US President Donald Trump's administration has imposed sanctions on Iran after the country recently held a ballistic missile test. Trump earlier tweeted: "Iran is playing with fire - they don't appreciate how 'kind' President Obama was to them. Not me!" Iran called the threats from "an inexperienced person" useless, vowing to impose reciprocal measures. US Treasury Department acting sanctions chief John Smith said in a statement on Friday that, "Iran's continued support for terrorism and development of its ballistic missile program poses a threat to the region, to our partners worldwide, and to the United States." The sanctions target 13 people and 12 companies, including groups in China, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates.

A court in Harare, Zimbabwe ruled on Friday that political activist and pastor Evan Mawarire should be placed in custody for the next two weeks, after his arrest on Wednesday. Mawarire, who started the #ThisFlag campaign in protest against President Robert Mugabe’s administration to seek a solution to the country’s economic crisis, will be held until February 17 as authorities investigate charges including subversion, a plot to remove a constitutionally-elected government, and newly added abuse of the national flag and inciting public violence charges. Mawarire’s lawyer Harrison Nkomo said his client will apply for bail on Monday. Nkomo also told the magistrate that Mawarire has complaints against the police who violated his constitutional rights and abused their authority.

China urged the US to stop making “wrong remarks” on the issue of sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands on Friday, after US Defense Secretary James Mattis reportedly said the US-Japan mutual defense treaty applies to the islands. "The Diaoyu Island and its adjacent islets have been an inherent part of Chinese territory since ancient times, which is a unchangeable historical fact," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said after Japanese media reported that Mattis said the islands fall under Article Five of the security treaty on his first Japan trip since taking over the Pentagon. Lu said the US-Japan treaty of mutual cooperation and defense is a product of the Cold War, which should not impair China's territorial sovereignty and legitimate rights.

China's Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it hoped the government-funded Confucius Institute could continue to play a role in South Korea after the government said it had stopped issuing visas for some Chinese teachers. South Korea's foreign ministry said the measure to stop issuing or extending visas had been implemented since last June for practical reasons based on the immigration control law, while China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Confucius Institutes in South Korea were set up at the request of South Korean universities, and South Korea had an obligation to ensure the correct visa procedures were followed. Media reports linked the decision to the planned deployment of the THAAD advanced US anti-missile system in South Korea. China counters that the system threatens its security, since its radar detection could extend into China. 

China hopes it can work with the United States to manage and control disputes and sensitive problems, top Chinese official Yang Jiechi told Michael Flynn, US President Donald Trump's National Security Advisor, on Friday. State Councillor Yang told Flynn in a phone call that the two countries have broad common interests and great potential for cooperation, China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "China hopes that the new US government can work hard together with China, to strengthen high-level and other exchanges, maintain the political basis for bilateral relations, expand cooperation bilaterally, regionally and globally in all areas, manage and control disputes and sensitive issues," the statement quoted Yang as saying. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump have not spoken since Trump took office, although they did talk soon after he won the election. 

Officials say US President Donald Trump's recent immigration executive order has led to the cancellation of tens of thousands of US visas. A government lawyer told a court in Virginia that 100,000 visas had been revoked, but the State Department said it was 60,000, once diplomatic and expired visas were taken out of the equation. Courts in at least five US states - Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, Michigan and Washington - are now hearing cases challenging the executive order. US State Department spokesman Will Cocks said they were aware individuals who had their visas revoked would be "temporarily inconvenienced," but he stated national security was the administration's top priority when approving visas. The executive order bans people from seven mainly Muslim Middle Eastern and African countries from entering the US, which has led to widespread protests across the country. 

The UN has accused security forces in Myanmar of committing serious human rights abuses, including gang-rape, savage beatings, and child killing. The international organization made the allegations in a report compiled after interviews with more than 200 Rohingya refugees who fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh. One mother recounted how her five-year-old daughter was murdered while trying to protect her from rape. In another case, an eight-month-old baby was reportedly killed while five security officers gang-raped his mother. An estimated 65,000 members of the Muslim minority community have fled to Bangladesh since violence broke out in Myanmar last October. 

Australia's University of Newcastle (UON) announced the establishment of a scholarship program supported by China's Jack Ma Foundation on Friday. The Jack Ma Foundation will give $20 million US dollars (AU$26.4 million) to fund a scholarship program at UON, the largest philanthropic commitment in UON's history and the Jack Ma Foundation's first philanthropic contribution in Australia. In its initial year, the scholarship program will support 30 new UON scholarships, with 20 scholarships to support students throughout their studies, and 10 one-off scholarships to support educational exchange, internships, or immersion activities. ‍