China's economy grew 6.7 percent in 2016 from a year earlier, the slowest pace of growth in 26 years but still within the government's target range set for the year, official data showed Friday. Growth in the fourth quarter came in at 6.8 percent year on year, accelerating from the 6.7 percent rise registered in the third quarter  according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

West African leaders are due to arrive in Gambia on Friday as part of mediation efforts to get long-time leader Yahya Jammeh to recognize the results of last month’s election and step down. On Thursday, troops from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) entered Gambia in support of Adama Barrow, in a move backed by the UN. They later halted the operation to allow a last mediation bid but said they would resume at noon on Friday if Jammeh still refused to leave. Barrow, who won December’s election, was sworn in on Thursday as the new president at the Gambian embassy in Senegal’s capital Dakar. 

At least 25 people are feared dead after an avalanche hit a hotel in central Italy. The avalanche was believed to have been triggered by an earlier earthquake in the area. Rescuers struggled to reach the site on Thursday as the avalanche had blocked roads, and had to resort to skis and snowplows. Reports said the hotel, situated at 1,200 meters altitude, was engulfed by a two-meter wall of snow. Two survivors were found and brought to hospital, the civil protection department said. The search for more survivors and bodies was still underway. 

China’s Alibaba has struck a deal with the International Olympic Committee making it a major sponsor of the Olympic Games until 2028, Alibaba chief Jack Ma and IOC President Thomas Bach announced Thursday in Davos, Switzerland. The Chinese e-commerce giant will become the official e-commerce and cloud services partners. No financial details were disclosed however. Bach greeted the deal as “an historic strategic partnership in the digital world. It will transform the global Olympic movement."

Mexico said Thursday it had extradited drug lord Joaquin Guzman, better known as “El Chapo”, to the United States. “El Chapo,” the boss of the Sinaloa drug cartel, is wanted for drug trafficking and other charges. He has made headlines in recent years for his repeated escapes from prison, as well as for an interview he gave actor Sean Penn in 2015, while on the run. He was eventually recaptured last year and has fought extradition since then. 

China wants to increase crude oil and natural gas production over the next three years, according to plans published on Thursday. Domestic crude oil output will be boosted to 200 million per year by 2020 – up from about 181 million tons in 2016 - while natural gas is expected to go up to 360 billion cubic meters – up from some 121 billion cubic meters last year, Xinhua reported. This will mean speeding up exploration work and pipeline construction, but also developing clean alternatives, Xinhua wrote. 

At least 20 firefighters were believed to have been killed after a high-rise in Tehran collapsed following a fire on Thursday. The multi-story shopping center was the oldest high-rise in the Iranian capital. Some 20 firefighters were in the building when it collapsed, live on television, Tehran’s mayor said. Rescue efforts to pull people out of the debris were ongoing. 

The reported cash injection worth as much as one billion US dollars will come from Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media, with the two firms agreeing to fund at least 25 percent of the entire studio’s movie output for the next three years, with the option of extending the deal. The move comes as Paramount looks to grow and develop its market in China, and comes after speculation of a takeover of parent company Viacom by Dalian Wanda in 2016 failed to materialize.