AP

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL Associated Press HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — To Lam was reelected Friday as general secretary of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party and appears poised to become the country’s most powerful figure in decades, with analysts expecting him to assume the presidency in a break from Vietnam’s tradition of collective leadership. Lam, 68, pledged to

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey is celebrating the latest developments in Syria, where the new government has effectively defeated a major Kurdish-led force with an abrupt offensive. Ankara has long viewed armed groups led by Kurds — an ethnic minority with large populations in eastern Turkey, Iraq and northern Syria

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — A prominent activist who organized Hong Kong’s decades-old vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square military crackdown on democracy protesters said Friday that her group’s demand for “ending one-party rule” was a call for democratization, not for an end to the Communist Party’s leadership in China. Chow

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dissolved the lower house of parliament on Friday, paving the way for an early election on Feb. 8. The move is an attempt to capitalize on her popularity to help the governing party regain ground after major losses in recent years, but

By JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Modern cities with sleek high-rises, a pristine coastline that attracts tourists, and a state-of-the-art port that juts into the Mediterranean. This is what Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East adviser, says Gaza could become, according to a presentation he gave at an economic

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Deep in the Ecuadorian Andes, an ancient forest stands as a final sanctuary against the encroachment of human activity. This is the Yanacocha Reserve, the last refuge for the Black-breasted puffleg (Eriocnemis nigrivestis), a tiny hummingbird teetering on the edge of extinction. Measuring just 9 centimeters (3.5 inches), this emblematic bird

By KAMILA HRABCHUK and KOSTYA MANENKOV Associated Press Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the future of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region would be a key focus as negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States meet in Abu Dhabi for talks to end Russia’s nearly four-year full-scale invasion. The UAE’s foreign ministry said the talks, which