About $13 billion are squandered as a result of corruption in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, says Adriana Beltran, an analyst with The Washington Office on Latin America.
President Joe Biden announced Thursday the US will swiftly donate a first tranche of 25 million doses of surplus vaccine overseas through the UN-backed COVAX program.
Top of the World: Officials close to the negotiations between Israel and Hamas say a ceasefire could be announced in the next 24 hours as hostilities continue. And South Korean President Moon Jae-in is on a four-day visit to Washington, hoping to revive stalled talks with North Korea. Also, Russia assumes the chairmanship of the eight-nation Arctic Council bloc, as the US tries to oppose Moscow’s plans to set maritime rules.
In today's Top of the World: Merkel reverses plan for strict Easter lockdown in Germany; China lashes out at major brands for speaking out against Uyghur human rights abuses; Vice President Kamala Harris tapped to tackle mass migration at the US-Mexico border.
Today is Inauguration Day — Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in at noon as the 46th president and vice president of the United States. On Day One, Biden announced plans to sign at least 15 executive orders, upending a broad range of Trump-era policies.
Adela Diaz, an 18-year-old Latina, recalled a tense night on Nov. 3, after she voted in her first US presidential election.
As the coronavirus sweeps through the upper reaches of government, Republican Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic challenger Sen. Kamala Harris faced off Wednesday night in a debate highlighting the parties' sharply conflicting visions for a nation in crisis.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday didn't condemn white supremacist groups and their role in violence in some American cities this summer, branding it solely a "left-wing" problem and telling one far-right extremist group to "stand back and stand by."