Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Thursday she is stepping down as New Zealand's leader and will not contest this year's general elections. Fighting back tears, Ardern told reporters in Napier that Feb. 7 will be her last day in office. ``I am entering now my sixth year in office, and for each of those years, I have given my absolute all,'' she said. Ardern described her job as among the most privileged but challenging jobs and said doing it required having a reserve to face the unexpected. She said she no longer had that reserve to face another term in office.

China's government is not happy that Canada and other countries are creating new COVID-19 restrictions for people flying from China. Beginning Thursday, Canada will require air travellers from China to have a recent negative test, similar to the US and some European countries. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says those rules are based on politics instead of science, and that some policies are ``disproportionate and simply unacceptable.'' China lifted many of its strict COVID-19 policies last month, sparking a wave of infections.

Pele, Brazil's mighty king of soccer, has died. He was 82. Since 2021, he had been undergoing treatment for colon cancer discovered during a routine medical exam. Pele was one of the most commanding sports figures of the last century. He won a record three World Cups with Brazil and was the standard-bearer of ``the beautiful game'' with the national team and his club Santos. His exuberance and mesmerizing moves transfixed generations of fans around the globe. His flair personified his country's samba-style elegance. Late in his career, he helped popularize soccer in North America by joining t

Authorities say an intruder attacked the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a hammer in the couple's San Francisco home early Friday, searching for the Democratic leader and shouting, ``Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?'' The assault came 11 days before the heated midterm elections. Police say they were called to the couple's home, where they discovered David DePape and Paul Pelosi struggling over a hammer, and then the intruder beat Pelosi with it before being subdued. Nancy Pelosi was in Washington at the time of the attack and returned late Friday to California. The attacker's shouts

Former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak is set to become Britain's next prime minister after winning the Conservative leadership race. He now faces the huge task of stabilizing the party and country at a time of economic and political turbulence. He will be Britain's first leader of color, and the nation's third leader just this year. Sunak will take over as prime minister from Liz Truss. She quit last week after 45 tumultuous days in office, leaving a staggering economy and a shell-shocked and divided party. His only rival conceded and withdrew after failing to reach the nomination threshold of 10

Police say a 15-year-old boy fatally shot two people in the streets of a neighborhood in North Carolina's capital city, then fled toward a walking trail, where he killed three more people and wounded two others. Raleigh police Chief Estella Patterson said Friday that the teen is hospitalized in critical condition following the shootings late Thursday afternoon. Those killed were of different races and ranged in age from 16 to their late 50s. The dead include off-duty Raleigh police Officer Gabriel Torres, who was on his way to work when the shooting began. The teen eluded officers for hours b

King Charles III will be crowned at Westminster Abbey on May 6 in a ceremony that will embrace the past but look to the modern world after the 70-year reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Buckingham Palace said in Tuesday’s announcement. The coronation of King Charles III will take place on May 6, 2023, Buckingham Palace has announced. While the palace provided few details, British media reported that the guest list would be pared to 2,000 from 8,000. Charles will be crowned in a solemn religious ceremony conducted by Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, the palace said in a statemen

A pink diamond was sold for $49.9 million in Hong Kong on Friday, setting a world record for the highest price per carat for a diamond sold at auction. The 11.15-carat Williamson Pink Star diamond, auctioned by Sotheby’s Hong Kong, sold for $392 million Hong Kong dollars ($49.9 million). It was originally estimated at $21 million. The Williamson Pink Star draws its name from two legendary pink diamonds. The first is the 23.60-carat Williamson diamond which was presented to the late Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding gift in 1947, while the second is the 59.60-carat Pink Star diamond that sold f

At least four people were killed and 25 others were wounded in a blast in the Kabul mosque, the latest in the series of targeted explosions in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The blast reportedly took place at a mosque of the Taliban's Interior Ministry, TOLOnews reported. A Taliban spokesperson said that an investigation is underway and further details will be shared soon, the agency added. "After a bomb attack in a mosque at the Interior Ministry, EMERGENCY NGO Surgical Centre has received 20 patients - 2 were already dead on arrival," Kabul's Emergency Hospital tweeted. The hospital said this i