Biden-Kishida 1st formal talks touch on China, nuke weapons

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday used their first formal meeting to discuss concerns about China's growing military assertiveness that's causing increasing disquiet in the Pacific. Kishida said the two leaders spent a...

US, Russia to try more diplomacy amid tensions over Ukraine

GENEVA (AP) — Top U.S. and Russian diplomats agreed Friday to keep talking in the standoff over Ukraine, even though their meeting produced no movement in the crisis that has seen Moscow mass tens of thousands of troops at the border and the West ramp up supplies of weapons to Kyiv. ...

In 3-week isolation, unvaccinated athlete waits for Olympics

Three weeks alone in a hotel room is hardly an ideal setting for a snowboarder preparing for the Olympics. Patrizia Kummer, a Swiss athlete who won a gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, is unvaccinated against the coronavirus, so she is spending 21 days in isolation in China...

Russia hits all-time high of new infections, blames omicron

MOSCOW (AP) — Daily new coronavirus infections in Russia reached an all-time high Friday and authorities blamed the highly contagious omicron variant, which they expect to soon dominate the country's outbreak. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova on Friday noted “intensive...

Blinken says no breakthroughs on Ukraine but US, Russia on 'clearer path' to understanding each other's concerns

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov says US to provide written responses to Russian demands on Ukraine, NATO next week

'Minor incursion' by Russia could complicate West's response

WASHINGTON (AP) — Short of an all-out invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin could take less dramatic action in Ukraine that would vastly complicate a U.S. and allied response. He might carry out what President Joe Biden called a “minor incursion” — perhaps a cyberattack — leaving the...

UN chief: World worse now due to COVID, climate, conflict

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — As he starts his second term as U.N. secretary-general, Antonio Guterres said Thursday the world is worse in many ways than it was five years ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis and geopolitical tensions that have sparked conflicts everywhere — but...

Biden issues new warning to Russia over invading Ukraine

GENEVA (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday that any Russian troop movements across Ukraine’s border would constitute an invasion and that Moscow would “pay a heavy price” for such an action. It was the latest White House effort to clear up comments Biden made a day...

US charges Belarus with air piracy in reporter's arrest

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. prosecutors charged four Belarusian government officials on Thursday with aircraft piracy for diverting a Ryanair flight last year to arrest an opposition journalist, using a ruse that there was a bomb threat. The charges, announced by federal prosecutors in...