POLITICS

Argentina's President Javier Milei took office Sunday with a stark warning to citizens to brace themselves for painful austerity measures as he seeks to cut spending and curb triple-digit inflation, all with empty coffers.

Figurines representing Russian President Vladimir Putin as a devil and Polish protesters were among the unusual characters making an appearance in traditional Nativity scenes in Krakow at the weekend.

Zimbabwe will hold nine by-elections on Saturday with opposition candidates largely absent as President Emmerson Mnangagwa cements his control over the mineral-rich nation.

Olaf Scholz on Thursday became the first German chancellor to light Berlin's central Hanukkah menorah, in a sign of "solidarity" with Jews amid a surge of anti-Semitism during the Israel-Hamas war.

Hunter Biden was indicted late Thursday on multiple counts of tax evasion, the second time this year President Joe Biden's troubled son has been charged by a special counsel investigating his personal and business dealings.

Egypt is gearing up this month for a presidential election certain to win incumbent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi a third term in office, despite rising public discontent as the country faces its worst ever economic crisis.

European leaders met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday for talks dominated by divisions between the bloc and its largest economic partner over everything from trade to the war in Ukraine.

Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, 85, was freed from prison on Wednesday after a court reinstated a pardon of his 25-year sentence for crimes against humanity.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Saudi Arabia Wednesday after visiting the United Arab Emirates, making a rare trip abroad as Moscow seeks to reassert itself on the global stage.

Could a second Donald Trump presidency slide into dictatorship? The most eye-opening piece appeared in The Washington Post by conservative commentator Robert Kagan, with the headline: "A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will join a video summit later Wednesday with the leaders of the G7, chair Japan said, hours after unexpectedly skipping a virtual meeting with US senators.

A court in Mauritania's capital Nouakchott on Monday sentenced former president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to five years in prison for having abused his position to amass an ill-gotten fortune.

Britain's embattled Conservative government unveiled a raft of measures Monday aimed at cracking down on record levels of migration -- a key battleground in a general election expected next year.

A former US ambassador to Bolivia has been arrested and charged with spying for Cuba over a 40-year span, the Justice Department announced Monday, detailing a shock betrayal by a suspect who called the United States "the enemy."

Libertarian Javier Milei stormed to election victory with wild promises of uprooting Argentina's political establishment and dramatically overhauling its ailing economy.

As global tributes to late US diplomat Henry Kissinger poured in, his death stirred fury across Southeast Asia.

It was the original shuttle diplomacy. Kissinger, the titan of US diplomacy who died Wednesday at 100, left a deeply controversial legacy in much of the world but, at least inside the United States, he won wide praise for transforming Middle East politics.

Alistair Darling, the UK finance minister when the 2008 financial crisis hit, has died at the age of 70 following a "short spell" in hospital, his family said on Thursday.

Far-right Dutch leader Geert Wilders suffered a major setback to his goal of forming a governing coalition Wednesday when a key potential partner ruled itself out, uncomfortable with his extreme views.

They are ambitious and relatively young leaders whose passionate views about running their large, powerful states offer contrasting ideals on how the deeply-polarized United States should be run.

Ecuador's new president and vice president have been in office less than a week -- but it's already clear no love is lost between them.

Could Donald Trump make a comeback? Poll after poll shows that a majority of voters think the gaffe-prone Democrat is too old to be commander-in-chief, despite his likely rival, ex-president Donald Trump making similar slip-ups at 77.

Jimmy Carter, the 99-year-old former president whose lifelong love for his wife Rosalynn became a near legend in US politics, will bid farewell to her Tuesday in a ceremony also attended by President Joe Biden.

Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is the clear front-runner to become NATO's next chief, even though a shock far-right win at elections in his homeland risks tarnishing his legacy.

Argentina's president-elect Javier Milei was traveling Sunday to the United States to meet with US and international officials over two days.

Former airline boss Christopher Luxon formally took office as New Zealand's prime minister on Monday, vowing to tame inflation and bring down interest rates.

They are both abrasive, have a penchant for insults and vulgarity, and boast an untamed mop of hair.

Ecuador's new president, the 35-year-old millionaire heir to a business empire, Daniel Noboa, took office Thursday as the leader of a country gripped by a bloody drug war.

Latin American governments are learning not to get too comfortable in office, as disgruntled voters repeatedly topple incumbents, often in favor of outsiders or inexperienced politicians.