North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered at least two people executed, banned fishing at sea and locked down capital Pyongyang as part of frantic efforts to guard against the coronavirus and its economic damage, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers Friday.

On Tuesday, President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. introduced his nominees for crucial foreign policy and national security roles during a public address.

President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris introduced nominees and appointees to crucial national security and foreign policy posts for their cabinet.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York warned that the borough's coronavirus positivity rates are on track to overburden hospitals and push it into the highest lockdown level in the state, where cases are spiking.

On Friday, Georgia election officials certified that President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. won the state's electoral votes after a hand recount was concluded.

Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization's regional director for Africa, said gatherings were fueling a 'concerning uptick' in cases in some African countries.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his counterpart from Bahrain joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in celebrating a U.S.-brokered normalization deal.

Riot police in Berlin used water canons to disperse crowds at a demonstration against coronavirus restrictions organized by coronavirus deniers, vaccine skeptics and right-wing extremists on Wednesday.

Archaeologists unearthed more than 100 painted wooden coffins up to 2,500 years old in the Saqqara burial ground, many containing mummies.

President Trump lauded progress being made on coronavirus vaccine candidates on Friday, and ignored surging virus rates across the country. At the same event, Vice President Mike Pence acknowledged the increase.