JERUSALEM  – Israel’s president floated a compromise plan on Sunday to spare the country what he described as a “constitutional collapse” and possible violence, over a contested judicial overhaul sought by the hard-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The U.S. Treasury Department has announced a joint U.S.-U.K. effort to sanction Russian cybercriminals as the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nears and Treasury tightens its efforts to financially punish violators of existing sanctions

Australia’s Defense Department will remove surveillance cameras made by Chinese Communist Party-linked companies from its buildings

NAIROBI  – Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki on Thursday sidestepped questions about whether his country’s troops remain in neighbouring Ethiopia’s Tigray region three months after the signing of a peace agreement that called for their withdrawal.

SEOUL  – South Korea plans to resume issuing short-term visas for travellers from China on Saturday after China improved its COVID-19 situation, Seoul officials said on Friday.

KARACHI  – The International Monetary Fund has asked for more time for negotiations with Pakistan over a deal that would unlock $1.1 billion in much-needed funds for the country, Secretary of Finance Hamed Sheikh said Thursday.Cash-strapped Pakistan, pushed to the limit by last year’s devastating floods, had been host to the talks since late last week in a bid to access the funds, a tranche initially expected last December and part of the IMF’s $6.5 billion bailout aimed at warding off an economic meltdown.

The International Energy Agency says Asia will for the first time use half of the world’s electricity by 2025

CHILLAN, Chile  – Forest fires across south-central Chile that have left 24 people dead and swallowed up hundreds of houses spread into new areas on Wednesday after raging overnight, burning up the habitats of vulnerable woodland animals.

KAMPALA  – Uganda will not renew the mandate of the United Nations’ rights office in the East African country and will rely on domestic institutions to safeguard rights, the government said, after the body flagged torture and unlawful detention sites.

LONDON – Britain and Italy on Wednesday signed an export and investment partnership, Britain’s first with a European Union member since it left the bloc, aimed at boosting the countries’ bilateral trading relationship.