ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has long lamented that he can't walk around town unnoticed like he used to before becoming pope. But he seems to have nevertheless kept his sense of humor after he was caught on camera making an unannounced visit to a Rome record shop this week. Francis wrote a note ...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iraj Pezeshkzad, an Iranian author whose bestselling comic novel, "My Uncle Napoleon," lampooned Persian culture's self-aggrandizing and paranoid behavior as the country entered the modern era, has died. He was 94. The travails of Uncle Napoleon, whose delusions have him ...

GENEVA (AP) — The government of Ethiopia has sent a letter to the World Health Organization, accusing its Ethiopian director-general of "misconduct" after his sharp criticism of the war and humanitarian crisis in the country. Ethiopia nominated Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to be the head of ...

ROME (AP) — With a European Union flag draping the coffin, Italy conducted a state funeral Friday for David Sassoli, the EU parliament's president who died earlier in the week. Top EU officials including Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel ...

BEIJING (AP) — China said Friday it gained support on issues including the treatment of Uyghur Muslims from a number of Persian Gulf states following talks between their foreign ministers at which they agreed to upgrade relations. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the ...

BEIJING (AP) — China further tightened its anti-pandemic measures in Beijing and across the country on Friday as scattered outbreaks continued ahead of the opening of the Winter Olympics in a little over two weeks. The actions appear to reflect nervousness about a possible surge in cases ...

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar's military-installed government has filed five new corruption charges against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi in connection with granting permits to rent and buy a helicopter, a legal official said Friday. Suu Kyi, who has been detained since last February's military ...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark's Queen Margrethe marked her 50 years on the throne of Europe's oldest ruling monarchy Friday, with some of the planned festivities postponed for September due to the pandemic. The outbreak, which also stopped public celebrations for the popular monarch's ...

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Fifteen Brazilian children received COVID-19 vaccines on Friday, marking the start of an effort that was delayed several weeks by the federal government's reluctance to endorse the immunization of children. The country's health regulator issued approval on Dec. 16 for ...

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — French presidential candidate Valerie Pecresse stressed the need for strong European borders Friday, during a visit to Greece that will also see her visit a camp for asylum seekers on an Aegean island used by migrants to enter Europe from neighboring Turkey. Pecresse, ...

LONDON (AP) — Boris Johnson's office apologized to the royal family on Friday for holding staff parties in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral last year — the latest in a catalogue of allegedly lockdown-breaching gatherings that are threatening to topple the British prime ...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Saturday said it test launched ballistic missiles from a train in what was seen as an apparent retaliation against fresh sanctions imposed by the Biden administration. The report by the North state media came a day after South Korea's military said it ...

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic was reported to be back in immigration detention Saturday after his legal challenge to avoid being deported from Australia for being unvaccinated for COVID-19 was moved to a higher court. A Federal Court hearing has been scheduled for Sunday, a day ...

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong International Airport said it will ban transit passengers from 150 countries and territories starting Sunday, tightening stringent travel controls in an effort to stem the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant. Authorities also said Friday they will ...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fire erupted in Kuwait during maintenance work at a major oil refinery on Friday, killing two workers and critically injuring five others, the Kuwait National Petroleum Company said. This is the second fire to erupt at the Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery in ...

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The risk of recession is looming for Germany after Europe's biggest economy shrank at the end of 2021 and as it faces a bumpy start to this year, with the rapid spread of COVID-19's omicron variant deterring people from shopping and travel and supply bottlenecks ...

ROME (AP) — To mask or not to mask is a question Italy settled early in the COVID-19 outbreak with a vigorous "yes." Now the onetime epicenter of the pandemic in Europe hopes even stricter mask rules will help it beat the latest infection surge. Other countries are taking similar action as ...

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Friday strongly reaffirmed its demand that NATO doesn't expand eastward despite the rejection of that by the military alliance amid a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that Moscow wouldn't wait indefinitely for the Western ...

LONDON (AP) — Britain's foreign minister expressed optimism Friday that there is a "deal to be done" to resolve a Northern Ireland trade dispute that has soured the U.K.'s relations with the European Union. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss struck an upbeat tone after her first set of talks with ...

PRAGUE (AP) — The new Czech government will allow some workers who have tested positive for the coronavirus to stay on the job, in an extraordinary measure to ease possible staff shortages caused by an anticipated surge of the omicron variant. Health Minister Vlastimil Valek said Friday the ...