TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – A powerful 7.5 earthquake hit central Japan on Monday, the USGS said, prompting tsunami warnings and authorities to urge people in the area to move to higher ground. A road sign informs drivers to exit the expressway due to earthquakes in Oyabe City of Toyama...
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Belgian police on Sunday launched an appeal to find a 13-year-old American boy who went missing in Brussels. Jonah Laroche was on holiday with his family in Belgium's capital and was last seen on Friday evening after a stay near the eastern town of Verviers, police said....
WASHINGTON, United States - A 39-year-old Hawaii man has died of his injuries after he was attacked by a shark in the waters off Maui, local police said. Jason Carter, described by local media as a surfer, was attacked on Saturday morning, the Maui Police Department said in a statement. When...
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Denmark's popular Queen Margrethe II, Europe's longest-serving monarch, said Sunday that she would abdicate on January 14 and pass the baton to her son Crown Prince Frederik. Margrethe, 83, has reigned for 52 years and has been Europe's only reigning queen after the death...
PRISTINA, Kosovo - A long-awaited European Union's visa liberalisation scheme allowing Kosovo nationals to travel to Europe's borderless zone without a visa came into force on Monday. The new regime, which came into force at midnight (2300 GMT Sunday), enables Kosovars to travel to the...
KYIV, Ukraine - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed in his New Year's address Sunday to wreak "wrath" against Russian forces in 2024, despite what he said were attempts to "undermine" support for Kyiv. His message came less than 72 hours after Moscow launched a barrage of missiles and...
BERLIN, Germany - German police arrested three people on Sunday over an alleged attack plot targeting the cathedral in Cologne on New Year's Eve. The "alleged means of attack" is a car, said police in the western city, adding that security measures have been stepped up around the site. (FILES)...
BERLIN, Germanyn- Chancellor Olaf Scholz travelled Sunday to parts of northern Germany hit by floods after days of heavy rains, urging the nation "to close ranks" in the face of the challenges posed by nature. The German leader arrived by helicopter at Verden an der Aller in Lower Saxony, one...
LONDON, United Kingdom - London's Big Ben on Sunday marks the 100th anniversary of its "bongs" to ring in the New Year being broadcast live across the world. Ever since New Year's Eve 1923 when BBC engineer A.G. Dryland clambered onto a roof opposite the British parliament to record the...
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wrapped up the year with fresh threats of a nuclear attack on Seoul and orders for a military arsenal build-up to prepare for a war that can "break out any time" on the peninsula, state media reported Sunday. Kim lambasted the United...
KYIV, Ukraine - Kyiv said Sunday it had destroyed 21 of 49 Iranian-made drones fired after Russia vowed to retaliate for what it called a "terrorist attack" on a border city that left 24 dead. The Ukrainian air force said that the "Shahed" drones were particularly targeted at "the...
BEIJING, China - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday said the foundation of Sino-Russian ties had grown stronger in 2023, as he exchanged New Year greetings with his counterpart Vladimir Putin, state media reported. Beijing and Moscow are staunch allies and have strengthened their...
