Newly appointed European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde makes her first official assessment Thursday of the mixed bag that is the eurozone economy, which suffers from slowing manufacturing and global trade even as consumer spending helps prop up growth.

Human Rights Watch says tens of thousands of Burundian refugees face mounting pressure to involuntarily leave Tanzania amid efforts by authorities there to reduce the number of Burundians in the country.

Five candidates have their eyes on becoming the next president of Algeria ? without a leader since April ? as voting began in Thursday’s contentious election boycotted by a massive pro-democracy movement.

The United Nations says dozens of observers expelled from its annual climate meeting in Madrid will be allowed back into the venue.

Shares in Saudi Aramco gained on the second day of trading Thursday, propelling the oil and gas company to a more than $2 trillion valuation, where it holds the title of the world’s most valuable listed company.

A landslide in a remote, Taliban-controlled district in northeastern Afghanistan killed at least six people, all of them poor villagers mining the hillside for gold, officials said Thursday.

Greenpeace activi sts scaled the European Union?s new headquarters in Brussels on Thursday and unfurled a huge banner warning of a ?climate emergency,? hours before the bloc?s leaders gather for a summit focused on plans to combat global warming.

Russia expelled two German diplomats Thursday in retaliation for Germany ejecting two employees of the Russian Embassy in Berlin last week.

To Matt Ryan, that’s still his little cousin.

The Paralympic marathons are staying in Tokyo, unlike the marathons for the Olympics, which have been moved north to the cooler city of Sapporo.

Switzerland’s Green party failed Wednesday in a bid to enter the country’s government even after they made significant gains in an election in October.

Rachel Balkovec wants to be a hit with the New York Yankees ? and the way to do that is to help their minor leaguers get more hits.

British political leaders rose early Wednesday to pursue undecided voters on the eve of Britain’s election, zigzagging the country in hopes that one last push will get the wavering to the polls.

Thailand’s Election Commission has ruled that the head of a popular opposition party violated the law by giving the recently formed group a loan, a decision that could lead to its dissolution and unsettle the country’s politics.

Foreign experts recruited to add legitimacy to Hong Kong’s police watchdog quit Wednesday, saying the agency lacks teeth.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg says that business and political leaders are misleading the public by holding negotiations that are not leading to real action against warming temperatures, which she referred to as a climate emergency.

The deadly eruption of a volcano in New Zealand?s Bay of Plenty on Monday left six people confirmed dead and dozens of visitors to the island injured. Rescuers were coping with toxic gases and smaller eruptions as they tried to search for eight missing tourists presumed killed in the disaster.

France’s prime minister is expected to unveil proposals on pension reforms that might calm tensions on the seventh straight day of a crippling transport strike.

Spanish emergency services have advised residents in and around a northeastern town to stay indoors after a major fire engulfed a nearby chemical plant, sending huge flames and clouds of black smoke into the sky.

A Pakistani court ordered on Wednesday that ailing former President Asif Ali Zardari be released on bail on medical grounds, so that he can seek medical treatment at a hospital of his choice in the country.

China’s auto sales sank 5.4% in November from a year earlier, putting the industry’s biggest global market on track to shrink for a second year.

China is hinting at upcoming trials for two Canadian citizens held for a year on vague national security charges in what is widely believed to be an attempt to pressure Canada to release Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei.

One day, things aren’t looking good at all for the New England Patriots. The next, the defending champs are grappling with a very bad look.

French airport workers, teachers and others joined nationwide strikes Tuesday as unions cranked up pressure on the government to scrap changes to the national retirement system.

Japanese securities regulators are recommending that automaker Nissan be fined 2.4 billion yen ($22 million) over the under-reporting of compensation of its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn.

Six people were killed in a shooting in a hospital in the eastern Czech Republic Tuesday, the prime minister said. Police said the suspect is at large and described him as armed and dangerous.

Butler’s trip to Baylor this week probably wouldn’t have mentioned a merit when a list of intriguing nonconference matchups was generated before the college basketball season tipped off.

RJ Barrett was asked to explain something that would have been unusual to a 10-year veteran, let alone someone who had played 21 NBA games.

Despite another doping ban, many Russian athletes will still be competing at the next Olympics.

Captains for the Presidents Cup usually get the most attention for the wild-card picks that fill out their teams and the pairings they create. Ernie Els might have done his best work long before that point.

North Korea insulted U.S. President Donald Trump again on Monday, calling him a ?thoughtless and sneaky old man? after he tweeted that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wouldn?t want to abandon a special relationship between the two leaders and affect the American presidential election by resuming hostile acts.

Shares fell in Europe early Monday after a day of gains in Asia.

China’s professional basketball association fined one of its foreign players on Monday for not paying sufficient attention during the pre-game playing of the country’s national anthem.

An earthquake struck Tuscany north of Florence on Monday, sending frightened people into the street in the middle of the night and slightly damaging some buildings.

The Uganda Red Cross says at least 26 people have been killed in floods unleashed by heavy rains in different parts of the east African country.

German exports posted a second consecutive month-on-month increase in October, defying economists’ expectations of a slight decline.

Paris commuters inched to work Monday through exceptional traffic jams, as strikes to preserve retirement rights halted trains and subways for a fifth straight day.

Britain is facing the most testing and significant period in its modern history since World War II.

The day Ryan Straschnitzki underwent surgery that would turn his body into something like a remote-controlled robot, the paralyzed hockey player had one deep worry: The 6-foot-1, 190-pound defenseman who once didn’t miss a shift even after dislocating a shoulder told his dad he was afraid of needles.

Steve Stricker cared only about securing a spot in the first U.S. Open in his home state of Wisconsin. Still, there was something about the PGA Tour rookie in his group during a 36-hole qualifier that intrigued him.

Germany’s defense minister is calling for the government to turn up the pressure on Russia over a killing in Berlin that prosecutors say appears to have been ordered by Russian or Chechen authorities.

The body of a Japanese doctor killed in a roadside shooting in Afghanistan arrived back home Sunday, with government officials on hand to lead a brief ceremony of mourning at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport.

China’s trade with the United States sank again in November as negotiators worked on the first stage of a possible deal to end a tariff war.

Iran’s president said on Sunday his country will depend less on oil revenue next year, in a new budget that is designed to resist crippling U.S. trade embargoes.

Dillon Dube has made a big impact on the Calgary Flames? since being called up from the minors three weeks ago. He?s also helped Milan Lucic turn his season around.

Cruising for most of the final round and a leader after the second and third, Matt Jones suddenly needed to make a big putt on his final hole for a second Australian Open title.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday in a march seen as a test of the enduring appeal of an anti-government movement about to mark a half year of demonstrations.

An Arkansas police officer was killed Saturday night outside a police department and the suspected shooter is dead, officials said.

Defense is a work in progress for Utah, and the Jazz are starting to put more pieces of the puzzle together.

A Houston police officer was shot and killed Saturday evening by a man who had been reported for assault, authorities said.

Three of this year’s Nobel Prize laureates say addressing climate change is of great importance.

Strikes disrupted weekend travel around France Saturday as truckers blocked highways and most trains remained at a standstill because of worker anger at President Emmanuel Macron’s policies.

U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad held on Saturday the first official talks with Afghanistan’s Taliban since President Donald Trump declared a near-certain peace deal with the insurgents dead in September.

For Anna Sergeyeva, rebuilding her life after surviving a week of captivity and torture in Ukraine was often more of a struggle.

Floated along by barge , one of the 10-ton barriers designed to relieve Venice?s perennial flooding looks like a giant plaything: an oversized hinged yellow Lego.

Iraqi officials raised on Saturday the death toll to 25 protesters killed and over 130 wounded, after a bloody night of attacks by unknown gunmen that targeted anti-government demonstrators in the capital city.

The last time Colorado beat Kansas at storied Allen Fieldhouse, Buffaloes 56-year-old head coach Tad Boyle was playing for the Jayhawks.

Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson battled Orlando’s big men and then defended his rookie coach.

While Anthony Davis may have been feeling a bit under the weather recently, it certainly didn’t show against Portland.

Matt Jones coped best with difficult afternoon conditions Saturday at the Australian Open for a 3-under 68 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round.

China said Friday it will now require U.S. diplomats to give five days’ notice before holding meetings with Chinese officials and academics in retaliation for a similar restriction by Washington.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel entered the hallowed grounds of the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz on Friday as she began her first ever visit to the most notorious site of the atrocities that Adolf Hitler’s regime inflicted on Europe.

An outside group founded by top political aides to Sen. Joni Ernst has worked closely with the Iowa Republican to raise money and boost her reelection prospects, a degree of overlap that potentially violates the law, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.

The junior partner in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition on Friday opened a party congress where it is set to elect a left-leaning new leadership and discuss the future of the government.

China is waiving punitive tariffs on U.S. soybeans and pork while the two sides negotiate a trade deal, the Ministry of Finance said Friday.

The countries of the OPEC oil-producing cartel and ally Russia were attempting Friday to finalize a deal to cut production in an attempt to support the price of fuel and energy around the world.

An automatic Russian supply ship carrying tons of supplies successfully blasted off Friday heading for the International Space Station.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is preparing to take on the leader of the main opposition Labour Party in the last major debate ahead of next week’s general election.

Frustrated travelers are meeting transportation chaos around France for a second day on Friday, as unions dig in for what they hope is a protracted strike against President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to redesign the national retirement system.

Steven Lacchin grew up a fatherless boy, but he knew some very basic facts about the man who was his father.

Britain is proving a lawless landscape for political mudslingers mining cyberspace for votes in an election that could determine the U.K.’s future relationship with the European Union.

Washington must roll back punitive tariffs on Chinese imports if the two sides reach a trade deal, China said Thursday, indicating Beijing is sticking to its position ahead of another possible Dec. 15 duty increase.

During an interview with The Associated Press, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern discussed a range of social issues, including three the nation will make decisions on next year: euthanasia, marijuana use and abortion. But one thing she remained quiet about was her marriage plans.

On a cold afternoon in late November, Jan Gerrit Otterpohl eyes the chimneys of Berlin?s Heizkraftwerk Mitte, a state-of-the-art power plant that supplies the city with heat and electricity. It?s not the billowing steam he?s interested in, but the largely invisible carbon dioxide that the power station exhales as it burns natural gas.

Scores of migrants who swam through rough Atlantic Ocean waters to safety from a capsized boat while 58 others drowned were receiving care Thursday in Mauritania after one of the deadliest disasters this year among people making the perilous journey to Europe.

An activist group has apologized to Jewish organizations outraged over their use of purported Holocaust victims? remains in an installation outside Germany?s parliament building meant to draw attention to the perils of far-right extremism.

A Japanese appeals court reduced on Thursday the death sentence of a Peruvian man convicted of killing six people to life in prison.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday the global diplomatic push to defuse the nuclear standoff with North Korea is at a ?critical crossroads? and has called for China to continue serving a ?positive role? in denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and stabilizing peace.

While Tom Brady and Drew Brees pursue Peyton Manning, Devlin Hodges is chasing Ed Rubbert.

New Zealand has relied on hobbits, bungy jumping and rugby to entice tourists in the past.

India?s Supreme Court has ordered the release of a key opposition Congress party leader on bail in a case involving alleged bribery and money laundering that benefited his son?s company.

While NATO leaders are professing unity as they gather for a summit near London, several seem to have been caught in an unguarded exchange on camera apparently gossiping about U.S. President Donald Trump?s behavior.

Police say a Virginia fire lieutenant killed in a Thanksgiving night shooting was not the intended target and was trying to protect one of her children when she was shot.

The world may be heading for an even greater oversupply of oil, and that possibility ? which could drive down fuel and energy prices ? is hanging over members of the OPEC cartel as they head into negotiations Thursday.

Officials of a Virginia city have rebuffed pleas by gun advocates asking it to declare the city a so-called ?Second Amendment Sanctuary.?

Prosecutors are appealing to judges at the International Criminal Court to authorize a wide-ranging investigation into alleged crimes in Afghanistan?s brutal conflict.

Looking to escape his legal and political woes at home, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was headed Wednesday toward a warmer embrace in Portugal for a meeting with like-minded ally U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The Indian army says four soldiers have died in two separate avalanches in the Himalayan region of Kashmir.

A judge has ordered the state of Tennessee to pay more than $46,000 in legal fees to a white nationalist group it unsuccessfully tried to charge for event security costs.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says Tehran hasn?t closed the window on talks with the U.S. but reiterated his government?s standing condition that the Trump administration lift sanctions imposed on Iran before any negotiations can take place.

Two men accused of taking homeless men to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to rape them have agreed to a plea deal.

The House is poised to release a landmark impeachment report outlining evidence of what it calls Donald Trump?s wrongdoing toward Ukraine, findings that will push Congress toward a debate over whether the 45th president should be removed from office.

Dutch police have arrested eight men suspected of involvement in the gang rapes of at least three teenage girls.

Milan Kundera, the Czech-born author of ?The Unbearable Lightness of Being? has been given back the citizenship of his homeland that he lost 40 years ago.

The founder of Huawei says the Chinese tech giant is moving its U.S. research center to Canada due to American sanctions on the company.

The U.S. Geological Survey says a strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 has been recorded in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of northern Chile, at the border with Peru.

The wealth of Zimbabwe?s former longtime president Robert Mugabe was long a mystery. Now the first official list of assets to be made public says he left behind $10 million and several houses when he died in September.

Deputies elected in Spain?s November elections, the fourth in as many years, are taking their seats in the national parliament but there is still no clear sign that a government can be formed soon and fresh elections avoided.

Students have returned to schools in Croatia after teachers ended their strike following an agreement with the government on a rise in salaries.

Jewish groups have expressed outrage at an oversized urn placed in front of the German parliament that organizers say contains the remains of Holocaust victims.