A long-feared Russian invasion of Ukraine appeared to be imminent Monday, if not already underway, with Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering forces into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine. A vaguely worded decree signed by Putin did not say if troops were on the move, and it cast the...

The White House says President Joe Biden is ordering new sanctions after Russia moved to recognize separatist eastern Ukraine regions. The Biden administration calls Monday’s announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin a “blatant violation of Russia’s international commitments.” The...

BRUSSELS, Feb 21 (Reuters) - The main political grouping in the European Parliament called on Monday for a review of Switzerland's banking practices and for the country's possible inclusion in the EU's dirty-money blacklist after leaks of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) documents. Media outlets...

The U.S. and Russian presidents tentatively agreed to meet in a last-ditch effort to stave off a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, even as sustained shelling continued Monday in a conflict in eastern Ukraine that Western powers fear could provide the spark for a broader war. If Russia...

Syria's telecommunications authority has awarded Wafa Telecom a licence to be the country's third mobile telecoms operator, state media reported on Monday. Syrian Minister of Telecommunications Iyad al Khatib told parliament last week that Wafa would begin its services over the next nine...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Lawyers for Myanmar's military rulers on Monday sought to have a case at the United Nations' top court that accuses the Southeast Asian nation of genocide against the Rohingya ethnic minority dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Public hearings at the...

Russia on Sunday rescinded earlier pledges to pull tens of thousands of its troops back from Ukraine's northern border, a move that U.S. leaders said put Russia another step closer to launching what they said was the planned invasion of Ukraine. Residents of Ukraine's capital filled a gold-domed...

In northeast Syria, the country’s historic breadbasket, the drought's effects have been compounded by more than a decade of war, a devastated economy, damaged infrastructure and increasing poverty. At a government bakery in Hasaka, Syria, a faded image of former President Hafez al-Assad...

Syria is seeking funds from China out of desperation so as to reverse the continuous and sharp decline in its economy since 2011, the year civil war intensified. Syria has joined China's 'Belt and Road Initiative' (BRI) in desperation to revive its economy but it may lead the war-torn...

Russia on Sunday rescinded earlier pledges to pull tens of thousands of its troops back from Ukraine's northern border, in a move that U.S. leaders warned put Russia another step closer to launching an invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin was silent on Ukraine's appeal for a...

Activists and intellectuals from Sweida issued a statement in support of the new peaceful popular rally taking place in the southern Syrian city for three weeks to demand better living conditions and democracy. The statement pointed out that the peaceful movement has restored the Syrian...

A Palestinian human rights monitoring has documented the deaths of 4,116 Palestinian refugees in Syria since March 2011, most of them in Yarmouk and Daraa refugee camps. The Action Group for Palestinians of Syria has recorded the deathof 4,116 Palestinian refugees, including 493 women....

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday and is experiencing mild, cold-like symptoms, Buckingham Palace said, adding that she still plans to carry on working. The diagnosis prompted concern and get-well wishes from across Britain's political spectrum for the...

POMPEII, Italy (AP) — In a few horrible hours, Pompeii was turned from a vibrant city into an ash-embalmed wasteland, smothered by a furious volcanic eruption in A.D. 79. Then in this century, the excavated Roman city appeared alarmingly close to a second death, assailed by decades of...

BEIJING (AP) — A pile of figure-skating rubble created by Russian misbehavior. A new Chinese champion — from California. An ace American skier who faltered and went home empty-handed. The end of the Olympic line for the world’s most renowned snowboarder. All inside an anti-COVID “closed loop"...

Hundreds of artillery shells exploded along the contact line between Ukrainian soldiers and Russia-backed separatists, and thousands of people evacuated eastern Ukraine, further increasing fears Sunday that the volatile region could spark a Russian invasion. Western leaders warned that...

Portraying Hungary as a border fortress against illegal migration into Europe is a central theme of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's close-fought campaign for re-election on April 3, but Hungary's borders still appear increasingly porous. France was overwhelmed by migrants, said Orban in a...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, facing a sharp spike in violence in and around territory held by Russia-backed rebels and increasingly dire warnings that Russia plans to invade, on Saturday called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet him and seek resolution to the crisis. “I...

MUNICH (AP) — Moscow would have its access to financial markets and high-tech goods limited under Western sanctions being prepared in case Russia attacks Ukraine, a top European Union official said Saturday. The comments from Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EU's Executive Commission, came...

MOSCOW (AP) — Top Ukrainian military officials came under a shelling attack during a tour of the front of the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. The officials fled to a bomb shelter before hustling from the area, according to journalist from The Associated Press who was on the tour....