Assailants burst into a large concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing over 60 people, injuring more than 100 and setting fire to the venue in a brazen attack just days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on power in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on affiliated channels on social media. A US intelligence official told The Associated Press that US intell

Vietnam's President Vo Van Thuong has resigned after just one year in the job, the ruling Communist Party announced Wednesday, as the country mounts a sweeping anti-graft purge. The party said Thuong was guilty of "violations and shortcomings" and his resignation was accepted by the central committee. The 53-year-old's dramatic fall comes as Vietnam undergoes major political upheaval, with his predecessor forced out in an anti-corruption drive that has seen several ministers

GENEVA -- Global temperatures "smashed" heat records last year, as heat waves stalked oceans and glaciers suffered record ice loss, the United Nations said Tuesday -- warning 2024 was likely to be even hotter. The annual State of the Climate report by the UN weather and climate agency confirmed preliminary data showing that 2023 was by far the hottest year ever recorded. And last year capped off "the warmest 10-year period on record," the World Meteorological Organization sai

The successful landing of lunar probe Odysseus, developed by Houston, Texas-based private space company Intuitive Machines, on the moon on Feb. 22 has rekindled a race of space powers to explore the moon. With Odysseus’ successful landing, the United States began its Artemis program to reestablish a human presence on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. Odysseus will collect data necessary to send astronauts to the region in the next few years. So far, the US, the former So

Over a quarter of Americans - 28 percent - perceive immigration to be the most important problem facing the US, now surpassing the “government” as the most often cited problem. The figure marks the first time since 2019 that Americans consider immigration the country’s most important problem. More than half of the US adult respondents said “large numbers of immigrants entering the United States illegally” is a critical threat to US vital interests, the survey said

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin won a record post-Soviet landslide in Russia's election on Sunday, cementing his already tight grip on power in a victory he said showed Moscow had been right to stand up to the West and send its troops into Ukraine. Putin, a former KGB lieutenant colonel who first rose to power in 1999, made it clear that the result should send a message to the West that its leaders will have to reckon with an emboldened Russia, whether in war or in peace, for many more y

China blasted Washington's "bandit" mentality Thursday after the US House passed a bill that would ban TikTok unless it splits from its Chinese owner, and vowed to "take all necessary measures" to protect the interests of its companies overseas. The short-video app has soared in popularity worldwide but its ownership by Chinese technology giant ByteDance -- and alleged subservience to Beijing's ruling Communist Party -- has fuelled concern in Western capitals. On We

President Joe Biden is coming out in opposition to the planned sale of US Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan, saying in a statement to be released Thursday that the US needs to "maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers.” In a statement obtained in advance by The Associated Press, Biden adds: “US Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain an American steel company that is domestically own

While internet use is nearly ubiquitous in many countries, not everyone is online. Divides still exist in technology usage between people in some advanced economies and those in some emerging economies, according to Pew Research Center data from 27 countries in 2022 and 2023. Smartphone ownership and social media use also vary around the world. While most adults in the countries surveyed own smartphones and use social media, there are still pockets where many do not. In addition, there are div

STRASBOURG, France -- The European Parliament gave final approval on Wednesday to wide-ranging EU rules to govern artificial intelligence, including powerful systems like OpenAI's ChatGPT. Senior European Union officials say the rules, first proposed in 2021, will protect citizens from the possible risks of a technology developing at breakneck speed, while also fostering innovation on the continent. Brussels has sprinted to pass the new law since OpenAI's Microsoft-backed ChatGPT arriv

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark wants to increase the number of young people doing military service by extending conscription to women and increasing the time of service from 4 months to 11 months for both genders, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Wednesday. “We do not rearm because we want war. We are rearming because we want to avoid it,” Frederiksen told a press conference. She said the government wants ”full equality between the sexes.” Denmark curre

WASHINGTON -- The US House of Representatives will vote Wednesday on a bill that would force TikTok to cut ties with its Chinese owner or get banned in the United States. The legislation is the biggest threat yet to the video-sharing app, which has surged to huge popularity across the world all while causing intense nervousness amongst governments and security officials about its Chinese ownership and its potential subservience to the Communist Party in Beijing. The vote is likely to occur at 10

NATO marked Sweden’s entry into the alliance Monday with a flag-raising ceremony in Brussels as the 32nd member two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine persuaded its reluctant public to seek safety under the alliance’s security umbrella. Hungary’s president signed in early March the law on Sweden’s bid to join NATO, a final technical step before the Nordic country becomes the alliance’s 32nd member. Hungary’s parliament ratified Sweden&

More than 5,000 Russian nationals submitted asylum applications in Korea in 2023, according to a government report. The Ministry of Justice said a total of 18,838 refugee applications were reported last year, a 63 percent increase from the previous year. Russians accounted for over 30 percent, followed by Kazakhstan nationals, Chinese, Malaysian and Indian nationals. The annual record for Russian nationals marks a fivefold surge from a year earlier, 1,038, and is tantamount to the aggregate nu

France inscribed the guaranteed right to abortion in its constitution Friday, a powerful message of support for women’s rights on International Women’s Day. Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti used a 19th-century printing press to seal the amendment in France’s constitution at a special public ceremony. Applause filled the cobblestoned Place Vendome as France became the first country to explicitly guarantee abortion rights in its national charter. The measure was overwhelmingl