Europe

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Even by the standards of Turkey’s and Greece’s frequently strained relations, it was a remarkable escalation. Speaking to youths in a Black Sea town, Turkey’s president directly threatened his country’s western neighbor: Unless the Greeks “stay calm,” he said, Turkey’s new ballistic missiles would hit their capital city.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the shy German theologian who tried to reawaken Christianity in a secularized Europe but will forever be remembered as the first pontiff in 600 years to resign from the job, died Saturday. He was 95.

Pope Francis will celebrate his funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Thursday, an unprecedented event in which a current pope will celebrate the funeral of a former one.

PARIS (AP) — When a 38-year-old man anguished over the protests in Iran took his own life in the French city of Lyon, fellow members of the Iranian diaspora felt his pain.

Three months into the anti-government protests, Iranians abroad are going through a spectrum of emotions. Activists and counselors hope Mohammad Moradi’s desperate act this week inspires others to reach out for help and to raise awareness of what is happening in Iran.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ten months into Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine, overwhelming evidence shows the Kremlin’s troops have waged total war, with disregard for international laws governing the treatment of civilians and conduct on the battlefield.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed Friday to deepen their bilateral cooperation against the backdrop of Moscow’s 10-month war in Ukraine, which weathered another night of drone and rocket attacks following a large-scale missile bombardment.

LUGANSK, December 29. /TASS/: The LPR People’s Council (parliament) will adopt a new constitution of the republic during the plenary meeting on December 30, says People’s Council chairman Denis Miroshnichenko.

"I have said it repeatedly that we will adopt a constitution before the end of this year. And I’m not denying those words: tomorrow (December 30), we will have a plenary meeting, and the adoption of the constitution will be one of the agenda points. So it can be discussed openly already," he said.

MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/: Russian missile troops and artillery struck four Ukrainian command posts in the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Thursday.

MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/: The aircraft manufacturer in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Russian Far East has mastered mass production of Sukhoi Su-57 fifth-generation multirole fighters and the number of aircraft produced by the company will keep increasing, Head of the United Aircraft Corporation Yury Slyusar said on Thursday.

MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/: The launch of Russia’s special military operation and the accession of the four new regions to the country ended 30 years of attempts by Moscow to build an equal partnership with the West, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Thursday said Ukraine’s calls to expel Russia from the UN Security Council have no basis in international law or reality.

"It’s interesting to listen to. It feels like reading some work of fiction. It doesn’t have anything to do with international law, reality or diplomacy," she said at a news conference in comments on the recent Ukrainian proposals.