Republican frontrunner Kevin McCarthy suffered a shock defeat in the race to become the new speaker of the US House of Representatives late Friday amid astonishing scenes of bitter infighting after failing to stamp out a rebellion among his party's ranks.

The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a highly anticipated new drug designed to slow cognitive decline in patients in mild and early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, TikTok has become a political punching bag for US conservatives who allege that the app downloaded by millions of US young people can be circumvented for spying or propaganda by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

McCarthy, a favorite of his party's establishment but a bete noire of the far right, has made sweeping concessions to quell a rebellion of around 20 hardliners blocking his bid to be the country's top lawmaker. 

The House cannot perform any of its vital functions -- including overseeing national security, investigating government misconduct and passing legislation -- until its presiding officer is in place, spelling paralysis in Congress.

In recent years, US warships, and on occasion those from allied nations such as Britain and Canada, have sailed through the strait, drawing the ire of China, which claims Taiwan against the objections of its democratically elected government.

Though it has been posited that the Myanmar crisis has caused a rift in the regional grouping, at least two experts refute this premise, saying that working through differing views toward consensus is actually the ASEAN way.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own despite strong objections of the democratic island, has been ramping up pressure on Taiwan to assert its sovereignty claims, including almost daily Chinese air force missions near the island over the past three years.

The joint statement, which contained 14 agreements aimed at cooling security tensions and boosting economic cooperation, comes as both sides strive to mend a relationship hurt after the Philippines sought a 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated China's expansive claims in the South China Sea.

"I just think it's a little embarrassing it's taken so long in the way they're dealing with one another," Biden told reporters before a trip to Kentucky. 

Aid groups say they have been "pushed against a wall" by the Taliban prohibiting Afghan women from working for NGOs, a ban that has left a dangerous gap in life-saving support.

Pope Francis will preside Thursday over the funeral of his predecessor Benedict XVI at the Vatican, an unprecedented event in modern times expected to draw tens of thousands of people.

"It is extremely disappointing to see this knee-jerk reinstatement of measures that have proven ineffective over the last three years," said IATA director general Willie Walsh.

MRTV said prisoners convicted of murder and rape, or jailed for charges related to explosives, unlawful association, weapons, drugs and corruption, would not be released. 

Pharmacies can start applying for certification to distribute abortion pill mifepristone, and if successful they will be able to dispense it directly to patients upon receiving a prescription from a certified prescriber.

New Zealand's COVID-19 minister, Ayesha Verrall, said in a statement that a public health risk assessment had concluded visitors from China would not contribute significantly to the number of cases in the country.

The move by firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir angered the Palestinians and US allies in the Arab world, while Western governments warned such moves threaten the fragile status quo at Jerusalem's holy sites.

Norway, the major donor to the Amazon Fund, said the initiative for backing forest protection had been reactivated now that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was back in office and vowing to halt deforestation.

Australia's government on Wednesday criticized Beijing's lack of COVID-19 transparency, after overruling its chief medical officer and ramping up testing for travelers from China. 

The new US Congress was plunged into disarray Tuesday as renegade right-wing Republicans blocked favorite Kevin McCarthy from becoming speaker of the House of Representatives in a series of humiliating votes seen as a rebuke to the party establishment.

Myanmar troops and weaponry paraded through the military-built capital Naypyidaw to mark the country's independence day Wednesday, days after the junta jailed democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi for 33 years.

Speaking ahead of his flight, Marcos said he looked forward to meeting President Xi Jinping and that "the issues between our two countries are problems that do not belong between two friends such as the Philippines and China".

The steep rise in infections came after years of hardline restrictions were abruptly loosened last month with little warning or preparation, and quickly overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums.

The testing requirement is imposed on all travelers regardless of vaccination status, the agency added.

Indonesia and the United States have both welcomed the New Year's Eve appointment of former Chinese ambassador to the US Qin Gang as the country's new foreign minister.

Here is a run-down of the countries that have imposed mandatory Covid tests and other rules on arrivals from China:

Japan monitored the operations after the Chinese naval group, which included missile destroyers, sailed between the main Okinawa island and Miyakojima island into the Western Pacific from the East China Sea on Dec. 16, Japan's Ministry of Defence said in a press release.