World News

Poland’s government said Wednesday it was forced to shoot down suspected Russian drones over its territory in what officials called the nation’s closest step toward armed conflict since World War II, raising alarm across Europe and beyond.

Yang Guoliang, a paralyzed farmer in eastern China, lives under the glare of police floodlights and cameras pointed at his modest home. Every phone call, bus ticket, and hospital visit is tracked. His wife and daughter are in jail for petitioning Beijing after officials seized their farmland. “Every move in my own home is monitored,” Yang said. “Their surveillance makes me feel unsafe all the time, everywhere.”

U.S. President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday rushed to assure Qatar that Israel would not carry out another strike on its soil after the Israeli military launched a rare airstrike in Doha targeting Hamas leaders.

Ethiopia on Tuesday inaugurated the $5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Africa’s largest hydroelectric project, hailing it as a unifying national achievement that will double the country’s power generation capacity.

The government of Australia’s New South Wales state has confirmed that some prayers are now unlawful under a new ban on LGBTQ+ “conversion practices,” prompting protests from Christian leaders.

French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking his fifth prime minister in less than two years after opposition parties united to oust center-right Prime Minister François Bayrou over his unpopular plans for massive budget tightening.

French Prime Minister François Bayrou, 74, was to step down after losing a confidence vote on Monday over a controversial 44 billion euros (about $51.5 billion) austerity package, bringing his government to an end after only nine months.

A four-year manhunt ended tragically Monday when New Zealand police fatally shot fugitive father Tom Phillips during a shoot-out. All three of his children, now aged 9, 10, and 12, have been found safe after disappearing with him in late 2021.

At least 14 people were killed and dozens injured in Nepal’s capital Monday as riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters trying to storm parliament over a sweeping social media shutdown and mounting corruption, state television said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned Russia’s largest overnight air assault of the war, which struck central Kyiv and other areas on Sunday, killing at least four people—including a newborn baby—and setting the Cabinet of Ministers building ablaze.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced his resignation Sunday after less than a year in office, following two crushing parliamentary defeats that cost his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) its coalition majority in both chambers.

As many as seven candidates for Germany’s anti-migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party have died in recent weeks ahead of local elections in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, prompting calls for investigation.

A drug-related standoff between Venezuela and the United States further escalated Saturday as U.S. Vice President JD Vance defended a strike on a suspected drug-trafficking speedboat that killed 11 people in the southern Caribbean.

Ukraine’s president has vowed to continue retaliating against Russian attacks on his country’s energy facilities and civilian sites, despite criticism from neighbors Slovakia and Hungary. Volodymyr Zelenskyy made the remarks after meeting Slovakia’s prime minister in the Ukrainian border city of Uzhhorod.

Europe faced fresh anxiety Friday after the White House confirmed the United States will end support for a program that helped prepare Eastern European armies to counter potential Russian aggression.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Friday that any foreign troops sent to Ukraine would be “legitimate targets for destruction” by Russia’s military. His comments came a day after European leaders met in Paris to discuss possible future security guarantees for Ukraine.

Afghan families are forced to make impossible choices after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, devastating the mountainous Kunar province, where entire villages collapsed.

Leaders from 26 nations have pledged to commit troops to Ukraine as part of “post-war security guarantees,” despite mounting concern that such a move could pave the way for a return to conscription and compel young people to serve in volatile territories. The initiative, spearheaded by French President Emmanuel Macron through the “Coalition of the Willing,” was discussed at a summit in Paris and envisions deployment of a “reassurance force” once fighting subsides.

Portugal declared a national day of mourning Thursday after at least 17 people were killed and 21 others injured when the Glória funicular in central Lisbon derailed and slammed into a building, raising questions about maintenance.

A confidential report by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has revealed that Iran expanded its stockpile of highly enriched uranium in the weeks leading up to Israel’s June 13 military strikes, raising new alarms over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.