World

German leader’s stance on Russia looms over 1st visit to US

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is flying to Washington this week on a mission to reassure Americans that his country stands alongside the United States and other NATO partners in opposing any Russian aggression against Ukraine.Scholz has said that Moscow would pay a “high price” in the ev...

World

French, German leaders to visit Russia, Ukraine amid tension

The French president and the German chancellor will head to Moscow and Kyiv in the coming weeks, adding to diplomatic efforts to try to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from launching an invasion of Ukraine and find a way out of the growing tensions.France’s Emmanuel Macron is scheduled ...

World

US grants sanctions relief to Iran as nuke talks in balance

The Biden administration on Friday restored some sanctions relief to Iran’s atomic program as talks aimed at salvaging the languishing 2015 nuclear deal enter a critical phase.As US negotiators head back to Vienna for what could be a make-or-break session, Secretary of State Antony Blinken sig...

World

French, German leaders to visit Russia, Ukraine amid tension

The French president and the German chancellor will head to Moscow and Kyiv in the coming weeks, adding to diplomatic efforts to try to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from launching an invasion of Ukraine and find a way out of the growing tensions.France’s Emmanuel Macron is scheduled ...

World

Lethal US raid on IS encounters a doll, crib, bomb, bullets

When helicopters carrying some 50 US commandos thumped onto the ground in Syria an hour after midnight, the raiders confronted a houseful of extremists and children.Baby comforts were inside — a stuffed bunny, a blue plastic swing, a crib. So was the paraphernalia of violence — such as t...

World,Front Page

Biden says IS leader killed during US raid in Syria

The leader of the violent Islamic State group was killed during an overnight raid carried out by US special forces in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, US President Joe Biden said Thursday.The raid targeted Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who took over as head of the militant group on O...

World

13 reported killed as US forces launch raid in Syria

US special forces carried out what the Pentagon said was a large-scale counterterrorism raid in northwestern Syria early Thursday. First responders at the scene reported 13 people had been killed, including six children and four women.The operation, which residents say lasted over two hours, jolted ...

World

Putin accuses US, allies of ignoring Russian security needs

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused the US and its allies of ignoring Russia’s top security demands but said Moscow is willing to talk more to ease tensions over Ukraine.The comments were his first on the standoff in more than a month and suggested a potential Russian invasion ...

World,Back Page

US federal prisons on lockdown after 2 Texas inmates killed

The federal prison system has been placed on a nationwide lockdown after two inmates were killed and two others were injured Monday during a gang altercation at a federal penitentiary in Texas.The incident happened around 11:30 a.m. Monday at USP Beaumont, a federal prison in Beaumont, Texas. The al...

World

Russia denies responding to US proposal on Ukraine crisis

Russian officials on Tuesday denied reports that Moscow sent Washington a written response to a US proposal aimed at deescalating the Ukraine crisis, a day after the two countries exchanged sharp accusations at the United Nations Security council.The Kremlin is seeking legally binding guarantees fro...

World

Myanmar takeover anniv marked by strike, int’l concern

Opponents of military rule in Myanmar marked the one-year anniversary of the army’s seizure of power with a nationwide strike Tuesday to show their strength and solidarity amid concern about what has become an increasingly violent contention for power.The “silent strike” sought to ...

World

Russia, US, Ukraine to square off at UN Security Council

The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet Monday for the first time on Russia’s troop buildup and threatening actions against Ukraine at the request of the United States, and all key players are expected to square off in public over the possibility of a Russian invasion and its global impac...

World

Socialists win reelection in Portugal, eye major investments

Portugal’s center-left Socialist Party won a third straight general election Sunday, returning it to power as the country prepares to deploy billions of euros (dollars) of European Union aid for the economy after the Covid-19 pandemic.In a ballot that took place amid a surge of coronavirus cas...

World

Islamic State strikes from shadows in vulnerable Syria, Iraq

With a spectacular jail break in Syria and a deadly attack on an army barracks in Iraq, the Islamic State group was back in the headlines the past week, a reminder of a war that formally ended three years ago but continues to be fought mostly away from view.The attacks were some of the boldest since...

World

N Korea tests longest-range missile since 2017

North Korea on Sunday fired what appeared to be the most powerful missile it has tested since US President Joe Biden took office, possibly breaching a self-imposed suspension on the testing of longer-range weapons as it revives its old playbook in brinkmanship to wrest concessions from Washington an...

World,Back Page

Fast and furious: Heavy snow, high winds threaten East Coast

People from New York City to Maine were awakening Saturday to half a foot (15 centimeters) of snow, and forecasters warned that could more than quadruple as a powerful nor’easter kicked up blinding blizzard conditions with the potential for widespread power outages and coastal flooding.Parts o...

World

Third Covid wave looms in Indonesia as omicron spreads

Indonesia is bracing for a third wave of Covid-19 infections as the highly transmissible omicron variant drives a surge in new cases, health authorities and experts said Saturday.The country reported 11,588 new confirmed infections and 17 deaths on Saturday in the last 24-hour period. It was the hig...

World

No peace in Myanmar 1 year after military takeover

The army takeover in Myanmar a year ago that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi not only unexpectedly aborted the country’s fledgling return to democracy: It also brought a surprising level of popular resistance, which has blossomed into a low-level, but persistent, insurgency.Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing...

World

In France, anti-vax fury, politics make public service risky

In Sainte-Anastasie-sur-Issole, a village that curls catlike in verdant Provence hillocks, voters are making an early start on France’s presidential election.From their ballot box this weekend and next will come the name of the candidate — picked from among dozens — that they want ...

World

Russia says it won’t start a war as Ukraine tensions mount

Russia’s top diplomat said Friday that Moscow will not start a war but warned that it wouldn’t allow the West to trample on its security interests amid fears it is planning to invade Ukraine.US President Joe Biden warned Ukraine’s president a day earlier that there is a “dist...