European Union states spent nearly 200 billion euros ($225 billion) on defense in 2020, the most since records began in 2006, but joint investment by governments fell, the European Defence Agency (EDA) announced in a report on Monday.

Hundreds of environmentalist demonstrators gathered on South African beaches on Sunday to protest against oil and gas exploration by energy giant Shell.

Indonesia's Mount Semeru spewed more ash on Monday, hampering the search for survivors as aerial images showed the extent of the devastation unleashed by the volcano's deadly weekend eruption.

It's a hulking metal-and-concrete platform in the North Sea that has been run as an independent micronation in defiance of the UK government for the last 54 years.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed on Monday to ensure workers' wage hikes to protect the economy from rising global inflation, while strengthening the country's defenses.

France and Saudi Arabia have committed to “fully engage” to resolve a diplomatic row between the Gulf kingdom and Lebanon, visiting French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday.

Iranian air defenses fired a missile as part of an exercise on Saturday over the central town of Natanz, which houses nuclear installations, state TV reported, after local residents reported hearing a large blast.

Tens of thousands of protesters marched through several northwest European cities on Saturday to demonstrate against coronavirus restrictions imposed amid a surge in infections.

CNN fired veteran anchor and correspondent Chris Cuomo, the cable news channel said Saturday, amid an investigation into his involvement with helping defend brother Andrew Cuomo, former New York governor, against sexual misconduct allegations.

Up to 120 people have been arrested in Pakistan after a Sri Lankan factory manager was beaten to death and set ablaze by a mob who accused him of blasphemy, officials said on Saturday.

Sudan's military will exit politics after elections scheduled for 2023, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan told Reuters in an interview on Saturday, adding that the deposed former ruling party would have no role in the transition.

Hundreds of women in Cote d'Ivoire took to the streets of Abidjan Saturday to protest a surge of violence against women, in a country where 800 women reported rapes in 2020.

Pope Francis on Saturday blamed the EU's nationalist divisions for a lack of coordination on migration as he began a landmark trip to Greece, aiming to improve complicated relations with the country's Orthodox Church.

The death toll from a sudden, spectacular eruption of Indonesia's Mount Semeru has risen to 13, disaster officials said Sunday, as rescuers searched villages blanketed in molten ash for survivors.

Friday afternoons are a time for communal prayer for Muslims in the northern Indian city of Gurugram, who over the years had negotiated with local authorities to pray in parks and empty plots of land as they outgrew their mosques.

The US-manipulated so-called summit for democracy is a joke, as it is using democracy as a banner to crack down on countries with different systems and development models, a senior Chinese official said on Saturday at a press conference introducing China's whole-process people's democracy.

Visa application services for Chinese students going to Japan have been suspended as Japan has banned foreign entry for 30 days, the Global Times has learned.

To start a revolution, first you need to pick a color.

The US is by far the biggest contributor to global plastic waste in the world, according to a new report submitted to the federal government Wednesday that called for a national strategy to tackle the growing crisis.

The Austrian government announced on Wednesday that it has halted several highway construction projects, an initiative by the Greens, a junior coalition partner, to fight climate change.

The UN warned Thursday that the need for humanitarian aid was skyrocketing worldwide, as the pandemic continues to rage, and climate change and conflicts push more people to the brink of famine.

Ethiopia said Wednesday that pro-government forces had recaptured the UNESCO World Heritage site Lalibela, which fell to Tigrayan fighters in August, as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's administration seeks to wrest back territory from the rebels.

The World Bank's board has backed transferring $280 million from a frozen trust fund to two aid agencies to help Afghanistan cope with a brewing humanitarian crisis after the US withdrawal, two sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Russia's objective control means are detecting over 50 NATO reconnaissance aircraft and drones near its borders every week, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Fears over the impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus rose on Thursday after the first case was reported in the US and the Japanese central bank warned of economic pain as countries respond with tighter containment measures.

Earlier in November, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that tests of the Zircon hypersonic missiles are almost completed.

Conservative US Supreme Court justices on Wednesday signaled a willingness to dramatically curtail abortion rights in America and perhaps overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v.

Andrew Caldwell laughs at the idea that he is brave.

European negotiators on Tuesday said they will assess the “seriousness” of the Iranian position over the next few days to decide whether to continue with recently resumed talks about reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.

A US delegation led by the special representative for Afghanistan, Thomas West, held talks with senior Afghan Taliban representatives in Qatar on Monday and Tuesday, the US State Department said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned blanket travel bans will not prevent the spread of Omicron, as more countries rushed to impose curbs and the first cases of the new COVID-19 strain were detected in Latin America.

Rainfall could start replacing snowfall in the Arctic decades sooner than previously thought, a study found Tuesday, warning the change caused by global warming could have effects beyond the region.

NASA early Tuesday postponed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) by two of its astronauts after receiving a “debris notification” for the orbital outpost.

After a “dark year,” Britain's Santas are raring to meet children at live events once again this Christmas and even their reindeer are fully jabbed, a lineup of the white-bearded performers said on Tuesday.

Woken by the first light of dawn, Mehmet and his family rise to drink sweet black tea before they deconstruct the goat hair tent they share and set out across the rangelands of central Anatolia.

South Korea reported a new daily record of 5,123 new coronavirus cases, as it battles to contain a sharp rise in patients with severe symptoms and stave off the Omicron variant, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Wednesday.

Britain plans to allow people who have tested positive for HIV to join the armed forces if they no longer carry a detectable amount of the virus, its defense ministry said on Wednesday.

A 15-year-old student opened fire at his Michigan high school on Tuesday, killing three teenagers and wounding eight other people before surrendering to police, authorities said, in what was the deadliest US school shooting so far in 2021.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's chosen successor on Tuesday announced his withdrawal from the 2022 presidential race, saying it was “not yet my time.”

The World Bank will consider a compromise plan to release humanitarian aid for Afghanistan by shifting funds intended for rebuilding efforts, a source told AFP Monday.

Barbados ditched Britain's Queen Elizabeth as head of state, forging a new republic on Tuesday with its first-ever president and severing its last remaining colonial bonds nearly 400 years after the first English ships arrived at the Caribbean island.

Japan's crown prince criticized the media on Tuesday for falsities and “terrible things” in its coverage of the engagement of his daughter, former princess Mako, who relinquished her royal status to marry a non-royal in October.

The population of France is set to grow slowly but steadily until 2044, when an aging demographic will prompt a decline if current fertility and immigration rates hold, the country's national statistics office said Monday.

The Pentagon launched a fresh probe on Monday into a 2019 airstrike that killed civilians in Syria, two weeks after a New York Times investigation claimed the US military concealed dozens of noncombatants' deaths.

Thirty endangered white rhinos arrived in Rwanda on Monday after a long journey from South Africa in a Boeing 747, conservationists said, hailing it as the largest single transfer of the species ever undertaken.

Senegal's President Macky Sall on Monday firmly opposed ending financing for fossil fuel extraction, saying the move would deal “a fatal blow” to economies like the West African country.

Infection rates of HIV are not slowing fast enough to reach the goal of eradicating AIDS by 2030, a report by the United Nations group to fight the disease said Monday.

When Virginia Tech professor Sweta Gyanu Baniya saw an ornate 17th-century Nepali necklace in the Art Institute of Chicago, she burst into tears, bowed down and began to pray.

Brazilian authorities burned more than 60 river-dredging boats in a crackdown on wildcat miners drawn to a major Amazon tributary by rumors of a gold find, the government and Greenpeace said Sunday.

A 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck northern Peru on Sunday, destroying buildings, injuring at least 10 people and sending shock waves across the region.

The coronavirus pandemic will cost the global tourism sector $2 trillion in lost revenue in 2021, the UN's tourism body said Monday, calling the sector's recovery “fragile” and “slow.”

Iceland's outgoing left-right coalition government said Sunday it had reached a deal to continue together in power for four more years, more than two months after winning a majority in a general election.

Fiji joined an international peacekeeping force keeping a lid on simmering tensions in the riot-hit Solomon Islands on Monday, as the Red Cross warned of food shortages in the Pacific nation's devastated capital.

The group that ran the Hindutva Watch handle on Twitter – which flagged instances of violence and bigotry from an extreme form of Hindu nationalism – had long been accustomed to being abused and trolled for content critical of the Indian government.

France on Sunday urged Britain to help more with cracking down on people-smuggling gangs following a row between the two countries last week over an unprecedented boat accident in the Channel that cost 27 lives.

The Taliban asked for help in keeping Afghanistan's airports running in weekend talks with EU officials that also raised “grave concern” about the humanitarian situation in their country, according to an EU statement late Sunday.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday denounced members of the European Union's (EU) electoral observation mission who monitored voting last weekend as “spies,” and accused them of looking to “stain” the regional elections on their preliminary report.

Japan announced plans Monday to bar all new foreign travellers over the Omicron variant of COVID-19, joining a growing list of countries trying to erect virtual fortresses against the heavily mutated new strain.

Riots in the southern Pacific nation the Solomon Islands are yet to be brought under control, with Chinatown in the country's capital, Honiara, being burned and looted, seeing Chinese nationals suffer incalculable losses. But what the riots truly reflect are the scope of influence the US and the island of Taiwan have over the region considering the island nation's history as a geopolitical pawn.

Sudan's army said Saturday “several” soldiers had been killed in an attack by armed groups and militias linked to the Ethiopian military in a disputed fertile border region.

Greece on Saturday inaugurated two more migrant holding centers on islands near Turkey as part of a tougher policy for managing migrant flows that has been criticized by rights groups.

Israel is expected to close its borders to all foreigners later Sunday in a bid to stem the spread of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus, authorities said.

Guinea's government has announced it will hold a trial over a 2009 massacre that left more than 150 people dead, state media reported Saturday, in a development that rights groups have long asked for.

World powers and Iran are expected to return to Vienna on Monday for a last ditch effort to salvage a 2015 nuclear deal, but few expect a breakthrough.

Thousands of Spanish police officers marched through Madrid on Saturday to protest against a proposed reform of a security law which they say will hamper their ability to do their work.

Australia will introduce legislation to make social media giants provide details of users who post defamatory comments, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday.

The European Commission's vice president Margaritis Schinas on Saturday told Britain it has to sort out its own migrant problems post-Brexit.

Three-quarters of children have faced abuse in sports and boys are more likely to be victims than girls, a study of more than 10,000 individuals in six European countries released on Saturday shows.

As British shoppers gear up for a multibillion pound Black Friday and Christmas splurge, lawmakers have called for urgent regulation of “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) fintech services, which they say lead many people to spend beyond their means.

Chinese nationals in the Solomon Islands have suffered great loss after the second day of local riots with their shops smashed, burned and looted and their personal safety in jeopardy.

Amsterdam may soon have a rival as the European capital of cannabis, with Germany's next government planning to legalize recreational use of the drug.

Iraq could suffer a 20 percent drop in water resources by 2050 due to climate change, the World Bank said Wednesday, warning of repercussions on growth and jobs.

COVID-19 vaccines reduce transmission of the dominant Delta variant by about 40 percent, the WHO said Wednesday, warning that people were falling into a false sense of security concerning jabs.

The UAE announced a $10 billion fund for investments in Turkey on Wednesday during Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed's visit to Ankara, burying past rivalries.

Australia announced the snap deployment of a police and military peacekeeping force to the Solomon Islands Thursday, hoping to quell two days of riots that threaten to topple the government in Honiara.

The UN nuclear watchdog said Wednesday there had been “no progress” in talks with Tehran on disputes over the monitoring of Iran's atomic program, just days before talks restart on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Sweden's first female prime minister, Social Democrat Magdalena Andersson, resigned on Wednesday after less than 12 hours in the top job after the Green Party quit their two-party coalition, stoking political uncertainty.

Germany announced record coronavirus fatalities and infections Thursday as its total death toll passed 100,000, with its most severe virus wave yet breaking just as a new government prepares to take the reins.

Three white men were found guilty of murder Wednesday for shooting dead an African-American man after chasing him in their pickup trucks, following a racially charged trial in the southern US state of Georgia that gripped the nation.

The metaverse will soon be a place not only to just buy virtual goods and meet avatars, but also to get essential public services, as governments prepare to enter the rapidly expanding digital world despite concerns about privacy and other rights.

Hurling fireworks and setting fire to vehicles, thousands of people have taken to the streets in Europe recently to protest against reinforced COVID-19 measures as a new wave of the virus sweeps through the continent. Worse may yet be to come as winter and the Christmas festive season could boost infections, Chinese observers warned.

If not for its partnership with Russia, Serbia would have had to buy gas for 800-900 euros (about $900-$1,000) per 1,000 cubic meters, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said.

Transnational IT giants Google, Twitter and Meta (formerly Facebook) received a total of eight new administrative protocols in Russia for failure to remove banned content from their platforms, a Moscow court said on Tuesday.

International alarm mounted on Tuesday over the escalating war in Ethiopia as Tigrayan rebels claimed to be edging closer to the capital Addis Ababa and more foreign citizens were told to leave.

Europe remains “in the firm grip” of COVID-19 and the continent's death toll could top 2.2 million in winter 2021 if current trends continue, the WHO warned on Tuesday.

Two civilians were among four people killed by Israeli strikes on Wednesday that targeted a part of Syria where fighters loyal to Lebanon's Hezbollah are based, a monitor said.

President Joe Biden tapped the US strategic oil reserves Tuesday in a bid to reassure Americans angry about inflation and goods shortages as they head off to Thanksgiving – and to buoy up his sinking poll ratings.

Two giant US commodity traders bought soybeans in Brazil from farmers trying to evict a traditional community from South America's largest savanna, where deforestation is hastening global warming, watchdog group Global Witness found on Tuesday.

The European Parliament gave its final green light on Tuesday to the EU's vast farm subsidy program despite the opposition of environmentalists, who denounced its terms as “greenwashing.”

Singapore's economy is expected to grow about 7 percent in 2021, at the top of the official forecast range, and will expand at a slower pace in 2022 as an uneven recovery continues across sectors, the government said on Wednesday.

New Zealand said Wednesday it will not reopen to foreign travelers for at least another five months, as it slowly relaxes some of the world's toughest pandemic border restrictions.

Disputes on racial issues arose again in the US after a black man drove a SUV into a Christmas parade in Wisconsin on Monday, leaving five dead and 48 injured. Following the Kyle Rittenhouse case which has sparked protests in multiple cities, racial antagonism has erupted in the US society, aggravating social split.

Mbonagaija Nestoli knows how it feels to live in fear of the river.

Australian environmental groups on Tuesday vowed to scupper plans for a vast new gas project off the country's pristine northwest coast, saying it would critically undercut international climate efforts.

Authorities on the Spanish island of La Palma ordered residents of three coastal towns to stay indoors on Monday after a new stream of lava crashed into the ocean, sending thick clouds of potentially toxic gases high into the sky.