ABOARD THE USS NIMITZ (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told sailors on the USS Nimitz Thursday that he hopes to avoid long ship deployments like the more than 10 months they just spent at sea. But as he made his first aircraft carrier visit as Pentagon chief, he acknowledged the demand for American warships around the globe as he wrestles with security threats from China in the Pacific and Iran in the Middle East.
ROME (AP) — Italy paid tribute Thursday to its ambassador to Congo and his bodyguard who were killed in an attack on a U.N. convoy, honoring them with a state funeral and prayers for peace in Congo and all nations “torn by war and violence.”
A Vincent van Gogh painting of a scene in Paris, to be publicly displayed for the first time, was in the same family collection for more than 100 years.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Thursday prolonged sanctions targeting dozens of Belarus officials, including President Alexander Lukashenko, for a year over allegations of fraud in the country's presidential election last summer and the crackdown on peaceful protesters that followed.
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Armenia's prime minister accused top military officers on Thursday of attempting a coup after they demanded he step down, adding fuel to months of protests calling for his resignation following the country's defeat in a conflict with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A crisis over the supply of medical oxygen for coronavirus patients has struck nations in Africa and Latin America, where warnings went unheeded at the start of the pandemic and doctors say the shortage has led to unnecessary deaths.
ROME (AP) — Mount Etna, the volcano that towers over eastern Sicily, evokes superlatives. It is Europe’s most active volcano and also the continent’s largest.
PARIS (AP) — France’s nuclear safety authority agreed Thursday to extend the operational lifetime of the country’s 32 oldest nuclear reactors by a decade to as much as 50 years.
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Supporters of Myanmar’s junta attacked people protesting the military government that took power in a coup, using slingshots, iron rods and knives Thursday to injure several of the demonstrators.
BERLIN (AP) — The head of the German Bishops' Conference said Thursday that the country's Roman Catholic church is suffering from a “scandalous image” amid mounting anger over the Cologne archbishop's handling of a report on past sexual abuse by clergy, but he defended its overall record in addressing the issue.
Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano, has awed even seasoned volcanologists in recent days with spectacular spurts of lava lighting up the Sicilian sky each night.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China approved two more COVID-19 vaccines for wider use Thursday, adding to its growing arsenal of shots.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's prime minister on Thursday promised sweeping changes to the country's laws and labor regulations to combat sexual abuse and misconduct in the wake of an assault allegation made by Olympic sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou that has prompted more cases and triggered a nationwide debate.
BEIJING (AP) — The ruling Communist Party is celebrating the official end of extreme poverty in China with a propaganda campaign that praises President Xi Jinping’s role, part of efforts to cement his image as a history-making leader who is reclaiming his country’s rightful place as a global power.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Caster Semenya is going to the European Court of Human Rights to challenge “discriminatory” rules that prohibit her from competing in certain track events because of her high natural testosterone, her lawyers said Thursday.
BERLIN (AP) — A German man has been charged with espionage for allegedly passing information on properties used by the German parliament to Russian military intelligence, prosecutors said Thursday.
Facebook announced Thursday that it is removing all remaining Myanmar military and military-controlled pages from its site and from Instagram, which it also owns.
ABOARD THE OPEN ARMS (AP) — The February storm is unforgiving, violently shaking the humanitarian rescuers’ vessel as they try to revive a faulty engine and save African migrants drifting in the Mediterranean Sea after fleeing Libya on unseaworthy boats.
NEW DELHI (AP) — India on Thursday rolled out new regulations for social media companies and digital streaming websites to make them more accountable for the online content shared on their platforms, giving the government more power to police it.
BERLIN (AP) — Hundreds of German police officers conducted coordinated raids early Thursday in Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg in the investigation of an organization banned over allegations of Islamic extremism.
