From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Sarah Williams reporting.

A rift on President-elect Donald Trump's transition team over who will serve as his secretary of state has gone public, leaving open the future national security role until differences can be resolved.

Rival groups within the president-elect's transition team are divided between 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

In a Twitter post Thursday, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway expressed the sentiments of the faction opposed to Romney. Conway said she had received a "deluge" of concern from people who question Romney's loyalty.

Those opposed to Giuliani as secretary of state contend his extensive business relationships with foreign interests would likely lead to a messy Senate confirmation fight. They also question whether the 72-year-old has the stamina to meet the demands of international travel the job requires.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has warned the European Union Friday that if it continues threatening his country, he will open its gates for hundreds of thousands of migrants to flood into EU countries.

Speaking at a congress on women's justice in Istanbul Friday, Erdoğan reacted to a nonbinding resolution approved by the European Parliament Thursday, demanding that the bloc freeze membership negotiations with Turkey over the government's heavy-handed crackdown following the failed military coup in July.

EU lawmakers called Thursday for a temporary halt to EU membership talks with Turkey because of Ankara's "disproportionate" reaction to the coup

VOA news.

Afghan officials say at least five people were killed and 27 others wounded in a series of explosions Friday in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar.

Local officials told VOA the explosions were from improvised explosive devices. They said two police officers and some children were among the casualties in Jalalabad, the provincial capital.

Provincial government spokesman Attahullah Khogyani said Nangarhar Governor Gulab Mangal has promised to take the issue seriously and launch an investigation.

Khogyani said the governor has warned local security officials that if similar incidents happen again in their areas of jurisdiction, they will be relieved of their duties based on a decree issued by President Ashraf Ghani.

At least 43 people died Friday in a train collision in Iran's north-central province of Semnan. More than 100 others were taken to hospitals after the crash.

Iranian state television showed footage of four derailed carriages, with two of them on fire. Rescue teams were working near the burning carriages.

The accident happened on the main line between the capital, Tehran, and second city Mashhad, when a passenger train in motion hit an express train that had stopped at a station because of mechanical problems.

The provincial governor told state TV that the number of causalities is likely to rise and that cold weather may have been a factor in the crash.

The Paris prosecutor says France has avoided an imminent terrorist attack, and five recently arrested suspects received their orders from the Islamic State group. From Paris, Lisa Bryant reports.

Paris prosecutor François Molins told reporters that the men had been receiving instructions via an encrypted App from an Islamic State commander in the Iraq-Syria region.

He said the men were planning to strike the Paris area next Thursday, although the exact target was not clear. He said authorities had found screenshots of Google maps highlighting several places. Reports say the targets under consideration were police offices and the domestic intelligence headquarters in Paris, along with Disneyland theme park outside the capital.

Lisa Bryant, for VOA news, Paris.

Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein filed a petition Friday to request a vote recount in Wisconsin, one of three recounts she is seeking in swing states won by Donald Trump earlier this month.

Wisconsin state Elections Commission Administrator Mike Haas said Stein and one other group filed the request at midafternoon Friday shortly before the deadline. The commission said it's "preparing to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for president of the United States."

I'm Sarah Williams in Washington.

That's the latest world news from VOA.