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(AFP) – Firefighters attend to houses set ablaze after an overnight strike in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region. According to the emergency services, there have been no casualties.

Tokio (AFP) – Britain and Japan have agreed to strengthen defence and economic ties, says visiting Prime Minister Keir Starmer, after his bid to forge closer links with China drew warnings from US President Donald Trump. “We’ve set out some clear priorities to build an even deeper partnership in the years to come,” Starmer says as he stands beside Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi after a bilateral meeting in Tokyo.

New York (AFP) – At the foot of skyscrapers on the southern tip of Manhattan, two excavators dump tons of snow into a steaming trailer. The goal: melting it in order to clear the streets of New York as soon as possible after last weekend’s storm. The snow melters, which are used at other cities and airports across North America, have not been used at such a high scale in New York since 2021.

Lons-le-Saunier (AFP) – In the Henry Jullien workshop, machines have been running at full speed since French President Emmanuel Macron appeared in Davos wearing the company’s sunglasses. Macron was trying to hide a broken blood vessel that had left him with a bloodshot eye, according to the Elysee’s chief physician. Founded in 1921 and specialising in high-end “made in France” eyewear, Henry Jullien has seen its sales and reputation skyrocket in just a few days.

Culiacán (Mexique) (AFP) – Mexico deploys Army and National Guard troops in the state of Sinaloa after two lawmakers were shot and ten workers at a Canadian-owned mine were kidnapped. The deployment of 1,600 military personnel coincided with a phone call between President Claudia Sheinbaum and her US counterpart to discuss security and trade. IMAGES

Caracas (AFP) – Families of political prisoners wait near the Helicoide detention center after interim president announces the closure of the notorious prison. IMAGES

Caracas (AFP) – Families of political prisoners wait outside the Zona 7 detention center just before interim president Delcy Rodriguez announces a general amnesty in Venezuela, just days before the first month since she took power following the overthrow of Nicolás Maduro in a United States military operation. IMAGES

Equateur (AFP) – Smoke billows from Ecuador’s main refinery, located in the city of Esmeraldas on the Pacific coast, which caught fire for the second time in eight months, with no casualties reported so far, according to state-owned company Petroecuador. IMAGES

Beijing (AFP) – Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer hails “real progress” on issues including visa-free travel and whisky tariffs during his visit to Beijing, where he met Chinese leader Xi Jinping the day before. Starmer says the delegation gained “really important access, symbolic of what we’re doing with the relationship,” while attending a UK-China Business Forum event in the capital.

Ksar El Kebir (Morocco) (AFP) – Residents are being evacuated in trucks and horse-drawn carriages as overflow from the Loukkos River floods a neighbourhood in northern Morocco. The flooding comes after heavy rains in Ksar El Kebir, a city about 160km northeast of the capital Rabat.

Washington (United States) (AFP) – Melania Trump premieres her new movie promising a behind-the-scenes glimpse at her husband’s return to power — a documentary funded by an extraordinary multi-million-dollar deal with Amazon. “It’s my life so you will see everything, a lot of emotions,” teases the first lady, alongside her husband, President Donald Trump, from the red carpet screening at the newly renamed Trump-Kennedy Center in Washington.

Caracas (AFP) – Venezuelan lawmakers adopt a bill that throws its oil industry open to private investors, in line with US demands following the toppling of leader Nicolas Maduro. One hour after the law’s passing, the United States eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry, expanding the ability of US companies to operate in the country which holds a fifth of the world’s oil reserves. Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodriguez hails the reform as a “historical leap.”