President Joe Biden has approved a new national security memorandum that is meant to serve as a roadmap for the incoming Trump administration as it looks to counter growing cooperation among China, Iran, North Korea and Russia, the White House said Wednesday. Biden administration officials began developing the guidance this summer. It was shaped to be a document that could help the next administration build its approach from day one on how it will go about dealing with the tightening relations

World News Dec. 11, 2024

China on Monday condemned Lithuania’s expulsion of three Chinese diplomats as relations between the two countries continue to sour. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson accused Lithuania of expelling its diplomats and declaring them persona non grata “without any reason,” according to a statement posted on the ministry’s website. “China strongly condemns and firmly rejects this wanton and provocative action,” the spokesperson said. The spat comes amid an in

World News Dec. 2, 2024

BUSAN (AP) — The world’s nations will wrap up negotiating a treaty this weekend to address the global plastic pollution crisis. As their meeting concludes Sunday or early Monday in Busan, South Korea, here’s what to know about plastics: The use of plastics has quadrupled over the past 30 years. Plastic is ubiquitous. And every day, the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into the world’s oceans, rivers and lakes, the UN said . Most nations agre

Social Affairs Nov. 30, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump threatened on Monday to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from Mexico as one of his first executive orders. The tariffs, if implemented, could dramatically raise prices for American consumers on everything from gas to a

Foreign Affairs Nov. 26, 2024

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that Ukraine fired six US-made ATACMs missiles at Russia’s Bryansk region. In a statement carried by Russian news agencies, the ministry said it shot down five of them and damaged one more. The fragments fell on the territory of an unspecified military facility, the ministry said. The announcement comes shortly after Washington lifted restrictions on Ukraine using US-made longer-range missiles to strike Russia. Ukraine didn't immediately co

World News Nov. 19, 2024

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a revised nuclear doctrine declaring that a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country. Putin’s endorsement of the new nuclear deterrent policy comes on the 1,000th day after he sent troops into Ukraine, on Feb. 24, 2022. It follows US President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with US-supplied longer-range missiles. The sig

World News Nov. 19, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A presidential campaign marked by upheaval and rancor approached its finale on Election Day as Americans decided whether to send Donald Trump back to the White House or elevate Kamala Harris to the Oval Office. Polls opened across the nation Tuesday morning as voters faced a stark choice between two candidates who have offered drastically different temperaments and visions for the world’s largest economy and dominant military power. Harris, the Democratic vice president,

World News Nov. 5, 2024

The United States flew a long-range bomber in a trilateral drill with South Korea and Japan on Sunday in response to North Korea’s recent test-firing of a new intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike the US mainland, South Korea’s military said. North Korea on Thursday tested the newly developed Hwasong-19 ICBM, which flew higher and stayed in the air longer than any other missile it has fired. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called it “an appropriate military acti

Foreign Affairs Nov. 3, 2024

RAMAT HASHARON, Israel (AP) — Israeli strikes on northern Gaza have killed at least 22 people, mostly women and children, Palestinian officials said Sunday, as the Israeli offensive in the hard-hit and isolated north entered a third week and aid groups described a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel said it targeted militants. In a separate development, a truck rammed into a bus stop near the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, wounding 35 people, according to first responders. Israeli police described

World News Oct. 27, 2024

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — US and South Korean officials said Wednesday that there’s evidence North Korea has dispatched troops to Russia in a potential escalation of the nearly 3-year-old war with Ukraine. If the soldiers’ goal is fighting with Russia in Ukraine, it would be the first time a third country puts boots on the ground in the war. Other countries on both sides of the divide have sent military aid, including weapons and training: Iran has supplied Russia with drones, and W

North Korea Oct. 24, 2024

Tunisia's President Kais Saied has been inaugurated for a second term, following a monthslong crackdown and string of arrests against his political opponents. Weeks after winning re-election with a 90.7% share of the vote, the 66-year-old former law professor in his inauguration speech Monday called for a “cultural revolution” to combat unemployment, fight terrorism and root out corruption. “The aim is to build a country where everyone can live in dignity,” Saied sai

World News Oct. 22, 2024

Israeli forces in Gaza killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar , a chief architect of last year’s attack on Israel that sparked the war, the military said Thursday. Troops appeared to have run across him unknowingly in a battle, only to discover afterwards that a body in the rubble was Israel’s most-wanted man. Israeli leaders celebrated his killing as a settling of scores just over a year after Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others in an attack tha

Foreign Affairs Oct. 18, 2024

The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was awarded Monday to Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA, tiny pieces of genetic material that alter how genes work at the cellular level and could lead to new ways of treating cancer. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, which awarded the prize, said the duo's discovery is “proving to be fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function." “Their groundbreaking discovery r

World News Oct. 7, 2024

BEIRUT (AP) -- Israel carried out a series of massive airstrikes overnight, hitting suburbs of Beirut and cutting off the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria for tens of thousands of people fleeing Israeli bombardment. The blasts in Beirut's southern suburbs sent huge plumes of smoke and flames into the night sky and shook buildings kilometers away in the Lebanese capital. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on what the intended target was, and there was no informati

World News Oct. 4, 2024

Israel said Saturday that it killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, dealing its most significant blow to the Lebanese militant group after months of fighting. There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah. Nasrallah becomes the latest, and by far the most powerful, target to be killed by Israel in weeks of intensified fighting with Hezbollah. The army said that several top Hezbollah commanders were killed along with Nasrallah in a powerful airstrike Friday. The military said it carried o

World News Sept. 28, 2024