BERLIN – Germany needs an economic turnaround in order to secure its geopolitical position, German Finance Minister and head of the Free Democrats FDP Christian Lindner said on Saturday.

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif discussed a new loan programme with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Sunday, his office said in a statement.

BEIJING/TOKYO – China’s coast guard confronted Japanese lawmakers in waters claimed by both countries in the East China Sea, China’s embassy in Tokyo and Japanese media said on Sunday, the latest in a series of maritime disputes involving China and its neighbours.

BERLIN – China must stop supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine if it wants to enjoy good relations with the West, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday, warning Beijing in unusually harsh words it cannot have it both ways.

French President Emmanuel Macron is warning that Europe could “die” if it fails to build its own robust defense as Russia’s war in Ukraine rages on

BRASILIA – Several thousand Indigenous demonstrators marched chanting to drum beats on Thursday to the seat of power in Brazil’s capital to protest against the government’s failure to protect their ancestral lands.

The fragile lagoon city of Venice has launched a pilot program to charge day-trippers a 5-euro or $5.35 entry fee that authorities hope will discourage visitors from arriving on peak days and make the city more livable for its dwindling residents

SEOUL – North Korea will take more action to maintain its military power despite U.S. sanctions pressure that has only made the country stronger, a North Korean foreign ministry official said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON – Legalizing settler outposts in the Israeli-occupied West Bank would be “dangerous and reckless,” the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday in response to reports Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was pushing to do so.

About 44 million Americans live in cities or counties that received a failing grade for air quality, which has deteriorated to its worst in 25 years across a swath of the U.S., in part because of wildfires, a report released on Wednesday found.