DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – U.S. President Donald Trump and top Iranian officials exchanged dueling threats Friday as widening protests swept across parts of the Islamic Republic, further escalating tensions between the countries after America bombed Iranian nuclear sites in June.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday appointed the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence as his new chief of staff, a move that comes as the U.S. leads a diplomatic push to end Russia’s nearly 4-year-old invasion.

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) – Investigators said Friday that they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited a fatal fire at a Swiss ski resort when they came too close to the ceiling of a bar crowded with New Year’s Eve revelers.

MEXICO CITY (AP) – A strong earthquake rattled southern and central Mexico on Friday, interrupting President Claudia Sheinbaum ‘s first press briefing of the new year as seismic alarms sounded. The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 and its epicenter was near the town of San Marcos in the southern state of Guerrero.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – A multi-story building under construction in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, collapsed Friday, leaving at least four people believed trapped. Rescue workers are digging through the rubble. The Kenya Red Cross, which said in a statement that a multi-agency response team was at the scene “managing the situation.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – President Donald Trump has spent much of his two-week vacation in Florida golfing. But when he gets back to the White House, there’s a military golf course that he’s never played that he’s eyeing for a major construction project.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – Indonesia on Friday began enforcing its newly ratified penal code, replacing a Dutch-era criminal law that had governed the country for more than 80 years and marking a major shift in its legal landscape.