FIFA President Gianni Infantino received a Lebanese passport at the Interior Ministry in Beirut on Monday, months after he was granted citizenship by President Joseph Aoun.

Infantino, who is married to Lebanese citizen Lina al-Ashkar, thanked Aoun at a meeting at the Interior Ministry where Infantino filed documents and had a photograph and fingerprints taken before being handed his new blue Lebanese passport.

Germany moved to assure Lebanon on Monday that it will support the Lebanese government even after pulling out German troops deployed as part of U.N. peacekeepers along the Lebanon-Israel border when their mission ends later this year.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier made the announcement during a joint news conference with President Joseph Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda. Germany's navy, he said, is already training Lebanese troops as they boost their presence in the country's south following the 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah.

U.S. President Donald Trump said that a change in power in Iran "would be the best thing that could happen" as the U.S. administration weighs whether to take military action against Tehran.

In the arid, cracked desert ground in Southern California, a tiny bee pokes its head out of a hole no larger than the tip of a crayon.

Krystle Hickman crouches over with her specialized camera fitted to capture the minute details of the bee's antennae and fuzzy behind.

Thailand has begun using a birth control vaccine on elephants in the wild to try and curb a growing problem where human and animal populations encroach on each other — an issue in areas where farms spread into forests and elephants are squeezed out of their natural habitat.

The initiative is part of efforts to address confrontations that can turn deadly. As farmers cut down forests to make more farmland, elephants are forced to venture out of their shrinking habitats in search of food.

Africa was the world's fastest-growing solar market in 2025, defying a global slowdown and reshaping where the momentum in renewable energy is concentrated, according to an industry report released in late last month.

The report by the Africa Solar Industry Association says the continent's solar installed capacity expanded 17% in 2025, boosted by imports of Chinese-made solar panels. Global solar power capacity rose 23% in 2025 to 618 GW, slowing from a 44% increase in 2024.

The Trump administration reached a trade deal with Taiwan on Thursday, with Taiwan agreeing to remove or reduce 99% of its tariff barriers, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.

The agreement comes as the U.S. remains reliant on Taiwan for its production of computer chips, the exporting of which contributed to a trade imbalance of nearly $127 billion during the first 11 months of 2025, according to the Census Bureau.

World shares were mixed on Friday, following sharp Wall Street losses on a sell-off of technology-related stocks that investors fear could lose out from artificial intelligence disruptions.

U.S. futures edged lower. The future for the S&P 500 fell less than 0.1%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.1% lower.

A key measure of inflation fell to nearly a five-year low last month as apartment rental price growth slowed and gas prices fell, offering some relief to Americans grappling with the sharp cost increases over the past five years.

Inflation dropped to 2.4% in January compared with a year earlier, down from 2.7% in December and not too far from the Federal Reserve's 2% target. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, rose just 2.5% in January from a year ago, down from 2.6% the previous month and the smallest increase since March 2021.

The first solar eclipse of the year will grace Antarctica, and only a lucky few will get to bask — or waddle — in its glow.

Tuesday's annular solar eclipse, known as a " ring of fire," will only be visible in the southernmost continent, home to research stations and diverse wildlife.