French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau on Friday accused Algeria of "trying to humiliate France" after the North African country refused to admit one of its nationals who was being deported.

The influencer was arrested in the city of Montpellier on Sunday on charges of inciting violence in videos he posted on social media. French immigration officials put him on a flight to Algiers Thursday, but Algeria refused to admit him, saying he was banned from entering its territory. He was finally sent back to France that evening, the French interior ministry said.

The Kremlin has welcomed U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's readiness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a senior Moscow official said Friday.

Russia attaches no conditions to the possibility of face-to-face talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a conference call.

Britain's Treasury chief is travelling to China this weekend to discuss economic and financial cooperation between the countries, as the U.K.'s Labour government seeks to reset strained ties with Beijing.

The Treasury said Friday that Rachel Reeves will travel to Beijing and Shanghai and will meet with her Chinese government counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin used their final meeting Thursday to press the incoming Trump administration not to give up on Kyiv's fight, with Austin warning that to cease military support now "will only invite more aggression, chaos and war."

"We've come such a long way that it would honestly be crazy to drop the ball now and not keep building on the defense coalitions we've created," Zelensky said. "No matter what's going on in the world, everyone wants to feel sure that their country will not just be erased off the map."

For the first time in their 40-year history, the Italian design duo Dolce & Gabbana are showcasing their work in the French fashion capital. Paris, the birthplace of haute couture, now finds itself hosting a powerful Italian counterpoint to French luxury fashion.

The message, as curator Florence Müller puts it, is direct: "Yes, Italy does it too."

Someone inside Fox News gave Donald Trump's presidential campaign the questions he would face ahead of a town hall the network produced in January 2024, a forthcoming book alleges, according to excerpts obtained by The Associated Press.

The claim appears in "Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump's Return to Power" by Politico reporter Alex Isenstadt, which is set to be published in March.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides has become the foreign head of state and first foreign dignitary to pay an official visit to Lebanon's new President Joseph Aoun.

Aoun, the former commander of the Lebanese army, was elected Thursday by the Lebanese parliament to fill a more than two-year vacuum in the presidency.

Lebanon's new President Joseph Aoun told parliament on Thursday that the country was entering a new phase, in his first speech after being elected head of the crisis-hit country.

"Today, a new phase in Lebanon's history begins," Aoun told lawmakers after being sworn in at parliament immediately after his election, adding that he would call for "quick parliamentary consultations" on naming a new prime minister and vowing that the state would have "a monopoly" on arms after a devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hady Habib isn't likely to find anything too daunting at the Australian Open now that he's become the first Lebanese player in the Open era t o reach a Grand Slam men's singles draw.

He advanced through three rounds of the qualifying at Melbourne Park, winning his third match in a tiebreaker 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8) over Clement Chidekh of France on Thursday to secure a place in the main draw of the tournament that starts Sunday.

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts," the late New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan memorably wrote four decades ago.

That seems like a simpler time — especially when you consider Meta's decision to end a fact-checking program on social media apps Facebook, Instagram and Threads and what the ramifications might be for an industry built to bring clarity and to seek truth itself.