TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's supreme leader on Saturday demanded the “definitive punishment” of those behind the killing of a scientist who led Tehran's disbanded military nuclear program, as the Islamic Republic blamed Israel for a slaying that has raised fears of reignited tensions across th…

HAVANA (AP) — A group of Cuban artists and intellectuals say they won an unusual government vow of greater tolerance for independent art on Saturday after a demonstration in front of the Culture Ministry.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia's military has gained “full control” of the capital of the defiant Tigray region, the army announced Saturday, and the prime minister said the taking of Mekele marked the “completion” of an offensive that started nearly four weeks ago. The regional government s…

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis raised 13 new cardinals to the highest rank in the Catholic hierarchy Saturday and immediately warned them not to use their titles for corrupt, personal gain, presiding over a ceremony marked from beginning to end by the coronavirus pandemic.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Police blocked protesters from marching in Poland's capital as demonstrations took place across the country against an attempt to restrict abortion rights and recent police violence.

LONDON (AP) — The British government appointed a vaccines minister on Saturday as it prepares to inoculate millions of people against the coronavirus, potentially starting within days.

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Montenegro’s outgoing pro-Western government declared the ambassador of neighboring Serbia persona non grata Saturday, reflecting a spike in tensions days before the planned inauguration of a new, pro-Serb government in Montenegro.

LONDON (AP) — The British government said Saturday that it had struck an agreement with France to double the number of French police patrolling beaches in the country's north in an attempt to stop people crossing the English Channel in small boats.

PARIS (AP) — Tens of thousands of critics of a proposed security law that would restrict the filming of police officers protested across France on Saturday, and officers in Paris who were advised to behave responsibly during the demonstrations repeatedly fired tear gas to disperse rowdy prot…

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — In the first visit by an Egyptian president to South Sudan, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said he and President Salva Kiir discussed regional security and the usage of Nile waters, but he didn’t mention the country currently at the heart of either issue, Ethiopia.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia's army chief of staff says the military has control of the capital of the defiant Tigray region, Mekele.

MOSCOW (AP) — Azerbaijani authorities say four people were killed and one injured when their car triggered an anti-tank mine in a region that was taken during recent fighting with Armenian forces.

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people in Indian-controlled Kashmir voted Saturday amid tight security and freezing cold temperatures in the first phase of local elections, the first since New Delhi revoked the disputed region’s semiautonomous status.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia’s military offensive begins in capital of defiant Tigray region.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea reported more than 500 new coronavirus cases for the third straight day on Saturday, the fastest spread of infections the country has seen since the early days of the pandemic.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Supporters of a firebrand Iraqi cleric shot dead five people on Saturday, according to medical officials, in overnight clashes with anti-government protesters in southern Iraq.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police said Saturday that suspected militants killed four people and burned seven houses in a village in Central Sulawesi province.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s supreme leader calls for ‘definitive punishment’ of those behind killing of military scientist.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Please leave a chair empty at this year's family Christmas dinner as a precaution, or face the possibility of having that chair empty forever.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian scientist named by the West as the leader of the Islamic Republic's disbanded military nuclear program was killed Friday in an ambush on the outskirts of Tehran, authorities said.

SAN SALVADOR, El Savador (AP) — The Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have rounded up hundreds of suspected street gang members as part of a U.S.-backed effort known as “Operation Regional Shield.”

BANGKOK (AP) — Pro-democracy demonstrators in Thailand, undeterred by arrest warrants and the possibility of violent attacks, held another rally on Friday, poking fun at their critics and warning of the possibility of a military coup.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s storied baseball season kicked off Friday — and an economic crisis and global pandemic will make it one for the record books.

HAVANA (AP) — Cuban authorities have cleared more than a dozen artists and activists from a home they have used as a center for anti-government protests that have gained unusually wide attention.

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said video images showing police officers beating up a Black man “shame us,” and condemned violence both by and against the police.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium has relaxed some rules imposed to contain the coronavirus resurgence but is remaining strict on family gatherings over Christmas.