BEIJING — China is seeing a new surge in coronavirus cases in its frozen northeast, and has reported its first death attributed to COVID-19 in months.

Dangerous winds are sweeping over parts of California, and that means a greater wildfire risk and the possibility of power losses for hundreds of thousands of residents.

China and the World Health Organization could have acted quicker and more forcefully to contain the start of the Covid-19 outbreak. That's the conclusion from the Switzerland-based Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. The panel also said the world needs a "global reset" on how it deals with such situations. In the US, there's bad news and, well, slightly less bad news. More than 60% of all Covid-19 cases nationwide have been reported since Election Day, leading to nightmare-level infection rates. However, cases have declined 11% since hitting a peak last week. Experts say it's too soon for optimism, since such a dip may not be sustainable. Also in China, a dangerous situation is unfolding as state media have launched disinformation campaigns to hit back against questions about the efficacy of the coronavirus vaccine produced by Chinese medical company Sinovac.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has announced that the first presidential and parliamentary elections since 2006 will be held later this year. But the road to the vote — key to advancing Palestinian statehood and mending a rift between Abbas' Fatah party and the Islamic militant group Hamas — is littered with obstacles.

A so-called Covid-19 "superspreader" who traveled around northeastern China has been linked to 102 confirmed infections, according to Chinese officials.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his entire Cabinet resigned Friday to take political responsibility for a scandal involving investigations into child welfare payments that wrongly labeled thousands of parents as fraudsters.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Coronavirus infections in the Philippines have surged past 500,000 in a new bleak milestone with the government facing criticism for failing to immediately launch a vaccination program amid a global scramble for COVID-19 vaccines.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities have asked residents in two cities south of Beijing to stay home for seven days as they try to stamp out a COVID-19 outbreak in which more than 300 people have tested positive in the past week.