
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s administration plans to support Argentina in the race to lead the Inter American Bank, a key Washington-based multilateral lender, in another sign of political rapport between the region’s two most important left-wing governments.

Britain on Friday ended almost half a century of European Union membership, making a historic exit after years of bitter arguments to chart its own uncertain path in the world. There were celebrations and tears across the country as the EU's often reluctant member became the first to leave an organization set up to forge unity among nations after the horrors of World War II.

A smiling Pope Francis welcomed the new president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, to the Vatican on Friday morning and then spoke with him in a private audience for 45 minutes, signaling that good relations exist between the two leaders and suggesting that this could perhaps open the door for the pontiff’s first visit to his homeland since his election—though the president later said they did not discuss this.

Gibraltar originally joined the EU under the British Treaty of Accession in 1972. On the evening of Friday 31st January 2020 at midnight Central European Time the departure from the European Union at the appointed time the UK formally ceased being a member state.

Beijing on Friday sharply criticized the United States for warning American citizens to avoid China and for urging those already there to leave due to the coronavirus health emergency.

A man died of carbon monoxide poisoning after a supermarket was torched in Chile's capital Santiago on Friday, bringing the death toll from a resurgence in violent unrest rose to three. A mob looted and then set fire to the supermarket in southern Santiago in the early hours of Friday.

Facebook said it will take down misinformation about China's fast-spreading coronavirus in a rare departure from its approach to health content, after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global health emergency.

Scotland’s Parliament voted this week ahead of Friday, to hold a new referendum on Scottish independence, a move intended to increase political pressure on the British government as the UK leaves the European Union.

Britain’s departure from the European Union shows the bloc must deliver for its citizens and its leaders must stand up for the project or else risk it failing, the head of the European Union’s executive, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Friday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Brexit offers Britain an opportunity for “renewal and change” as he called on the divided nation to pull together in an address ahead of its split with the European Union.