BBC news.

Officials in Afghanistan say Taliban gunmen disguised in Afghan army uniforms have killed more than 70 troops in an attack in a military base outside the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif. And an army spokesman says the insurgence has struck as soldiers were leaving Friday prayers.

The Pentagon says US troops have killed a close associate of the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a commando raid in Syria. A spokesman said Abdurakhmon Uzbeki had been involved in plotting the New Year’s Eve attack on a nightclub in Istanbul in which at least 39 people died.

Campaigning has ended in France before Sunday’s first round of voting in the presidential election. The final day was overshadowed by the Islamist attack in Paris on Thursday. The attack prompted some candidates to cancel their final appearances but all address the issue of national security.

The authorities in Venezuela say at least 11 people died in a violence looting on Thursday making the night the bloodiest in three weeks of anti-president protests. In Caracas ten people were killed during an attempt to loot a bakery.

A Russian man is being indicted in the United States accused of controlling one of the world’s biggest botnets, a network of thousands of infected computers which forwards malware viruses in spam. A jury charged Pyotr Levashov with offenses including fraud, identity theft and conspiracy. He was arrested in Spain earlier this month.

A senior American government official has said the US is willing to help fund programs to eradicate opium poppies in Mexico. The Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics Affairs said his government was prepared to support Mexico provided the two countries reached an agreement on the best way to tackle opium production.

BBC news.