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January of this year was the hottest month in the Colombian Amazon in a decade, leading to an increase in forest fires in the southeastern region and very likely impacting air quality in the capital Bogota, according to an Environment Ministry report seen by AFP Friday.

Ireland's Leona Maguire fired a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 to share the lead with American Marina Alex after Friday's second round of the LPGA Drive On Championship.

The US death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic surpassed 900,000 on Friday, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker.

Manchester United suffered a shock FA Cup fourth round exit as Championship club Middlesbrough won 8-7 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Friday.

Arkadiusz Milik scored a hat-trick as Marseille overcame a nightmare start to thrash Angers 5-2 at the Stade Velodrome on Friday and move second in the Ligue 1 table.

Stocks were mixed Friday as markets weighed a surprisingly good US jobs report against concerns over tightening monetary policy, while oil prices pushed closer to $100 a barrel.

Facebook parent Meta began rolling out Friday a minimum distance between users' avatars in its virtual reality Horizon network after reports of harassment, one of the thorny issues for its metaverse vision.

Five tourists and two crew died Friday when their plane crashed on a trip to view Peru's famous Nazca lines, the transport ministry said.

Russia on Friday dismissed Colombian claims of "foreign interference" on the side of Venezuela as the South American neighbors quarrel over deadly fighting on their common border.

A former Colombian soldier charged in the United States with participating in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise pleaded not guilty Friday, his lawyer in Miami said.

Olympic 100m champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs marked his long-awaited return to the track with victory in the 60m at the Berlin indoor meet on Friday, while pole vault star Armand Duplantis agonisingly missed out on breaking his own world record.

Providing mercenaries in Libya's internal conflict has become the main source of revenue for armed groups from Sudan's own war-torn Darfur region, the United Nations said in a report Friday.

An iconic steel bridge blocking passage to the sea for a superyacht built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is splitting sentiments along Rotterdam's windy quays, with opinions swinging between pride and dismay.

Moroccan rescuers were in the nerve-wracking final stages Friday of a marathon effort to rescue Rayan, a five-year-old boy trapped down a well for a fourth night.

An attack that killed at least 173 people including 13 US service members during the chaotic Kabul airport evacuation last year was undertaken by a single suicide bomber, a Pentagon investigation concluded Friday.

The maker of the notorious "Grand Theft Auto" video game franchise announced Friday that a new edition is under development, confirming long-bubbling speculation.

Machine gun fire echoed through the abandoned buildings of Pripyat in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, as Ukrainian National Guard troops on Friday staged urban combat exercises.

The heaviest flooding to hit Ecuador in two decades claimed 27 lives this week and left 53 people injured, municipal officials said Friday.

Olympic 100m champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs marked his long-awaited return to the track with victory in the 60m at the Berlin indoor meet on Friday.

China's support for Russia in the standoff over Ukraine upends the strategic calculus for US President Joe Biden, who must now contend with a second front in a geopolitical fight whose ramifications could be felt worldwide.

Ottawa's police chief vowed Friday to crack down on an "unlawful" occupation of the Canadian capital by protesters opposed to vaccine mandates, as the trucker convoy's clogging of the city enters a second week.

Scotland captain Stuart Hogg heads into Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash adamant that playing old rivals England is no longer the "scary" task of years gone by.

Federal lawmakers investigating sexual assault and harassment allegations involving Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder demanded Friday that the NFL release the findings of an internal investigation into the claims.

American Harold Varner III and Spain's Adri Arnaus surged into the halfway lead at the Saudi International on Friday, both carding four-under-par 66s in the second round of the opening event in the Asian Tour schedule.

The Venezuelan president's daughter was on the telephone when the first shells hit the official residence in Caracas 30 years ago in a coup attempt led by a then-unknown paratrooper, Hugo Chavez.

Dan Biggar says he will be very surprised if he has to deliver a rousing captain's talk prior to the titleholders' Six Nations opener with Ireland on Saturday but hopes instead his self-belief rubs off on his less experienced team-mates.

West Brom manager Steve Bruce insists he has not been scarred by his miserable spell at Newcastle as he sets his sights on promotion to the Premier League.

US lawmakers voted Friday to greenlight a multibillion-dollar bill aimed at jumpstarting high-tech research and manufacturing, countering China's growing influence and easing a global shortage of computer chips.

AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been ruled out of Saturday's crucial derby clash against Inter with an Achilles tendon problem, coach Stefano Pioli said.

Iceland, one of the only countries that still hunts whales commercially, said Friday it plans to end the practice from 2024 as demand for whale meat dwindles.

Six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez said on Friday he hopes to emulate the "dream scenario" of compatriot Rafael Nadal's return from injury as he prepares for pre-season testing in Sepang, Malaysia after an injury-blighted two years.

President Xi Jinping declared the Beijing Winter Olympics open Friday as China tried to turn the page on a build-up overshadowed by human rights concerns, Covid and a US-led diplomatic boycott.