Volkswagen, one of Germany’s largest automakers, intends to close three factories, impacting thousands of jobs, its works council said Monday.

China sent warplanes and warships toward Taiwan on Sunday after warning it would retaliate for a $2 billion arms sale package by the United States to the democratically ruled island.

On the day that Pope Francis prayed that “the escalation stops,” news emerged that Russian attacks killed and injured civilians in widely separated parts of Ukraine, including children. More suffering was expected as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed Russia plans to send North Korean troops into battle against his nation.

The Georgian opposition says results showing the ruling pro-Russian party of Georgia’s most powerful man winning the parliamentary elections mounted to a “constitutional coup.”

Tehran suggested Saturday that it may retaliate against Israel for pre-dawn Israeli air strikes targeting military sites that “killed at least four military personnel” and “damaged radar systems in Iran.”

Tropical Storm Trami in the Philippines has left at least 82 dead and tens of thousands displaced due to heavy rains and flooding, authorities said Friday.

Vladimir Putin closed out the BRICS summit in Russia by calling for the emergence of a “multipolar world,” intensifying his challenge to the Western-led, U.S.-dominated global order.

Thousands of Hungarians, many waving their flags, including some with holes in them, gathered to protest against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whom they said stole the ideals of the 1956 Revolution against Soviet domination.

The Scottish government is effectively asking the public to report people who pray against abortion at home to police if they are located in designated “Safe Access Zones,” Worthy News established Thursday.

Turkey’s military struck dozens of targets of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and northern Syria late Wednesday following a deadly attack on an aviation site in Ankara, Defense officials said.