In Venezuela, political critics are emerging from hiding following the U.S.-backed ouster of President Nicolás Maduro.

Residents of a small coastal Cuban town face severe hardships despite living near energy sources.

OpenAI and Anthropic, the startups behind ChatGPT and Claude, are gearing up for a major showdown.

The European Central Bank is leaving interest rates unchanged as the economy in the 21 countries that use the euro chugs past the disruption from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs with modest but resilient growth.

Democrats are threatening to block funding for the Homeland Security Department when it expires in two weeks unless there are “dramatic changes” and “real accountability” for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other law enforcement agencies who are carrying out President Donald Trump’s campaign of federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota and across the country.

The Justice Department is intensifying efforts to choke off cartels’ financial networks, targeting the money launderers who are increasingly relying on cryptocurrency to move drug proceeds from the U.S. to Mexico.

The Nigerian government has announced a new military operation to tackle Islamic militants after more than 160 people were killed in western Kwara state.

A global hunger monitoring group says that famine is spreading in war-torn Sudan’s western Darfur region and has now engulfed two more towns there.

The detention of a Turkish couple who own a New Jersey kebab shop helped galvanize their community against immigration crackdowns last year.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has apologized to victims of Jeffrey Epstein for appointing Peter Mandelson as the U.K.'s ambassador to Washington.

The U.N. human rights chief says his office is in “survival mode” as he presented an appeal for $400 million to meet its estimated needs this year.

Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest contract computer chip maker, has announced it will be manufacturing advanced 3-nanometer semiconductors in Japan to meet booming AI demand.

An Indian teacher and activist known for creating hundreds of learning centers and painting educational murals has won the $1 million Global Teacher Prize.

The United States and Russia have agreed to restart high-level military dialogue.

The Kremlin says it views the expiration of the last remaining nuclear arms pact between Russia and the U.S. with regret, leaving no caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in over 50 years.

The Bank of England is keeping its main interest rate unchanged at 3.75% with U.K. inflation remaining above target and economic growth is showing signs of picking up.

Vice President JD Vance is in Milan leading President Donald Trump’s delegation to the 2026 Winter Olympics.

As Israeli strikes killed two dozen Palestinians on Wednesday, many in Gaza wondered what had become of the ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas in October.

Taiwan’s ties with the United States are “rock solid,” the island’s president said Thursday, hours after President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke on the phone, including about the self-ruled island’s future.

A sharp drop for Google’s parent company is helping to drag the U.S. stock market lower, while prices for bitcoin, silver and gold weaken.

Guan Heng, a Chinese asylum seeker who exposed human rights abuses in his homeland, has been released after more than five months in federal detention.

The CIA is ending the publication of its popular World Factbook reference manual.

The Pan American Health Organization has issued an alert due to a surge in measles cases across the Americas, with Mexico reporting the highest numbers.

Melania Trump has met at the White House with a freed American-Israeli hostage whose plight she featured in her new documentary.

New international polling from Gallup shows that Americans are exceptionally anxious about their political system.

Russian missiles and drones have pounded Ukraine’s energy grid in recent weeks.

President Donald Trump says he and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the situation in Iran in a wide-ranging call as the U.S. administration pushes Beijing and others to further isolate Tehran.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has confirmed that Iran and the United States will hold nuclear talks in Oman’s capital, Muscat, on Friday.

The Angel Meloni is no more.

Border czar Tom Homan said the Trump administration is reducing the number of immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota after state and local officials agreed to cooperate by turning over arrested immigrants.

Armed extremists have killed over 162 people in attacks on two villages in Kwara state, western Nigeria, a lawmaker said.

Staging future Winter Games as early as January and the Paralympic Winter Games in February is a possibility because of warmer temperatures, the International Olympic Committee says.

Serbia’s Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic and three other officials are on trial for abuse of office and document falsification.

The former Prince Andrew has moved out of his longtime home on crown-owned land near Windsor Castle earlier than expected, after the latest release of documents from the U.S. investigation of Jeffrey Epstein revived questions about his friendship with the convicted sex offender.

The British government has agreed to release documents related to Peter Mandelson's appointment as ambassador to the U.S. despite his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Envoys from Moscow and Kyiv meet in Abu Dhabi for U.S.-brokered talks to end the nearly four-year war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed the burgeoning economic cooperation between Moscow and Beijing and their relations with the United States in a video call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Health officials in Gaza say Israeli strikes have killed at least 24 Palestinians, including two babies.

Emotional medical staff on the Greek island of Chios have spoken of frantic efforts to identify the parents of injured children after an overnight collision between a coast guard patrol boat and a speedboat carrying migrants.

The last remaining nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States is set to expire this week, removing any caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century.

Kenya is rolling out tax breaks to encourage use of electric vehicles.

The Trump administration says it wants to create a critical minerals trading bloc with its allies and partners.

Italy is making its artistic treasures more accessible to people with disabilities.

Attacks on Bangladesh’s Hindu minority have surged since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in an uprising in 2024.

Hong Kong's CK Hutchison Holdings has started arbitration against Panama after its Supreme Court ruled a canal port concession unconstitutional.

More drops for technology stocks weighed on Wall Street.

Historians and observers have accused the Trump administration trying to rewrite American history to justify its own foreign policy decisions toward Latin America by posting a “historically inaccurate” version of the Mexican-American War.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has turned a soccer news conference into a passionate address on the “hurt” he is feeling at seeing humanitarian tragedies around the world.

A collision between a speedboat carrying migrants and a Greek coast guard patrol vessel off the eastern Aegean island of Chios late Tuesday has left at least 15 migrants dead, while a search and rescue operation involving patrol boats, a helicopter and divers was underway in the area, the coast guard says.

Libyan officials say that Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son and one-time heir apparent of Libya’s late dictator Moammar Gadhafi, has been killed in the northern African country.

Three women from the first group of Palestinians to enter Gaza through the newly reopened Rafah crossing told The Associated Press that Israeli troops blindfolded, handcuffed and interrogated them for hours after they crossed.

The White House says talks between special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian officials are still planned after a Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was approaching a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.

Lindsey Vonn is “confident” she can compete at the upcoming Milan Cortina Winter Olympics despite the left knee injury she sustained in a crash four days ago.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says Spain's government plans to ban social media access for children under 16.

French prosecutors have requested a five-year ban on holding an elected office against far-right leader Marine Le Pen at a key appeals trial in Paris, an outcome that may prevent her from running in the 2027 presidential election.

Residents of Kyiv are struggling through a harsh winter as months of Russian drone and missile strikes have left hundreds of thousands without heat or electricity.

The Czech Republic's coalition government of populist Prime Minister Andrej Babiš faces a no-confidence vote over a dispute with President Petr Pavel.

The charity founded by Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, is shutting down following the release of emails showing the depth of her friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Palestinians have gathered at Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt, hoping to pass through after it reopened.

French prosecutors have raided the offices of social media platform X as part of a preliminary investigation into allegations that include spreading child sexual abuse images and deepfakes.

British police have opened a criminal investigation into politician Peter Mandelson over alleged misconduct in public office related to his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

A 13-year-old boy swam for four hours in cold and choppy waters to save his mother and two younger siblings who had been swept out to sea off the coast of Western Australia.

China has moved to ban hidden door handles on cars, commonly seen on Tesla vehicles, starting next year.

NASA's long-awaited moonshot with astronauts is off until at least March because of leaking hydrogen fuel.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia breached its commitment to hold off on energy infrastructure attacks for a week when it launched a major assault on Ukraine overnight.

Defense lawyers in the Vatican’s “trial of the century” have argued that Pope Francis violated the fundamental rights of their clients by issuing four secret decrees that gave prosecutors “surreal carte blanche” to investigate.

China has significantly increased its coal power capacity, reviving concerns about its climate-changing carbon emissions.

Australia’s central bank has lifted its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.85%, after three rate cuts last year and as inflation surges.

Iran's president has instructed the foreign minister to pursue negotiations with the United States.

President Donald Trump met on Tuesday with Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House for two hours.

A landslide last week killed at least 200 people in eastern Congo at a rebel-controlled coltan mine and families of the deceased are mourning their lost loved ones.

The U.S. stock market sank after a mixed day of trading.

An internal document reveals Vietnam's military is preparing for a possible American war of aggression, viewing the U.S. as a "belligerent" power.

The nearly monthlong disappearance from public view of Bolivia’s towering socialist icon, ex-leader Evo Morales, just days after the Jan. 3 U.S. seizure of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, his close ally, is alarming his supporters, roiling his enemies and galvanizing the internet.

European governments are moving away from U.S. tech giants, opting for domestic or open-source alternatives.

Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment” is undergoing its first major restoration in three decades.

Humanitarian organizations in South Sudan say restricted access to the conflict-hit eastern state of Jonglei has left thousands of people in need of lifesaving medical care and food assistance at risk.

A senior Cuban diplomat tells The Associated Press that Cuba is open to dialogue with the United States if certain criteria are met.

President Donald Trump says he plans to lower tariffs on goods from India to 18%, from 25%, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop buying Russian oil.

Former Prince Andrew saw his reputation destroyed six years ago and became the butt of internet jokes when he gave a disastrous interview to the BBC about his relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Fela Kuti has become the first African to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy at the Grammys Special Merit Awards.

President Donald Trump is promoting his administration’s work on affordability, but Americans don't seem to be buying it.

Israeli authorities are investigating a group of local officials and businesspeople that investigators suspect siphoned millions of dollars of wartime aid being funneled to help people in the early days of the Israel-Hamas war.

A landslide last week collapsed tunnels at a major coltan mining site in eastern Congo, leaving at least 200 people dead.

Friendship with Jeffrey Epstein has already cost Peter Mandelson the post of Britain’s ambassador to Washington.

A Japanese research vessel has successfully drilled and retrieved deep-sea sediment containing rare earth minerals from the seabed near a remote island, Japan’s government announced Monday as the country seeks to reduce its reliance on China.

A small contingent of security forces with Syria’s interior ministry has entered the city of al-Hassakeh.

As a teenager in India, Susai Jesu led prayer services in his small Catholic village, helped at Mass and soon began training for the priesthood.

A new round of U.S.-brokered talks on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine is set to go ahead this week.

Punxsutawney Phil, the legendary groundhog that lives in a tree stump in rural Pennsylvania, has issued the most highly anticipated weather forecast of the season: six more weeks of winter.

The Grammy Awards featured memorable performances, including Bruno Mars and Rosé kicking off the night with their high energy hit “APT.”.

Turkey is trying to bring U.S. and Iranian officials to the negotiating table to ease tensions and avoid U.S. military action against Iran.

A dozen Palestinian returnees were allowed into Gaza and a few medical evacuees exited to Egypt Monday after the long-awaited reopening of the Rafah border crossing was marred by delays.

Thirty days after the U.S. captured then-President Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela remains in turmoil.

Indonesia has allowed Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok to resume operations on a conditional basis and under strict supervision, after banning it for explicit sexual content.

U.S. stocks rose following sharp swings that shook financial markets overnight, including tumbles for Asian stocks.

Laura Fernández has won Costa Rica's presidency, continuing the political shift started by outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves.

When Amazon announced it was cutting 16,000 corporate jobs, many assumed it was the latest phase of CEO Andy Jassy’s push to reduce the corporate workforce as AI brings more efficiency gains.

One of the Oscar-nominated screenwriters of the Iranian drama “It Was Just an Accident” has been arrested in Tehran just weeks before the Academy Awards.

Now that he's the youngest man to win all four major singles titles, Carlos Alcaraz is fielding questions about his chances for a calendar-year Grand Slam.