International

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's leaders sought to reassure the nation that a feared invasion from neighboring Russia was not imminent, even as they acknowledged the threat is real and prepared to accept a shipment of American military equipment Tuesday... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — At President Biden's direction, the Pentagon is putting about 8,500 U.S.-based troops on heightened alert for potential deployment to Europe amid rising fears of a possible Russian military move on Ukraine. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said... Read More

SAN ANTONIO — Public sentiment regarding COVID-19 mitigation strategies was undermined by polarization from political actors around the globe, according to new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers from around the world contributed to... Read More

BEIJING (AP) — A cluster of COVID-19 cases in Beijing has prompted authorities to test millions and impose new measures two weeks ahead of the opening of the Winter Olympics, even as the city of Xi'an in north-central China lifted... Read More

LONDON (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday won the first stage of his effort to overturn a U.K. ruling that opened the door for his extradition to U.S. to stand trial on espionage charges. The High Court in... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held their first formal talks on Friday as they face fresh concerns about North Korea's nuclear program and China's growing military assertiveness. The 80-minute virtual meeting came as... Read More

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Satellite photos obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday appear to show the aftermath of a fatal attack on an oil facility in the capital of the United Arab Emirates claimed by Yemen's Houthi... Read More

WASHINGTON — The European Union has claimed the role of global climate champion by taking charge of climate change discussions and passing an ambitious set of policy initiatives that codify the bloc’s push for climate neutrality by 2050. But the... Read More

ROME (AP) — To mask or not to mask is a question Italy settled early in the COVID-19 outbreak with a vigorous “yes." Now the onetime epicenter of the pandemic in Europe hopes even stricter mask rules will help it... Read More

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Thursday sharply raised the stakes in its dispute with the West over Ukraine, with a top diplomat refusing to rule out a Russian military deployment to Cuba and Venezuela if tensions with the United States... Read More

GENEVA (AP) — Senior U.S. and Russian officials launched special talks Monday aimed at defusing tensions over a Russian military buildup on the border with Ukraine, part of a flurry of diplomatic activity in Europe this week. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei... Read More

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has provoked outcries in parliament and protests from election rivals by using a vulgarity to describe his strategy for pressuring vaccine refusers to get coronavirus jabs. Macron used the French word “emmerder,” rooted... Read More

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin are set to discuss the Russian troop buildup near Ukraine during their second call in recent weeks amid little progress toward ending the smoldering crisis. Ahead of Thursday's call, the White House... Read More

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that one of the country’s oldest and most prominent human rights organizations should be shut down, a move that stirred up public outrage and is the latest step in a months-long... Read More

BRUSSELS (AP) — After struggling with the coronavirus for far too long, the world understands all too well Belgium's word of the year, “knaldrang!” — the urge to party, the need to let loose. Yet as New Year celebrations approach,... Read More

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The legacy of Archbishop Desmond Tutu's activism for equality continues to reverberate among young South Africans, many of whom were not born when the clergyman battled apartheid. South Africa is holding a week of mourning for Tutu,... Read More

DAVOS, Switzerland — For the second year in a row, the coronavirus is wreaking havoc on the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos. The organization, which has been hosting the high-profile networking event for business executives, world leaders and... Read More

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The omicron variant appears to cause less severe disease than previous versions of the coronavirus, and the Pfizer vaccine seems to offer less defense against infection from it but still good protection from hospitalization, according to an analysis... Read More

WASHINGTON — In a city where style is often overlooked or deliberately avoided, one diplomat is making it her mission to explain that fashion isn’t pejorative, but rather purposeful.  Indira Gumarova, wife of the Ambassador Hynek Kmoníček of the Czech... Read More

LONDON — England’s High Court of Justice on Thursday cleared the way for the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States on espionage charges. It overruled a lower court’s ruling that blocked extradition because of a risk... Read More

LONDON (AP) — A British appellate court opened the door Friday for Julian Assange to be extradited to the United States by overturning a lower court's decision that the WikiLeaks founder's mental health was too fragile to withstand the American... Read More

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s military chief, Gen. Bipin Rawat, and 12 others were killed Wednesday in a helicopter crash in southern Tamil Nadu state, the air force said. It said in a tweet that the helicopter "met with a... Read More

BERLIN (AP) — Angela Merkel was assured of a place in the history books as soon as she became Germany's first female chancellor on Nov. 22, 2005. Over the next 16 years, she was credited with raising Germany's profile and... Read More

TOKYO (AP) — The omicron variant kept a jittery world off kilter Wednesday as Japan further tightened travel restrictions, infections linked to the new version of the coronavirus popped up in more places and new evidence made clear the mutant... Read More

BRUSSELS (AP) — A slew of nations moved to stop air travel from southern Africa on Friday, and stocks plunged in Asia and Europe in reaction to news of a new, potentially more transmissible COVID-19 variant. "The last thing we... Read More

BEIJING (AP) — China and the U.S. have agreed to ease restrictions on each other's journalists amid a slight relaxation of tensions between the two sides. The official China Daily newspaper on Wednesday said the agreement was reached ahead of... Read More

BERLIN (AP) — Austria took what its leader called the “dramatic" step Monday of implementing a nationwide lockdown for unvaccinated people who haven't recently had COVID-19, perhaps the most drastic of a string of measures being taken by European governments... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping have slurped noodles together in Beijing. They've shared deep thoughts about the meaning of America during an exchange on the Tibetan plateau. They've gushed to U.S. business leaders about developing a... Read More

WASHINGTON — Early advice from the World Health Organization warned against imposing travel or trade restrictions on countries experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks. Now experts fear the decision by most countries to ignore this advice may have unintended consequences for the future... Read More

TOKYO (AP) — Giant panda twins born at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo in June got their names Friday — Lei Lei for the female cub, and Xiao Xiao for her brother. They were chosen from hundreds of thousands of suggestions sent... Read More