Scholz sets Germany on course for an early election as he requests a confidence vote next week

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz formally set Germany on course for an early election Wednesday by requesting a confidence vote in parliament next week. Five weeks after his three-party governing coalition collapsed in a dispute over how to revitalize Germany's stagnant...

Zelenskyy open to Western troops providing security for end to war in Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that he's open to the potential deployment of Western troops in Ukraine to guarantee the country’s security as part of a broad effort to end the almost three-year war with Russia. The deployment would be a...

Global reaction to Assad's sudden ouster from Syria ranges from jubilation to alarm

Across the Middle East and beyond, the fall of Syria’s authoritarian government at the hands of jihadi militants set off waves of jubilation, trepidation and alarm. Expatriate Syrians and many residents across the Middle East exulted at the overthrow of a leader who led his country...

Syria latest: Syrians celebrate Bashar Assad's fall as his whereabouts remain unknown

Crowds gathered in Syria's Damascus on Sunday to celebrate the fall of Bashar Assad’s government with chants, prayers and the occasional gunfire after opposition fighters entered the capital following a stunning advance. Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights,...

Europe's economy needs help. Political chaos in France and Germany means it may be slower in coming

BRUSSELS (AP) — Even before the French and German governments collapsed, Europe’s economy had enough difficulties. Tepid growth and lagging competitiveness versus the U.S. and China. An auto industry that's struggling. Where to find billions for defense against Russia? And now Donald Trump...

Germany's far-right AfD party nominates a candidate for chancellor in the upcoming election

BERLIN (AP) — The far-right Alternative for Germany party on Saturday presented its candidate for chancellor in the country’s upcoming election. In practice, Alice Weidel has no chance of taking the chancellery as other parties refuse to work with the populist party. ...

The EU and a South American trade bloc reach a giant trade deal after 25 years of talks

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — The European Union reached a blockbuster free trade agreement Friday with Brazil, Argentina and the three other South American nations in the Mercosur trade alliance, capping a quarter-century of on-off negotiations even as France vowed to derail the contentious accord....

German leader Scholz vows more Ukraine aid and defends his phone call with Putin

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine for the first time in more than two years Monday and vowed to keep supporting Kyiv in the war, just weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rebuked him for having a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. ...

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives in Kyiv, Ukraine, for his first visit in 2 1/2 years

Senior figure with Scholz's ex-allies quits over 'D-Day' paper on German government collapse

BERLIN (AP) — A senior figure in the party whose departure from Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition three weeks ago put Germany on the road to an early election resigned Friday in a furor over an internal document discussing how the party could leave the government, a presentation whose title...