Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Alberta separatists step up efforts to leave Canada after meeting with Trump officials

Separatists in Alberta are ramping up a petition campaign aimed at triggering an independence vote in the western province that has long complained its economy is being held back by the rest of Canada. Volunteer canvassers are hoping to collect by May 2 approximately 177,000 ​signatures, or 10% of the province's registered voters, the threshold required to launch a citizen-led referendum on separation from Canada.

Russia fully blocks WhatsApp, talks up state-backed alternative

U.S. messenger app WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms, has been completely blocked in Russia for failing ​to comply with local law, the Kremlin said on Thursday, suggesting Russians turn to a state-backed "national messenger" instead. "Due to Meta's unwillingness to comply with Russian law, such a decision was ‌indeed taken and implemented," ​Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, proposing that Russians switch to MAX, Russia's state-owned messenger.

Norwegian police search homes of ex-PM Jagland in Epstein probe

Norwegian police searched the homes of former prime minister Thorbjoern Jagland on Thursday, his lawyer and police said, as part of an ongoing investigation into ties between prominent Norwegians and late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Images circulated by Norwegian dailies VG, Dagbladet, Dagens Naeringsliv and Aftenposten showed investigators carrying cardboard boxes into Jagland's Oslo residence.

Russian air attack knocks out power, heat to thousands of Ukrainians

Russia pounded Ukraine with drones and ballistic missiles overnight on Thursday, further battering its energy system and leaving tens of thousands in the capital Kyiv and the cities of Dnipro and Odesa without heat, power and water, officials said. Russia has intensified its winter campaign of strikes on Ukraine's power grid, plunging major cities into long periods of ‌cold and darkness in freezing temperatures.

Trump says Netanyahu should be pardoned for corruption

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should receive a pardon for corruption charges, saying Israeli President Isaac Herzog should be "ashamed of himself" for not granting one. Here are the details:

Trump revokes basis of US climate regulation, ends vehicle emission standards

The administration of President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the repeal of a scientific finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, and eliminated federal tailpipe emissions standards for cars and trucks. It is the most sweeping climate change policy rollback by the administration to date, after a string of regulatory cuts and other moves intended to unfetter fossil fuel development and stymie the rollout of clean energy.

Carney plans visit to Tumbler Ridge on Friday as Canada grieves mass shooting

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will attend a vigil on Friday in the remote British Columbia town of Tumbler Ridge, where nine people died in one of the country's worst mass shootings, his office said on Thursday. Police say 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, who had suffered mental health problems, killed her mother and stepbrother on Tuesday before shooting a teacher and five young students at the local ‌school.

Portugal approves restrictions on social media access for children

Portugal's parliament on Thursday approved a bill, on its first reading, requiring explicit parental consent for children aged 13 to 16 to access social media, in one of the first concrete legislative moves in Europe to impose such restrictions. Authors of the draft legislation from the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) say it is needed to protect children from cyberbullying, harmful content and predatory individuals.

CIA makes new push to recruit Chinese military officers as informants

Just weeks after a dramatic purge of China's top general, the CIA is ‌moving to capitalize on any resulting discord with a new public video targeting potential informants in the Chinese military. The U.S. spy agency on Thursday rolled out the video depicting a disillusioned mid-level Chinese military officer, in the latest U.S. step in a campaign to ramp up human intelligence gathering on Washington's strategic rival.

South African president pledges focus on crime and water crises

South Africa will deploy the army to fight organised crime and lay criminal charges against municipal officials who fail to deliver water to communities, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in an address to parliament on Thursday. Endemic crime and water shortages are among the issues that most anger voters, as South Africa approaches municipal elections later this year in which the co-ruling African National Congress (ANC) is expected to see its share of the vote slide further.

In milestone, US pulls out of strategic Syria base and hands it over to Damascus

The U.S. military said it completed a withdrawal from a strategic base in Syria on Thursday, handing it over to Syrian forces, in the latest sign of strengthening U.S.-Syrian ties that could enable an even larger American drawdown. The al-Tanf garrison is positioned at the tri-border confluence of Syria, Jordan and Iraq.

Norway, France to finance more military support for Ukraine

Norway has agreed to contribute 4.2 billion Norwegian crowns ($443.25 million) in military support to Ukraine while France has guaranteed for a loan of about 3 billion crowns, the Norwegian government said on Thursday. The agreement ⁠between France and Norway includes acquisition of ​a large of volume air-to-ground weapons and capabilities that provide surveillance and situational awareness from the French defence industry, the Norwegian government said.

Bangladesh's BNP wins parliamentary ⁠election

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party crossed the halfway mark to win the parliamentary election on Friday, a local TV station showed, as ballots were counted in a pivotal vote that is expected to restore political stability in the troubled South Asian country. BNP had won 151 seats in the 300-member parliament, Ekattor TV showed, securing a simple majority.

North Korea says South Korea should take steps to prevent violation of its sovereignty

North Korea's Kim Yo Jong said in a statement on Friday that South Korean authorities should take steps to prevent "reoccurrence of provocative sovereignty violation," state media KCNA reported, referring to a drone flown into its airspace recently. Kim, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said ⁠she appreciates the South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young's expression of his regret over the "drone intrusion" as "sensible behavior," KCNA reported.

Ukraine's Zelenskiy: We have backed US peace proposals to get a deal done

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv had sought to back U.S. peace proposals to end the war with Russia as President Donald Trump seeks to resolve the conflict before November mid-term elections. Zelenskiy, in an interview published by The Atlantic on Thursday, said Kyiv was willing to hold both a presidential election and a referendum on a deal, but would not settle for an accord that was detrimental to Ukraine's interests.

Protests dog Israeli president's last day in Australia

Pro-Palestine protesters ​rallied in Melbourne on Thursday on the final day of Israeli President Isaac Herzog's trip to Australia, following protests in the capital Canberra and violent clashes between protesters and police in Sydney. Herzog is visiting Australia this week following an invitation from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the aftermath of the December 14 shooting at a Hanukkah event at Sydney's Bondi Beach that killed 15.

Hungary opposition leader flags possible illicit video release ahead of election

Hungary's opposition leader said on Thursday that individuals linked to the ⁠government were preparing to release an illicit video of him in an intimate situation with his former girlfriend in an attempt to discredit him ahead of elections due in April. Peter Magyar, leader of the centre-right opposition Tisza party which leads Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz in most polls, said in a video on his Facebook page he believed he was targeted by Orban's camp with a Russian-style smear campaign.

Venezuela national assembly postpones debate on amnesty law

Venezuelan lawmakers on Thursday postponed debate on an amnesty bill which is meant to grant immediate clemency to individuals jailed for participating in political protests. Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who took power last month after the U.S. ouster of President Nicolas Maduro, has bowed to Trump administration demands ⁠on oil ​sales and released hundreds of people who human rights groups class as political prisoners, as part of a normalization in relations between the two countries.

Exclusive-Trump plans to announce Gaza funding plan, troops at first Board of Peace meeting, US officials say

President Donald Trump will announce a multi-billion dollar reconstruction plan for Gaza and detail plans for a U.N.-authorized stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave at the first formal meeting of his Board of Peace next week, two senior U.S. officials said on Thursday. Delegations from at least 20 countries, including many heads of state, are expected to attend the meeting in Washington, D.C., which Trump will chair on February 19, the officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Australia opposition elects former energy minister Taylor as new leader, ABC reports

Australia's opposition Liberal Party on Friday elected former Energy and Emissions Minister Angus Taylor as its new leader, media reported, replacing Sussan Ley less than a year after the conservative party's heavy defeat at the national election. Taylor, a leading figure in the party's conservative wing and the son of a fourth-generation sheep farmer, defeated Ley in a party room vote 34 votes to 17, the Australian Broadcasting Corp ⁠and Sky News reported, citing unidentified sources.

Factbox-A timeline of Trump's Minnesota immigration crackdown

White House border czar Tom Homan announced on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed to end an immigration-enforcement surge in Minnesota, drawing down thousands of federal agents whose presence provoked tumultuous protests for weeks. Here's a timeline of events in the operation:

Bangladesh's BNP wins historic parliamentary election

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party won a landmark parliamentary election on Friday, local TV stations showed, as ballots were counted through the night in a pivotal vote that is expected to restore political ⁠stability. The parliamentary election held on Thursday was Bangladesh's first vote since the 2024 Gen Z-driven uprising that toppled long-time premier Sheikh Hasina.

French diplomat with Epstein ties denies accusations ⁠after government alerts prosecutor

A French diplomat suspected of transferring United Nations documents to late financier Jeffrey Epstein denies all allegations made against him, his lawyer said. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said this week he had alerted prosecutors and initiated disciplinary proceedings against Aidan, describing the accusations as "extremely serious."

Trump putting an end to deportation surge in Minnesota, border czar says

U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed to end his unprecedented and hotly protested deportation surge in Minnesota, White House border czar Tom Homan said on Thursday, with many immigration enforcement agents set to return to their home states over the next week. Under Operation Metro Surge, Trump, a Republican, had deployed about 3,000 armed immigration agents by late January to deport migrants in Minnesota. He has touted it as the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, and it came over the objections and condemnations of Governor Tim ‌Walz, a Democrat, and local people who filled the streets of the state's biggest cities in ‌protest, sometimes by the thousands.

NATO states pledge hundreds of millions for Ukraine weapons push, Rutte says

NATO states have announced hundreds of millions of dollars of support for the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative to supply Ukraine with U.S. weapons, NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Thursday. The NATO secretary general ​thanked the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Lithuania for their contributions and said he expected more pledges soon, without naming specific countries.