The U.S. will stage a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing to protest Chinese human rights abuses, the White House confirmed Monday — a move that China has vowed to greet with “firm countermeasures.”

British parliamentary authorities are calling in the police after a newspaper reported that traces of cocaine had been found at numerous sites in Parliament.

One of the scientists behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is warning that the next pandemic may be more contagious and more lethal unless more money is devoted to research and preparations to fight emerging viral threats.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the civilian leader of Myanmar who was ousted in a de facto coup this year, was convicted on two charges Monday and handed a four-year sentence that was quickly cut in half — in proceedings widely criticized as a further effort by the country’s military rulers to roll back the democratic gains of recent years.

LONDON — Three 2021 Nobel Prize laureates said Monday that climate change is the biggest threat facing the world — yet they remain optimistic — as this year's winners began receiving their awards at scaled-down local ceremonies adapted for pandemic times.

Ukraine's president on Monday hailed the country's military, saying its forces are capable of fending off a potential attack by Moscow as tensions soar over a Russian troop buildup near the Ukrainian border.

VILLEPINTE, France — Anti-racism activists were beaten up Sunday as far-right former French TV pundit Eric Zemmour held his first presidential campaign rally near Paris, a few days after he formally declared his candidacy in a video that highlighted his anti-migrant and anti-Islam views.

LESBOS, Greece — Pope Francis returned Sunday to the Greek island of Lesbos to offer comfort to migrants at a refugee camp and blast what he said was Europe's indifference and self-interest “that condemns to death those on the fringes.”

BANGKOK — An army vehicle barreled into a peaceful march of anti-government protesters in military-ruled Myanmar’s biggest city on Sunday, reportedly killing at least three people, witnesses and a protest organizer said.

LUMAJANG, Indonesia – Rescuers were sifting through smoldering debris and thick mud in search of survivors a day after the highest volcano on Java island erupted with fury, killing at least 14 people with searing gas and ash.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Intent on making a flawless impression as the first host of the world’s fair in the Middle East, Dubai sought to leave nothing to chance.

LUMAJANG, Indonesia – The death toll following the eruption of the highest volcano on Indonesia’s most densely populated island of Java has risen to 13, with seven people still missing, officials said Sunday as smoldering debris and thick mud hampered search efforts.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — France’s president and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince held a joint phone call with Lebanon’s prime minister during Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the kingdom on Saturday, in a significant gesture amid an unprecedented crisis between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

BANJUL, Gambia — Election officials started counting marble votes Saturday in Gambia after the polls closed in the country's first presidential election in decades that does not include former dictator Yahya Jammeh, a milestone seen as a test of democracy in the West African country.

LONDON — Britain's opposition Labour Party has raised complaints to police about Christmas parties held by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's staff in his office last year in breach of coronavirus restrictions.

ATHENS, Greece — Pope Francis was heckled by an elderly Greek Orthodox priest Saturday as he arrived for a meeting with the head of the country’s Orthodox Church, evidence of the lingering distrust between some Orthodox and Catholics 1,200 years after Christianity was cleaved in half.

PARIS — Valérie Pécresse, the head of the Paris region and a former conservative minister, has been chosen to run in France's presidential race next year as The Republicans party candidate, a decision that could significantly shape April’s election.

BERLIN — Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday made what is likely her final appeal before leaving office next week for Germans to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

President Joe Biden on Friday vowed to make it “very, very difficult” for Russian President Vladimir Putin to take military action in Ukraine, saying his administration is putting together a comprehensive set of initiatives to curb Russian aggression.