The British economy unexpectedly shrank during January, piling pressure on Treasury chief Rachel Reeves before a key statement about the state of the public finances later this month.

Official figures Friday showed that the economy, the world's sixth-largest, saw output drop by 0.1% during the month, in contrast to expectations for a modest increase and December's solid 0.4% gain.

A huge storm system crossing the U.S. threatens to unleash tornadoes Friday in the Mississippi Valley, blizzards in the northern Plains and dry, gusty conditions in Texas and Oklahoma that pose a high risk of wildfires.

The National Weather Service predicted extreme weather across a vast swath of the U.S. with a population exceeding 100 million people. Powerful winds gusting up to 80 mph (130 kph) were forecast from the Canadian line to the Rio Grande border with Mexico.

When severe weather hits the United States, there are ways people across the country can prepare for the potential impact of hail, rain, damaging wind and more.

Tornadoes can take down power for thousands of people, cause catastrophic property damage and kill. The U.S. sees about 1,200 tornadoes each year.

Turkey's top diplomat, defense minister and intelligence chief paid a sudden visit to Damascus on Thursday, days after Syria's interim government reached a deal to integrate a U.S backed Kurdish-led armed group into the country's army.

The agreement to integrate the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, into the Syrian government followed fierce clashes that erupted last week between government security forces and gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar Assad.

Demonstrators from a Jewish group filled the lobby of Trump Tower on Thursday to denounce the immigration arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist who helped lead protests against Israel at Columbia University.

The demonstrators from Jewish Voice for Peace wore red shirts reading "Jews say stop arming Israel" and held up banners as they chanted "Bring Mahmoud home now!" on the lower level of the Fifth Avenue building's public atrium.

The U.S. and Israel have reached out to officials of three East African governments to discuss using their territories as potential destinations for resettling Palestinians uprooted from the Gaza Strip under President Donald Trump's proposed postwar plan, American and Israeli officials say.

The contacts with Sudan, Somalia and the breakaway region of Somalia known as Somaliland reflect the determination by the U.S. and Israel to press ahead with a plan that has been widely condemned and raised serious legal and moral issues. Because all three places are poor, and in some cases wracked by violence, the proposal also casts doubt on Trump's stated goal of resettling Gaza's Palestinians in a "beautiful area."

Representatives of China, Russia and Iran called Friday for an end to U.S. sanctions on Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear program and a restart to multinational talks on the issue.

The talks are the latest attempt to broach the matter and come after U.S. President Donald Trump wrote to Iran's supreme leader in an attempt to jumpstart talks.

U.S. President Donald Trump threw a curve ball at China by linking the fentanyl issue to his tariffs on imports. The Chinese government is swinging back.

First it issued a report detailing its efforts to control the illegal trade in fentanyl, specifically the ingredients for the opioid that are made in China. Then, the Chinese foreign minister blasted the U.S. for responding to Beijing's goodwill with tariffs. And this week, Chinese officials expressed their indignation at a rare background briefing with journalists.

As extreme weather events have hit the world hard in recent years, one meteorology term — atmospheric rivers — has made the leap from scientific circles to common language, particularly in places that have been hit by them.

That stands to reason.

Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid in a Champions League penalty shootout — again — to keep its title defense alive Wednesday and advance to the quarterfinals.

Defender Antonio Rüdiger scored the decisive spot-kick in a 4-2 shootout win after two Atletico players missed. Marco Llorente's shot struck the bar after Julián Álvarez's score despite slipping was disallowed on video review because he touched the ball twice.