Iranian prosecutor denies Trump’s claim 800 prisoners were spared execution

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s top prosecutor on Friday called U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that he halted the hangings of 800 detained protesters there “completely false.” Meanwhile, the overall death toll from a bloody crackdown on nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 5,032, activists said. Activists fear many more are dead. They struggle to confirm information as the most comprehensive internet blackout in Iran’s history has crossed the two-week mark. Tensions remain high between the United States and Iran as an American aircraft carrier group moves closer to the Middle East, something Trump likened to an “armada” in comments to journalists late Thursday.

Japan will hold an early election next month as Takaichi aims to capitalize on her popularity

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dissolved the lower house of parliament on Friday, paving the way for an early election on Feb. 8. The move is an attempt to capitalize on her popularity to help the governing party regain ground after major losses in recent years, but it will delay parliamentary approval for a budget that aims at boosting a struggling economy and addressing soaring prices. Takaichi, elected in October as Japan’s first female leader, has been in office only three months, but she has seen strong approval ratings of about 70%.

An avalanche in Pakistan and snowstorms in neighboring Afghanistan kill at least 20

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Authorities say that an avalanche killed nine members of a single family in northwestern Pakistan while a heavy snowstorm in neighboring Afghanistan left 11 people dead. Winter storms also stranded thousands of tourists and blocked roads near Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. A spokesperson said workers with Pakistan’s emergency services struggled for hours before they pulled out all nine bodies, including four women, buried under the snow in Friday’s avalanche in the district of Chitral. In Afghanistan, freezing rain and snow killed 11 people in six provinces on Thursday, cutting off roads and leaving towns and villages isolated across the country.

UK’s Starmer slams Trump remarks on non-US NATO troops in Afghanistan

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has signaled that U.S. President Donald Trump to apologize for his false assertion that troops from NATO countries — other than Americans — stayed away from the front line during the war in Afghanistan. Trump said that he wasn’t sure NATO would be there to support the United States if and when requested, provoking outrage and distress among many in the United Kingdom on Friday. Starmer said Trump’s remarks were “insulting and frankly appalling.” More than 150,000 British troops served in Afghanistan in the years after the U.S.-led 2001 invasion, the largest contingent after the American one. More than 450 of them died.