BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — It's in the European Union's strategic interests to integrate the Balkan states into the bloc, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday as she urged Serbia and other countries in the region to do more on democratic reforms in order to join. The Western Balkan ...

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has observed military exercises being conducted in coordination with Belarus that have raised concerns in bordering countries. Putin on Monday attended exercises at a training ground in the Nizhny Novgorod region, 450 kilometers (275 miles) east ...

KABUL (AP) — Once, Kabul's main prison was crowded with thousands of Taliban captured and arrested by the government. On Monday, a Taliban commander strolled through its empty halls and cell blocks, showing his friends where he had once been imprisoned. It was a sign of the sudden and ...

NEW YORK (AP) — A new attorney for Britain's Prince Andrew said Monday that the royal had not been properly served with a copy of a new lawsuit filed by a woman who says she was coerced into having sex with him at age 17, and that he intends to challenge jurisdiction in the case. Hollywood ...

After a semester online, Wang Ziwei looked forward to meeting classmates who are returning to campus at Washington University in St. Louis. But the 23-year-old finance student said the U.S. revoked his student visa on security grounds. Wang is among at least 500 students the Chinese government ...

LONDON (AP) — Britain decided Monday to follow other countries in offering coronavirus vaccines to children 12 and up, as the government gambled that expanded vaccination and mild tweaks to social behavior can avert the need for lockdowns in the winter. Vaccinations for children and booster ...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Monday that it successfully tested newly developed long-range cruise missiles over the weekend, the first known testing activity in months, underscoring how the country continues to expand its military capabilities amid a stalemate in nuclear ...

BERLIN (AP) — Germany is seeing its first three-way contest for the chancellery, with the environmentalist Greens joining the country's two traditional big parties in fielding a candidate. Chancellor Angela Merkel said nearly three years ago that she wouldn't seek a fifth four-year term. ...

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations is hosting a high-level donors conference on Monday to drum up emergency funds for Afghanistan after last month's Taliban takeover of the country that stunned the world. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was leading the world body's call for more than ...

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The woman who broke barriers as the first female foreign minister and deputy prime minister in culturally conservative Somalia now aims for the country's top office as the Horn of Africa nation moves toward a long-delayed presidential election. Parliament member ...

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Pope Francis urged Hungary on Sunday to "extend its arms towards everyone," in a veiled critique of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's anti-migrant policies, as the pontiff opened a four-day visit to Central Europe in his first big international outing since undergoing ...

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Other countries have lured doctors out of retirement, pushed medical students to the front lines and buoyed medical personnel exhausted by COVID-19 cases, but in Nicaragua doctors have been harassed, threatened and sometimes forced into exile for questioning official ...

NEW YORK (AP) — Classroom doors swing open for about a million New York City public school students on Monday in the nation's largest experiment of in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic. The start of the school year coincides with several milestones in the city's pandemic ...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says it successfully test fired newly developed long-range cruise missiles over the weekend, its first known testing activity in months, underscoring how it continues to expand its military capabilities amid a stalemate in nuclear negotiations with the ...

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Sunday that China has agreed to provide the Southeast Asian nation with grant aid of 1.75 billion yuan ($272 million), announcing the assistance during a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Wang met with Hun Sen and ...

LONDON (AP) — Authorities in Britain have decided not to require vaccine passports for entry into nightclubs and other crowded events in England, Britain's health secretary said Sunday, reversing course amid opposition from some of the Conservative government's supporters in ...

STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — North Sea oil and gas has helped make Norway one of the wealthiest countries in the world. But as Norwegians head to the polls on Monday, fears about climate change have put the future of the industry at the top of the campaign agenda. The ruling Conservatives, led ...

TOKYO (AP) — Japan can now give defense equipment and technology to Vietnam under an agreement signed Saturday, as the two countries step up their military cooperation amid worries about China's growing military influence. Japan's Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said the deal elevates their ...

ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland (AP) — People in the Canadian Atlantic coast province of Newfoundland woke up Saturday to streets littered with branches and debris, torn and tossed around by the ferocious winds of Hurricane Larry. Larry made landfall as a Category 1 storm just after midnight Friday ...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Women in Afghanistan can continue to study in universities, including at post-graduate levels, but classrooms will be gender-segregated and Islamic dress is compulsory, the higher education minister in the new Taliban government said Sunday. The minister, Abdul Baqi ...