World News

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Thursday received its first batch of foreign-made coronavirus vaccines as the country struggles to stem the worst outbreak of the pandemic in the Middle East.

KHIRBET HUMSU, West Bank (AP) — It looks like the aftermath of a tornado.

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — A pharaonic landmark in central Tirana built as a posthumous museum for Albania's communist-era strongman, Enver Hoxha, is being transformed into a youth training and art center.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey on Thursday rejected international criticism of its crackdown on protests by students opposing the appointment of a government loyalist to head Istanbul’s top university, warning countries to stay out of its domestic issues.

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England says the U.K.'s rapid rollout of coronavirus vaccines means the British economy should recover much of the ground lost during the pandemic by the end of the year.

LONDON (AP) — U.K. regulators stripped China's state TV channel of its national broadcasting license on Thursday, after an investigation cited lack of editorial control and links to China's ruling Communist Party.

ROME (AP) — As Mario Draghi worked to secure the backing in Parliament he needs to govern, Italy's outgoing leader on Thursday warned against the former European Central Bank chief's opting to lead the pandemic-battered country with a team of technocrats instead of politicians.

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Britain’s foreign minister said Thursday that flexibility and compromise are key to making the most of a fresh United Nations bid to restart talks on resolving Cyprus’ decades-old ethnic division.

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Thursday offered encouragement to musicians who have been silenced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, acknowledging many have lost work and the ability to practice together due to closed concert halls and social distancing norms.

BERLIN (AP) — Rivers around Germany continued to swell Thursday, fed by melting snow and regular rain and leading to widespread flooding and disruptions to shipping traffic.

BERLIN (AP) — The prosecutors, defendants and co-plaintiffs have said they will appeal against the verdicts issued over the 2019 killing of a politician that sparked outrage in Germany and an attack on an asylum-seeker three years earlier, court officials said Thursday.

NEW DELHI (AP) — It took just one tweet from Rihanna to anger the Indian government and supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party. The pop star linked a news article in a tweet drawing attention to the massive farmer protests that have gripped India for more than two months.

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — The new head of Portugal’s COVID-19 vaccination task force was due to start work Thursday, a day after his predecessor resigned amid scandals over vaccine queue-jumping and frustration over a sluggish rollout similar to that seen in other European Union countries.

TOKYO (AP) — The president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said Thursday he would not resign despite pressure on him to do so after making derogatory comments earlier in the week about women.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A general strike organized by a splinter group in the governing Communist party paralyzed life in Nepal on Thursday, shutting schools, transportation and markets.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — There were 160 players back in isolation because a hotel quarantine worker tested positive for COVID-19.