The White House said the action was needed to protect the United States from terrorist attacks and other national security threats, and said the countries lacked screening and vetting capabilities.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to meet President Trump at the White House, where they are expected to discuss issues including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as tariffs and trade.

The suspended lawmakers from the Māori Party performed the haka, a dance of challenge, last November to oppose a widely unpopular bill, now defeated, that they said would reverse Indigenous rights.

More than 20,000 residents were evacuated from Cologne's city center Wednesday after the bombs were unearthed on Monday during preparatory work for road construction.

The Russia's Future channel, launched by Navalny's widow Yulia Navalnaya and Reporters Without Borders, began broadcasting Wednesday, on what would have been the late Russian activist's 49th birthday.

An attack on what would have been the first aid delivery to the beseiged city of El Fasher in over a year has dealt a major blow in the Darfur region. The assault comes as humanitarian groups warn that collapsing healthcare, unrelenting violence, and a paralyzed aid effort are pushing civilians to breaking point.

President Trump said it was a "good conversation" but noted the Russian leader had vowed "very strongly" during the call to respond to Ukraine's Sunday drone strikes on air bases in Russia.

A declining birth rate led lawmakers to approve a new policy on Tuesday that lifts the limit on the number of children many families may have.

Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international correspondents share snapshots of moments from their lives and work around the world.

Key NATO members are upping their defense posture in response to threats from Russia. Experts say the Trump administration's confrontational approach to the alliance is a factor as well.

For the third time in as many days, Palestinians in Gaza have been shot while trying to get food. Israel has acknowledged that its soldiers opened fire on people who were approaching them.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks to former Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern about balancing leadership and motherhood.

Like other NATO members, the U.K. has been reassessing its defense spending since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The stock exchange had closed during the chaotic days leading up to the ouster of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive.

Mount Etna produced a spectacularly explosive eruption Monday, sending a ripple of reddish clouds down from the southeast summit of Europe's highest active volcano.