The Kremlin insisted Friday that a settlement in Ukraine couldn't be facilitated by a drop in global oil prices as U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested.

Speaking by video from the White House to the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said on Thursday that the OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries shares responsibility for the nearly three-year conflict in Ukraine because it has kept oil prices too high.

Thousands of anti-abortion activists are coming to Washington Friday for the annual March for Life, seeking to build momentum after a string of victories and maintain pressure on legislators. After decades of fighting to overturn Roe v. Wade, organizers are seeking to focus on the multiple state-by-state battles taking place over abortion rights.

Here's what to know about the 52nd March for Life:

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, struggling to stabilize his minority government, said Friday he will seek to maintain regional security and prepare for tough negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump to win his commitment to maintain a strong American presence in the Asia-Pacific.

Ishiba has been seeking to meet with Trump since his election victory in November and is arranging a trip to Washington in the coming weeks.

The last time Belarus staged a presidential election in 2020, authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner with 80% of the vote. That triggered cries of fraud, months of protests and a harsh crackdown with thousands of arrests.

Not wanting to risk such unrest again by those opposing his three decades of iron-fisted rule, Lukashenko advanced the timing of the 2025 election — from the warmth of August to frigid January, when demonstrators are less likely to fill the streets.

Americans see the federal government as rife with corruption, inefficiency and red tape — but they're less sure about whether Elon Musk is the right person to fix it.

A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults strongly or somewhat approve of President Trump's creation of an advisory body on government efficiency, which Musk is helming. About 4 in 10 disapprove, while the rest were neutral or didn't know enough to say. (The poll was conducted before Vivek Ramaswamy announced he would no longer be involved in the group.)

Spectators booed an injured Novak Djokovic as he left the court in Rod Laver Arena after quitting one set into his Australian Open semifinal against Alexander Zverev on Friday.

Dealing with what he said was a torn muscle, Djokovic lost the opening set 7-6 (5) when he put a forehand volley into the net, then began shaking his head and immediately walked over to tell Zverev the match was over. The 37-year-old Djokovic packed up his equipment and walked off toward the locker room, pausing to respond to the jeers by giving two thumbs-up.

Donald Trump returned to the White House ready to immediately overhaul the government using the fastest tool he has — the executive order.

He's looked on his first day to increase domestic energy production and stop diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government, among other actions.

Economic losses from hurricanes and other natural disasters soared in the U.S. last year and were above average globally, reflecting another year of costly severe storms, floods and droughts.

Damage caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton helped push total economic losses from natural disasters in the U.S. to $217.8 billion last year, according to insurance broker Aon PLC. That figure represents an 85.3% increase from 2023, when losses totaled about $117.5 billion. It's also the largest annual tally of economic losses from natural disasters since 2017.

Millions of people in Ireland and northern parts of the U.K. were urged to stay at home Friday as hurricane-force winds disabled power networks and brought widespread travel disruptions.

Forecasters issued a rare "red" weather warning, meaning danger to life, across the whole island of Ireland and central and southwest Scotland.

At least 242 million children in 85 countries had their schooling interrupted last year because of heatwaves, cyclones, flooding and other extreme weather, the United Nations Children's Fund said in a new report Friday.

UNICEF said it amounted to one in seven school-going children across the world being kept out of class at some point in 2024 because of climate hazards.