Authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko on Friday hosted a U.S. envoy for talks in the Belarus capital of Minsk, the latest step in the isolated leader's effort to improve ties with the West.

Lukashenko met with U.S. special envoy for Belarus John Coale, according to state news agency Belta and the presidential press service. The press service said the talks would continue Saturday.

Germany summoned Russia's ambassador Friday following accusations of sabotage, cyberattacks and election interference, an official said.

The German government has also accused Moscow of perpetrating disinformation campaigns.

A strike called by Portugal's two main trade union confederations severely disrupted travel Thursday and forced the cancellation of many medical appointments and school classes. Government and municipal services, including trash collection, were also badly hit.

The two labor groups representing close to a million Portuguese workers say it could be the country's biggest walkout in more than 10 years as they contest the center-right government's planned changes to employment laws.

Former Iraqi President Barham Salih is on track to become the next head of the U.N. refugee agency, according to a letter from U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres shared with The Associated Press on Friday.

Salih, 65, is set to succeed longtime UNHCR veteran Filippo Grandi as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Grandi took office on Jan. 1, 2016, and his second five-year term expires on Dec. 31. He had succeeded Guterres in the post.

Russia's Central Bank has filed a lawsuit against Belgian financial institution Euroclear, the Brussels-based clearing house that holds most of Moscow's frozen assets in Europe, the bank said Friday.

It wasn't immediately clear what the lawsuit could achieve since it was filed in Moscow.

A 6.7 magnitude earthquake shook northeastern Japan and caused small tsunami waves but no apparent damage Friday, days after a stronger quake in the same region.

Friday's quake occurred off the east coast of Aomori prefecture, in the north of Honshu, the main Japanese island, at a depth of 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) at 11:44 a.m., according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, which issued a tsunami advisory that was lifted about two hours later.

Swiss singer Nemo, who won the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, said Thursday they will return the winner's trophy because Israel is being allowed to compete in the politically troubled pop music competition.

In an Instagram video, Nemo held the microphone-shaped glass ornament and said "today I no longer feel like this trophy belongs on my shelf."

The head of Yemen's internationally recognized government has called on separatists to withdraw from territories they they have recently captured in the southeastern parts of the country, according to the government-run news agency.

The secessionist Southern Transitional Council, STC, a group backed by the United Arab Emirates, this month seized most of the the provinces of Hadramout and Mahra, including oil facilities. The move raised fears that the relative calm in the country's stalemated civil war might be shattered.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that negotiators are wrestling with the question of territorial possession in U.S.-led peace talks on ending the war with Russia, including the future of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of the world's 10 biggest atomic plants.

Zelensky revealed details of the ongoing discussions before he headed Thursday into urgent talks with leaders and officials from about 30 countries that support Kyiv's efforts to obtain fair terms in any settlement to halt nearly four years of fighting.

Ocean temperatures warmed by human-caused climate change fed the intense rainfall that triggered deadly floods and landslides across Asia in recent weeks, according to an analysis released Wednesday.

The rapid study by World Weather Attribution focused on heavy rainfall from cyclones Senyar and Ditwah in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka starting late last month. The analysis found that warmer sea surface temperatures over the North Indian Ocean added energy to the cyclones.