President Joe Biden on Thursday welcomed the leaders of Sweden and Finland to the White House, as he hailed the applications of the once-neutral countries to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in response toRussia's invasion of Ukraine. Biden greeted Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden and President Sauli Niinistö of Finland at the White House with handshakes and laughter as they met for trilateral conversations on the NATO mutual defense pact as well as broader European security concerns. “having two new NATO members in the high north will enhance the security of our alli

As a response to Ottawa's actions, Russia on Wednesday closed the office of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and cancelled the accreditations and visas of journalists. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova informed the development at a press briefing today. Earlier in March, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau imposed sanctions against ten individuals with close ties to the Russian leadership, including Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, and businessman Oleg Deripaska.Earlier today, Russia has decided to expel 34 employees of the French diplomatic missions in Mos

Authorities in the southwest German town of Walldorf have ordered some cat owners to keep their pets indoors until the end of August, to protect a rare bird during its breeding season. The decree is designed to help save the crested lark, which makes its nest on the ground and is therefore easy prey for feline hunters. The bird's population in Western Europe has declined sharply in recent decades. Authorities in Walldorf wrote that “among other things the survival of the species depends on every single chick.” The decree, which applies to all cats in the southern part of the town and will

Finland’s Parliament has overwhelmingly endorsed a bid from the Nordic country’s government to join NATO. Lawmakers at the 200-seat Eduskunta legislature voted 188-8 Tuesday to approve Finland seeking membership in the 30-member Western military alliance. The vote was seen a formality as Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced the intention on Sunday, and lawmakers’ approval wasn’t necessarily required. However, both Niniisto and Marin stressed that it was important for the Parliament to weigh in on the NATO bid, described by the Finnish head of state

Buffalo's police commissioner says the white gunman accused of a racist rampage at a supermarket planned to keep killing people if he had escaped the scene. Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia spoke to CNN on Monday, while authorities investigated the massacre of 10 Black shoppers and workers as a potential federal hate crime or act of domestic terrorism. Gramiglia says the gunman even talked about shooting up another store. The accused gunman, 18-year-old Payton Gendron, ultimately surrendered to police who confronted him in the supermarket's vestibule. He has been charged with murder. The

President Joe Biden on Monday signed an order to deploy U.S. troops to Somalia amid heightened concerns about the country's Islamic extremist rebels, known asal-Shabab. The move is a reversal of President Donald Trump's late-term decision to remove nearly all 700 Special Operator forces that had been operating there. Biden's decision, confirmed by a senior administration official, comes after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requested the deployment “to reestablish a persistent U.S. military presence in Somalia to enable a more effective fight against al-Shabaab, which has increased in strengt

Elisabeth Borne was appointed France's new prime minister on Monday to become the second woman to hold the post in the country. Borne, 61, succeeds Jean Castex, whose resignation was expected after President Emmanuel Macron’s reelection last month. Macron and Borne are expected to appoint the full government in the coming days. Borne is the second woman to hold the position after Edith Cresson, who was prime minister in 1991-1992 under Socialist President Francois Mitterrand. She has served as Labor Minister in Macron’s previous government since 2020. Before that, she was transport ministe

The United Arab Emirates' long-ailing ruler, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nayhan, died Friday, the government's state-run news agency announced in a brief statement. He was 73. The UAE’s Ministry of Presidential Affairs announced a 40-day period of mourning and a three-day suspension of work in all ministries and the private sector beginning Friday, including flags to be flown at half-staff. He had long seized having involvement in day-to-day affairs, with his brother, Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, seen as the de-factor ruler. There was no immediate announcement about the succe

HONG KONG - Reports say Canadian singer and activist Denise Ho is one of at least four people who have been arrested in Hong Kong on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces to endanger China's national security. The U.K.-based human rights group Hong Kong Watch says Ho was detained by Hong Kong's National Security Police along with Cardinal Joseph Zen, lawyer Margaret Ng and scholar Hui Po-keung. The group says the arrests are apparently related to their rolesas trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which provided legal aid to people who took part in 2019 pro-democracy protests that