AP

By GHAITH ALSAYED Associated Press RAQQA, Syria (AP) — Syrian government forces took control Friday of a prison housing members of the Islamic State group in the north of the country, after hundreds of Kurdish fighters evacuated from the area as part of a recent deal. Syria’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that the

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL Associated Press HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam’s leader To Lam was re-elected Friday as the general secretary of its ruling Communist Party, securing a new five-year term in the country’s most powerful position and pledging to rev up economic growth in the export powerhouse. Lam, 68, was reappointed unanimously by the party’s

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 jut into the Mediterranean. This is what Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East adviser, says Gaza could become, according to a presentation he gave at an economic forum

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 Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the settlement in Ukraine with U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys during marathon overnight talks, and the Kremlin insisted that the territorial issue needs to be resolved to reach a peace deal. The Kremlin meeting, which lasted past 3 a.m. Friday, came hours