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People eat in a restaurant in central Rome, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. For at least the next month, people outdoors except for small children must now wear masks in all of Italy, gyms, cinemas and movie theaters will be closed, ski slopes are off-limits to all but competitive skiers and cafes and restaurants must shut down in early evenings, under a decree signed on Sunday by Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte, who ruled against another severe lockdown despite a current surge in COVID-19 infections. (Cecilia FabianoLaPresse via AP)

Italy sees more than 20,000 new virus cases, many in north

Oct. 25, 2020 1:43 PM EDT

ROME — Italy’s one-day caseload of confirmed coronavirus infections jumped past 20,000 on Sunday, with more than a quarter of the new cases registered in Lombardy, the northern region which bore the brunt of the pandemic in the country earlier this year. According to Health Ministry figures, there...

Smoke rises after shelling by Azerbaijan's artillery during a military conflict in Stepanakert, the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. The heavy shelling forced residents of Stepanakert, the regional capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, into shelters, as emergency teams rushed to extinguish fires. Nagorno-Karabakh authorities said other towns in the region were also targeted by Azerbaijani artillery fire. (AP Photo)

Clashes over separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh continue

Oct. 25, 2020 11:56 AM EDT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Fighting over the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region continued Sunday, as Armenia and Azerbaijan reiterated their commitment to a peaceful resolution of their decades-old conflict and blamed each other for hindering one after four weeks of military engagement. Nagorno-Karabakh's...

CORRECTS NAME TO AZERBAIJAN FOREIGN MINISTER JEYHAN BAYRAMOV - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo walks out to face reporters with Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, prior to holding talks, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020 at the State Department in Washington. (Hannah McKay/Pool via AP)

US wades in cautiously to Armenia-Azerbaijan peace effort

Oct. 23, 2020 2:52 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration waded cautiously Friday into international efforts to halt fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which are engaged in their worst conflict in more than 25 years. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met separately in Washington with the foreign ministers of both...

A medical worker talks to a sick woman in a bomb shelter in Stepanakert, the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. Heavy fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh continued Thursday with Armenia and Azerbaijan trading blame for new attacks, hostilities that raised the threat of Turkey and Russia being drawn into the conflict. (AP Photo)

Nagorno-Karabakh fighting rages as US hosts talks

Oct. 23, 2020 12:44 PM EDT

STEPANAKERT, Nagorno-Karabakh (AP) — Heavy fighting raged Friday over Nagorno-Karabakh even as top diplomats from Armenia and Azerbaijan visited Washington for negotiations on settling the neighboring countries' decades-long conflict. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's met separately with the foreign...

Ethnic Armenian soldiers fire an artillery piece at a fighting position on the front line, during a military conflict against Azerbaijan's armed forces in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. Armenia's prime minister has urged citizens to sign up as military volunteers to help defend the country amid the conflict with Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh as intense fighting has raged for a fourth week with no sign of abating. (Sipan Gyulumyan, Armenian Defense Ministry Press office/ PAN Photo via AP)

Nagorno-Karabakh fighting raises threat of escalation

Oct. 22, 2020 3:56 PM EDT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Heavy fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh continued Thursday with Armenia and Azerbaijan trading blame for new attacks, hostilities that raised the threat of Turkey and Russia being drawn into the conflict. Speaking in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that according to the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks as he participates in the annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Putin: Russia-China military alliance can't be ruled out

Oct. 22, 2020 3:16 PM EDT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday there is no need for a Russia-China military alliance now, but noted it could be forged in the future. Putin's statement signaled deepening ties between Moscow and Beijing amid growing tensions in their relations with the United States. The...

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking at the annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Putin says he allowed foe Navalny to get treatment abroad

Oct. 22, 2020 3:04 PM EDT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected accusations of the Kremlin's involvement in the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, saying Thursday that he personally allowed his political foe to be flown to Germany for treatment. Navalny, an anti-corruption investigator and Putin's most...

President Vladimir Putin says Russia and China don't need a military alliance now but a future one can't be ruled out

Oct. 22, 2020 1:27 PM EDT
MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin says Russia and China don't need a military alliance now but a future one can't be ruled out.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a media conference after a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Luxembourg, Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. European Union foreign ministers were weighing Monday whether to impose sanctions on Russian officials and organizations blamed for the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a Soviet-era nerve agent. (Jean-Christophe Verhaegen, Pool via AP)

EU slaps sanctions on 2 Russians over Germany cyberattack

Oct. 22, 2020 11:59 AM EDT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Thursday imposed sanctions on two Russian officials and part of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency over a cyberattack against the German parliament in 2015. EU headquarters said in a statement that travel bans and asset freezes have been imposed on the...

FILE - This combination of Sept. 29, 2020, file photos shows President Donald Trump, left, and former Vice President Joe Biden during the first presidential debate at Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio. Trump and Biden have starkly different visions for the international role of the United States — and the presidency. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Final debate could thrust foreign policy back into campaign

Oct. 22, 2020 1:35 AM EDT

As Joe Biden hopscotched through Iowa and New Hampshire in late 2019, he also name-dropped his way across the globe. China's Xi Jinping. German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Vladimir Putin of Russia. “I’ve met every major world leader for the last 40 years,” the former vice president and...

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