UPDATE China executes 11 people linked to Myanmar criminal gangs, including "key members" of online scam operations, state media reports. Scam centres set up to lure internet users into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments have flourished across Southeast Asia u.afp.com/SBvV

Protesters clash with police at ICE detention center in Texas housing 5-year-old child u.afp.com/SBvN

Starmer, Xi stress need for stronger UK-China ties to face global headwinds. Starmer's visit to China is the first by a UK prime minister since 2018 and follows a slew of Western leaders seeking a rapprochement with Beijing recently, pivoting from an increasingly unpredictable US u.afp.com/SBv2

US ambassador says no ICE patrols at Winter Olympics u.afp.com/SBtt

Minneapolis restaurant provides free meals to protest immigration crackdown. Owner of a Minneapolis cafe says his restaurant relies on donations and hands out free meals to customers who request them, so long as federal agents are deployed in the city to enforce the Trump's immigration crackdown

Greenland's elite dogsled unit patrols desolate, icy Arctic. Trump has ridiculed Denmark's defence of Greenland as amounting to "two dogsleds", but the Sirius Dogsled Patrol is no joke: the elite navy unit works in extreme conditions where only the toughest survive u.afp.com/SBvi

BREAKING China on Thursday executed 11 people linked to Myanmar criminal gangs, including "key members" involved in telecom scam compounds, state media reports

Tesla profits tumble. Tesla reported a 61% drop in fourth-quarter profits on Wednesday due to lower auto sales and increased expenses as CEO Elon Musk ramps up technology investments u.afp.com/SBty

AFP’s Pablo Porciuncula photographs helicopters from the Spanish Air and Space Force's ASPA patrol perform an aerial display over Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Venezuela military, police pledge loyalty to interim president u.afp.com/SBt9

"Streets of Minneapolis" American rock hero Bruce Springsteen releases fiery song in tribute to two protesters killed by federal agents in Minneapolis u.afp.com/SBvZ

AFP’s Moises Avila photographs protesters and law enforcement outside an ICE detention center in Dilley, Texas. Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, asylum seekers from Ecuador who were arrested on January 20 in Minneapolis by ICE agents, are being held at the center

Colombia's president extends olive branch to his US-backed Ecuadoran counterpart, in a bid to end a week-old trade war over cross-border drug trafficking. u.afp.com/SBtE

Torrential rains in southern Mozambique have ripped through critical infrastructure in recent weeks, with officials warning more flooding could come. u.afp.com/SBts

FBI agents conducted a search on Wednesday at an election facility in Georgia in a raid reportedly linked to President Donald Trump's false claims of 2020 voter fraud. u.afp.com/SBtm

President Trump's contentious deployments of troops into US cities cost nearly $500 million last year, estimates from a nonpartisan body showed Wednesday, as National Guardsmen remain activated in the US capital and elsewhere. u.afp.com/SBtW

King Charles III warns in new documentary that world is "rapidly going backwards" in curbing climate change and biodiversity loss. u.afp.com/SBtd

Top US diplomat Marco Rubio tells Senate he expects progress with Venezuela's interim leaders and to reopen embassy quickly, but threatens 'force to ensure maximum cooperation' u.afp.com/SBtY

After heavy rainfall saw a long stretch of hillside collapse, evacuees in the Sicilian town of Niscemi fear they may never be allowed to return home. u.afp.com/SBtq

Canada central bank chief says era of rules-based trade with US "over," echoing PM Carney's stark warning that impact of Trump on global order is permanent. u.afp.com/SBtw

#BREAKING US Federal Reserve holds rates steady as expected, defying Trump pressure for further cuts. Only two board members dissent: White House adviser Miran and potential chair nominee Waller. u.afp.com/SBt5

Australian authorities spark backlash after killing a group of dingoes linked to the death of a young Canadian woman in the country's east. u.afp.com/SBt3

Former nurse Sarah Mullally, 63, officially confirmed as the first woman Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England, in ceremony ahead of formal 'enthronement' in March u.afp.com/SBFK

🇩🇪 Tova Friedman, one of the dwindling band of Holocaust survivors, took to the floor of the German parliament Wednesday to urge lawmakers to get "tougher" on resurgent antisemitism. ➡️ u.afp.com/SBF6

🇨🇳 Almost a hundred new animal species that survived a mass extinction event half a billion years ago have been discovered in a small quarry in China, scientists revealed Wednesday. ➡️ u.afp.com/SBFm

🇺🇸 🇮🇷 President Donald Trump has warned time is running out for Iran to come to the table and avoid US military action, provoking Tehran to retort that it would respond to any attack "like never before". ➡️ u.afp.com/SBFx

🇺🇸 President Donald Trump has warned the mayor of Minneapolis -- where the brutal killings of two US protesters by immigration agents sparked nationwide outrage -- that he is "playing with fire." ➡️ u.afp.com/SBFc

🥊 Former heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury will face Arslanbek Makhmudov in his comeback fight in April, weeks after saying he would come out of retirement. ➡️ u.afp.com/SBFo

🇺🇸 US online retail and cloud computing giant Amazon said it would be cutting 16,000 jobs worldwide as part of a restructuring, as it focuses spending on artificial intelligence. ➡️ u.afp.com/SBF4

🇮🇷 After Iran’s crackdown on protests earlier this month left thousands dead, authorities are now using tactics not just of intimidation but also extortion against families who are already in deep grief, activists say. ➡️ u.afp.com/SBFk

🇫🇷 French President Emmanuel Macron said a standoff with the United States over Greenland was "a strategic wake-up call for all of Europe", speaking alongside the leaders of Denmark and the Danish autonomous territory. ➡️ u.afp.com/SBya

🇧🇶 The Netherlands "insufficiently" protects the tiny Caribbean territory of Bonaire from climate change, a Dutch court has ruled in a potentially landmark environmental justice ruling. ➡️ u.afp.com/SByK

🇮🇱 Hundreds of tearful mourners have packed a stadium in southern Israel for the funeral of Ran Gvili, the last Gaza hostage whose burial marks the end of a painful national saga triggered by Hamas's 2023 attack. ➡️ u.afp.com/SBCD

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish vikings take part in annual fire festival for Up Helly Aa Members of a "Jarl Squad" throw their torches to set fire to their Viking galley longship during the Up Helly Aa festival. The gathering celebrates the influence of the Scandinavian Vikings in the Shetland Islands.

🇮🇳 🇪🇺 'It's a good move': Indians react to trade deal with EU Indians in Mumbai praise a newly announced trade deal between India and the European Union, finalised after two decades of negotiations.

🇮🇶 Iraq's main candidate for the premiership, Nouri al-Maliki, has denounced Washington's "blatant interference", after President Donald Trump threatened to end all support to the country if Maliki took the post. ➡️ u.afp.com/SByb

🇪🇺 As France moves one step closer to banning social media for children, the European Union is seriously considering whether it's time for the bloc to follow suit. ➡️ u.afp.com/SBCC

🇳🇬 Nigeria turns illegal loggers, poachers into park rangers The NGO Africa Nature Investors is recruiting former loggers and poachers to work as rangers in Nigeria’s Okomu forest, as it attempts to protect the reserve’s endangered wildlife. #AFPVertical

🇬🇱 Denmark has allocated billions to beef up security of its vast Arctic island, but when it comes to policing the frozen wilderness of northern and eastern Greenland in winter, it relies on low-tech dogsled patrols. ➡️ u.afp.com/SBCE

#BREAKING Trump threatens Iran over nuclear talks, says 'time is running out'

🇪🇺 🇺🇸 Europe must step up efforts on defence and play a bigger role in NATO as US President Donald Trump has "shaken the transatlantic relationship to its foundation", EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas has said. ➡️ u.afp.com/SByJ

🇦🇺 Australian authorities have sparked a backlash by killing a group of dingoes linked to the death of a young Canadian woman on an island in the country's east. ➡️ u.afp.com/SBCu

🇵🇰 Pakistan battles legions of fake doctors Rusted nails hold used infusion tubes on the wall of a clinic run by one among hundreds of thousands of unqualified doctors operating across Pakistan.

🇰🇵 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will unveil plans to bolster his nuclear forces at an upcoming ruling party meeting, state media reported Wednesday, after a missile launch he said would bring "excruciating mental agony" to his enemies. ➡️ u.afp.com/SBCs

🇬🇧 🇨🇳 British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has arrived in Beijing to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, hoping to restore long fraught relations. ➡️ u.afp.com/SBC8

🎾 Novak Djokovic admitted he got lucky after opponent Lorenzo Musetti retired hurt to send the Serbian great into his 13th Australian Open semi-final and a showdown with reigning champion Jannik Sinner. ➡️ u.afp.com/SBCV

🇺🇸 Hollywood stars slam ICE after fatal Minneapolis shooting Natalie Portman and Olivia Wilde used red carpet appearances at the Sundance Film Festival to denounce the killing of a protester who was shot dead on the streets of Minneapolis by federal immigration agents. #AFPVertical

🇺🇸 🇮🇷 Iran has rejected holding negotiations with the United States if it makes threats against the Islamic republic, after President Donald Trump refused to rule out military intervention over its deadly crackdown on protests. ➡️ u.afp.com/SBCW

🇹🇷 Living like sultans: Istanbul's pampered street cats For centuries, cats and Istanbul's residents have been very close, an ancestral culture that remains even today. Istanbul has more than 160,000 cats living on its streets who are regularly fed and fussed over by the city's 16 million residents.

🇹🇭 Thailand has given a contraceptive vaccine to wild elephants for the first time in an effort to control their ballooning population, a conservation official has said. ➡️ u.afp.com/SBCp