International News

In this Friday, Jan. 24, 2014 file photo, Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala during a panel discussion

Okonjo-Iweala is 1st woman, African to lead world trade body

In this Dec. 26, 2018, file photo, members of the military wait outside facilities at Ain al-Asad air base, Iraq.

Iraq officials: Rockets strike outside airport near US base

A coach delivers passengers to the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel, near Heathrow Airport, London, Monday Feb. 15, 2021 where they will remain during a 10 day quarantine period after returning to England from one of 33

UK opens quarantine hotels, pushes on with vaccine drive

UN approves AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

The World Health Organization has granted an emergency authorization to the coronavirus vaccine made by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, a move that should allow the company's partners to ship millions of doses to countries worldwide as part of a U.N.-backed program to tame the pandemic...

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a vial of the AstraZeneca vaccine during a visit to a coronavirus vaccination centre at the Health and Well-being Centre in Orpington, south-east London, Monday, Feb. 15, 2021.

Variants-wary Germany turns back 5,000 at border

German authorities say police have turned back some 5,000 people at the country’s borders with the Czech Republic and Austria’s Tyrol region since tight controls were introduced on Sunday...

A federal police officer directs a truck driver coming from Austria into the border checkpoint on the A93 motorway near Kiefersfelden, Germany, Monday, Feb. 12, 2021. The tightened German entry rules at the border with the Austrian state of Tyrol to protect against the spread of the coronavirus came into force on Sunday night.

Myanmar security forces crack down on anti-coup protesters

Security forces in Myanmar intensified their crackdown against anti-coup protesters on Monday, seeking to quell the large-scale demonstrations calling for the military junta that seized power earlier this month to reinstate the elected government...

A policeman aims a slingshot towards an unknown target during a crackdown on anti-coup protesters holding a rally in front of the Myanmar Economic Bank in Mandalay, Myanmar on Monday, Feb. 15, 2021.

Egypt: Archaeologists unearth ancient beer factory in Abydos

American and Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed what could be the oldest known beer factory at one of the most prominent archaeological sites of ancient Egypt, a top antiquities official said Saturday...

This photo provided by the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021 shows pottery basins, which archaeologists say had been used to heat up a mixture of grains and water to produce beer, in Abydos, some 450 km (280 miles) south of Cairo, Egypt. The basins were part of what could be the oldest known beer factory unearthed in Abydos, an ancient burial ground dating back to the region of King Narmer, the last king of the Predynastic Period (6000 - 3150 B.C.), according to Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Powerful Japan quake sets off landslide, minor injuries

Residents in northeastern Japan on Sunday cleaned up clutter and debris in stores and homes after a strong earthquake set off a landslide on a highway, damaged buildings and parts of bullet train lines and caused power blackouts for thousands of people...

A landslide caused by a strong earthquake covers a circuit course in Nihonmatsu city, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. The strong earthquake shook the quake-prone areas of Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures late Saturday, setting off landslides and causing power blackouts for thousands of people.

Draghi says he has enough support to form Italy's new govt

Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi on Friday told Italy’s president that he has secured enough political support to form a new government...

Former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi arrives at the Quirinale presidential palace for talks with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, in Rome, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. Draghi has secured pledges of backing from nearly every party in the Italian Parliament as he wrapped up political consultations aimed at giving the pandemic-ravaged nation a new government.

WHO chief warns of complacency as global virus cases drop

The head of the World Health Organization says the drop in confirmed COVID-19 around the world is encouraging, but has cautioned against relaxing restrictions that have helped curb the spread of the coronavirus ...

Medical worker attends to a covid-19 patient at a hospital overrun by the covid pandemic in Cheb, Czech Republic, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021.

UN: Over 2 million Yemeni children may starve in 2021

The United Nations is sounding the alarm over projections that more than 2 million Yemeni children under age 5 are facing starvation this year. Also, over a million pregnant or breastfeeding women are expected to be acutely malnourished ...

People gather at the General Assembly, prior to a vote, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017, at United Nations headquarters.

English soccer heads ask Zuckerberg, Dorsey to act on racism

The leaders of English soccer asked the heads of Facebook and Twitter on Thursday to show "basic human decency" by taking more robust action to eradicate racism and for users' identities to be verified...

In this Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020 file photo, Aadetailed view of the

COVID-defying nun toasts 117th birthday with wine and prayer

A French nun who is believed to be the world's second-oldest person was celebrating her 117th birthday in style on Thursday. There were plans for Champagne and red wine, a feast with her favorite dessert, a Mass in her honor, and other treats to toast Sister André's exceptional longevity through two world wars and a recent coronavirus infection...

This photo provided by the Sainte-Catherine Laboure care home communications manager shows Lucile Randon, Sister Andre's birth name, in Toulon, southern France, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. A 116-year-old French nun who is believed to be the world’s second-oldest person has survived COVID-19. French media reported that Sister André tested positive for the coronavirus in mid-January in France’s southern city of Toulon.

Biden orders sanctions against Myanmar after military coup

President Joe Biden on Wednesday ordered new sanctions against the military regime in Myanmar, taking action after the military this month staged a coup in the Southeast Asian country and arrested de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior politicians...

President Joe Biden pauses as he speaks about the coronavirus, accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris, in the State Dinning Room of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in Washington.

In new tactic, Navalny supporters to rally in courtyards

A top ally of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has announced a new anti-government protest, urging residents of big cities to briefly gather in residential courtyards on Sunday evening with their cellphone flashlights on...

In this photo provided by the Babuskinsky District Court, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny stands in a cage during a hearing on his charges for defamation, in the Babuskinsky District Court in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021.

WHO says coronavirus unlikely to have leaked from China lab

A World Health Organization expert says the coronavirus is unlikely to have leaked from a Chinese lab and most probably jumped to humans via an intermediary species...

Israeli PM pleads not guilty as corruption trial resumes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pleaded not guilty as his trial on corruption charges resumed in a Jerusalem courtroom. Monday's hearing comes just weeks before national elections in which he hopes to extend his 12-year rule. Netanyahu was indicted last year for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases ...

In this July 7, 2019 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures, during the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem.

New variants raise worry about COVID-19 virus reinfections

Evidence is mounting that having COVID-19 may not protect against getting infected again with some of the new variants. People also can get second infections with earlier versions of the coronavirus if they mounted a weak defense the first time, new research suggests...

This 2020 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which cause COVID-19.

Rescuers in India digging for 37 trapped in glacier flood

Rescuers in northern India were working Monday to rescue more than three dozen power plant workers trapped in a tunnel after part of a Himalayan glacier broke off and sent a wall of water and debris rushing down the mountain in a disaster that has left 18 people dead and 165 missing...

This photograph provided by National Disaster Response Force shows NDRF personnel prepare to rescue workers at one of the hydropower project at Reni village in Chamoli district of Indian state of Uttrakhund, Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. Rescue efforts continued on Monday to save 37 people after part of a glacier broke off, releasing a torrent of water and debris that slammed into two hydroelectric plants on Sunday.

Water fired at crowd as anti-coup protests swell in Myanmar

Police fired a water cannon Monday at hundreds of protesters in Myanmar's capital who are demanding the military hand power back to elected officials, as demonstrations against last week's coup intensified and spread to more parts of the country...

Protesters are sprayed with water fired from a police truck's water cannon in Naypyitaw, Myanmar on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. Tension in the confrontations between the authorities and demonstrators against last week's coup in Myanmar boiled over Monday, as police fired a water cannon at peaceful protesters in the capital Naypyitaw.

Around the globe, virus cancels spring travel for millions

They are the annual journeys of late winter and early spring: Factory workers in China heading home for the Lunar New Year; American college students going on road trips and hitting the beach over spring break; Germans and Britons fleeing drab skies for some Mediterranean sun over Easter...

A passenger wears a face mask she travels on a Delta Airlines flight Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, after taking off from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. Amid fears of new variants of the virus, new restrictions on movement have hit just as people start to look ahead to what is usually a busy time of year for travel.

Internet access restored as Myanmar coup protests grow

As enthusiastic crowds of tens of thousands marched through the streets of Myanmar's biggest city on Sunday to protest last week's coup ousting Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government, their spirits were lifted by the return of internet services that had been blocked a day earlier...