UKRAINE

Russian President Vladimir Putin has cast Moscow’s military action in Ukraine as an existential battle against purported attempts by the West to destroy Russia, a ranting speech ahead of a presidential election campaign.

The foreign ministers of the three Baltic states and of Ukraine say they will boycott a meeting by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe being held this week in North Macedonia.

Congress return to work this week after the holiday break, and Senate Republicans have made clear they won’t support additional war aid for Ukraine unless they can pair it with border security measures.

Hungary is set to receive 900 million euros ($981 million) in European Union money despite the Hungarian prime minister's attempts to scupper the bloc's support for Ukraine.

Close to half of the U.S. public thinks the country is spending too much on aid to Ukraine.

Congress has ended the threat of a government shutdown until after the holidays.

The leader of the United Arab Emirates has toured the Dubai Air Show as a sanctioned Russian arms supplier displayed an attack helicopter used in its war on Ukraine.

A lawyer for a man convicted in the 2006 killing of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya received a presidential pardon after a stint fighting in Ukraine.

A Moscow court has fined Google for failing to store personal data on its Russian users.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol says he will discuss international response to the purported North Korean-Russian weapons deal during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco this week.

People around the globe are remembering the slaughter and losses from four years of fighting during World War I just over a century ago that was supposed to amount to “the war to end all wars.”.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has been increasingly isolated on foreign policy among his GOP colleagues, a growing number of whom have distanced themselves as a matter of course from U.S. involvement abroad -- and particularly on Ukraine.

Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia are moving forward in their quests to join the European Union.

There are just 10 days before another potential government shutdown.

Senate Republicans have released a sweeping set of U.S. border security proposals as a condition for sending more aid to Ukraine, laying out a draft plan to resume construction on parts of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, curtail humanitarian parole for people who cross into the United States and make it more difficult for migrants to qualify for asylum.

Moldovans cast ballots in nationwide local elections amid claims by Moldovan authorities that Russia has been conducting “hybrid warfare” to undermine the vote in the European Union candidate country.

The Russian Orthodox Church has called for an apology from Russia's most renowned pop singer who returned home this week over her criticism of the war in Ukraine.

The United States has imposed a new round of sanctions on 130 firms and people from Turkey, China and the United Arab Emirates in an effort to choke off Russia’s access to tools and equipment that support its invasion of Ukraine.

New Speaker Mike Johnson says the U.S. House will consider a fresh aid package for Ukraine, but he wants to link it to more money at home for the U.S. border with Mexico.

Singapore’s defense minister has urged China as a dominant power in Asia to take the lead in reducing tensions in the region, warning that a military conflict like the one in Ukraine or the Israel-Hamas war would be devastating for the continent and its future.

Dr. M. Dujon Johnson left home to help fight the war in Ukraine in 2022. A year later, he’s still fighting the war, but in a different way.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has joined an EU summit saying that he was right to meet the EU’s foremost enemy, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

President Joe Biden has met with new House Speaker Mike Johnson at the White House.

President Joe Biden is trying to sweeten his pitch for more money for Ukraine by mixing in billions of dollars for securing the U.S.-Mexico border.

Congressional chaos and opposition will be a hurdle for President Joe Biden as he pushes for $105 billion in funding for Israel, Ukraine, border security, humanitarian assistance and countering China.

President Joe Biden has welcomed European Union leaders to the White House.

President Joe Biden will deliver a rare Oval Office address Thursday night as he prepares to ask for additional billions of dollars in military assistance for Israel and Ukraine, deepening American involvement in two very different, unpredictable and bloody foreign conflicts.

Russia’s foreign minister has proposed regular security talks with North Korea and China to deal with what he described as increasing U.S.-led regional military threats.

The leaders of Russia and China have met in Beijing and called for close foreign policy coordination.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Beijing on a visit that underscores China’s support for Moscow during its war in Ukraine as well as Russian backing for China’s bid to expand its economic and diplomatic influence abroad through its decade-old “Belt and Road” initiative.

The Pentagon calls it FrankenSAM.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is pressing Turkey to quickly ratify Sweden’s membership in the military organization.

The International Monetary Fund warns that the world economy has lost momentum from the impact of higher interest rates, the invasion in Ukraine and widening geopolitical rifts.

For some Republicans in Congress, Taiwan and Ukraine are effectively rivals for a limited pool of U.S. military assistance.

A court in Moscow has sentenced a former state TV journalist to 8 1/2 years in prison in absentia for protesting Russia’s war in Ukraine, the latest example of a crackdown on dissent that has intensified since Moscow’s invasion nearly 20 months ago.

President Joe Biden is expected to deliver remarks after a government shutdown was averted.

The threat of a federal government shutdown ended late Saturday night after Congress approved a temporary funding bill to keep federal agencies open until Nov. 17.

The Senate is marching ahead with a bipartisan approach to prevent a government shutdown.

The Ukraine soccer federation says it will boycott any European youth competition that includes Russia as UEFA works on easing a blanket ban imposed since the war started.

The European Union’s trade commissioner has called for a more balanced relationship with China, noting a trade imbalance of nearly 400 billion euros ($425 billion).

The Bank of England has paused nearly two years of interest rate increases after a surprising fall in U.K. inflation eased concerns about the pace of price rises.

Inflation in Britain fell unexpectedly in August to its lowest level since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

President Joe Biden has made his case before the U.N. General Assembly that the world must remain united in defending Ukraine against Russian aggression.

Iran’s president is denying his country sent drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine.

Mexico's president is defending the participation of a contingent of Russian soldiers in a military parade over the weekend.

An expert commissioned by the U.N.’s top human rights body says in her first report on Russia that the rights situation in the country has “significantly deteriorated” since President Vladimir Putin launched his war against Ukraine last February.

The war in Ukraine and its visiting president take center stage at the United Nations this week.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected Russia’s most advanced fighter jet at an aircraft factory on his extended visit to the country.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has arrived in the far eastern Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur where he was expected to visit a plant that builds fighter jets.

South Korea’s military says North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern seas.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s refusal to allow Ukraine to use Starlink internet services to launch a surprise attack on Russian forces in Crimea last September has raised questions for the Pentagon.

NATO Deputy-General Secretary Mircea Geoana says there is “no risk” that alliance member Romania will be dragged into a war following the recent discovery of drone fragments on its territory near the border with war-torn Ukraine.

Cuban authorities have arrested 17 people in connection with what they described as a network to recruit Cuban nationals to fight for Russia in Ukraine.

The Pentagon is announcing a new $600 million package of long-term aid to Ukraine, providing funding for an array of weapons and other equipment.

The head of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has asked America's top three oilfield services companies to explain why they continued doing business in Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

As host of the G20 leading economies this year, India has pledged to put the concerns of developing countries front and center and make sure they're not left behind.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is facing growing skepticism from some leading rich and developing nations as the residual impact of sanctions against Russia is deepening divisions among the Group of 20 countries.

Just one new case of Legionnaires’ disease has been reported in southeast Poland in an area close to the Ukraine border, an indication the spread of the disease has been curbed following chlorine disinfection of the water system.

Backers of an international agreement that bans cluster munitions are striving to prevent erosion in support for it after what one leading human rights group calls an “unconscionable” U.S. decision to ship such weapons to Ukraine for its fight against Russia.

Children across Russia have returned to school, where the Kremlin’s narratives about the war in Ukraine and its confrontation with the West are taking an even more prominent spot than before.

Iran has accused Israel of trying to sabotage its ballistic missile program through faulty foreign parts that could explode, damaging or destroying the weapons before they could be used.

The United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan are urging North Korea to halt arms negotiations with Russia following revelations Russian and North Korean talks on a weapons sale are advancing.

Poland's health authorities say the death toll from Legionnaires' disease has risen to 16 with another 140 people infected in the southeast region close to the border with Ukraine.

Russia’s Investigative Committee has confirmed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash.

The Wagner Group’s presence extends from Syria to Africa, projecting the Kremlin’s global influence with mercenaries accused of using brutal force.

Poland's internal security officers are searching for the source of an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease which has killed seven people and infected more than 100 in a strategic city near the border with Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, has rejected allegations that the Kremlin was behind a plane crash that is presumed to have killed mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Russia’s civil aviation agency says mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was on a plane that crashed north of Moscow, killing all 10 people aboard.

Russia and China will look to gain more political and economic ground in the developing world at a summit in South Africa this week.

A swimming advisory issued Thursday for five beaches in St. Clair County due to elevated levels of E. coli was lifted on Friday following water testing.

NATO member Poland displayed its state-of-the-art weapons and defense systems at a massive military parade as war rages in neighboring Ukraine and ahead of parliamentary elections in two months.

Poland is deploying thousands of troops to its border with pro-Russian Belarus, calling it a deterrent move as tensions between the neighbors ratchet up.

A small number of Russian Orthodox priests are publicly opposing their leader's support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and they're suffering the consequences.

Egypt’s national statistics bureau says inflation has reached a record high in July.

The Pentagon will provide Ukraine with $200 million in weapons and ammunition to help sustain its counteroffensive as troops on the front lines face significant hurdles against a well-entrenched Russian defense.

The ruble has dropped against the U.S. dollar in trading in Moscow to it lowest level since the first month of the war in Ukraine.

The White House says U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has made a pitch to North Korean officials to increase the sale of munitions to Moscow.

The Crimean Peninsula's balmy beaches have been vacation spots for Russian czars and Soviet general secretaries.

Switzerland, Finland and Sweden are considering joining the U.S. National Guard’s security partnership program in a further expansion of U.S. military ties across Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

North Korean state media say leader Kim Jong Un has met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for discussions on military issues and the regional security environment.

British lawmakers say the U.K. has underestimated the threat posed by the Russian Wagner mercenary group and should ban it as a terrorist organization.

A prominent Russian hard-line nationalist who accused President Vladimir Putin of weakness in Ukraine has been arrested on charges of extremism, a signal the Kremlin has toughened its approach with hawkish critics after last month’s abortive rebellion by the Wagner mercenary company.

The United States has imposed sanctions on roughly 120 firms and people in an effort to choke off Moscow’s access to products, money and financial channels that support its continued invasion of Ukraine.

The Pentagon is announcing a new $1.3 billion package of long-term military aid to Ukraine on Wednesday, including four air defense systems and an undisclosed number of drones.

China says it's navy ships are preparing for joint exercises with Russia's sea forces in a sign of Beijing's continuing support for Moscow's invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

Nigeria is trying to make Africa’s largest economy reliant on its own wheat production.

The head of Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency says British spies are already using artificial intelligence to hamper the supply of weapons to Russia.

A meeting in India of finance chiefs and central bank governors of the Group of 20 leading economies has ended without consensus because of differences over the war in Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed optimism that support for a far-right party that’s been surging in the polls lately will shrink to previous levels again by the time of the next national election in 2025.

France’s parliament has approved a boost to military spending spurred on by Russia's war in Ukraine.

Elina Svitolina is back in her first Grand Slam semifinal since 2019.

Russia’s war on Ukraine will top the agenda when U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts meet on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The leader of the conservative bloc in the European Parliament says his party will not cooperate with the far-right Alternative for Germany but is willing to work with Italy’s far-right premier to curb migration.

A dash of pomp and a dose of politics are on the agenda during President Joe Biden's stopover visit to the U.K. He's due to discuss the environment with King Charles III and the war in Ukraine with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

With no end in sight to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, NATO leaders are gathering in Lithuania this week for their annual summit at a time when the world's biggest security alliance is facing new tests of its unity.

The European Union is taking a major step in approving plans to boost its anemic production of ammunition and missiles within the 27-nation bloc.

Russia’s rebellious mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin walked free from prosecution for his June 24 armed mutiny, and it’s still unclear if anyone will face any charges in the brief uprising against the military or for the deaths of the soldiers killed in it.

The European Union says China has abruptly canceled a visit by the EU's top diplomat for unspecified reasons.

Players from Russia and Belarus are back competing at Wimbledon a year after they were barred by the All England Club because of the invasion of Ukraine.

A top NATO military officer says Russia’s armed forces are bruised but by no means beaten in the war in Ukraine.