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Year two of the pandemic was, in many ways, just as challenging and weird as the first.

Usually, Jay Lacia wakes at midnight on Christmas Day to start the festivities -- but this year, all he wished for was enough food to eat.

Israel said on Sunday that it intends to double the population of the contested area of the Golan Heights in the coming years, drawing the ire of the Syrian government.

An 8-year-old sobs every night after her aunt puts her to bed.

Heavy flooding has left at least a dozen people dead and more than 280 injured in the northeast region of Brazil, officials say. Journalist Stefano Pozzebon reports.

Profits at China's industrial firms grew at a much slower pace in November, the statistics bureau said on Monday, pressured by tumbling prices of some raw materials, a faltering property market and weaker consumer demand.

China is planning to tighten restrictions for Chinese companies that want to list overseas, but the government won't ban them from trading abroad altogether.

French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour is being compared to former President Trump as well as Fox News' Tucker Carlson for his far-right stance and rhetoric. CNN's Cyril Vanier reports.

More than 100 domestic flights in Japan were grounded on Sunday due to heavy snow in the northern and western parts of the country, Japan's two biggest airlines said.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Anglican cleric whose good humor, inspiring message and conscientious work for civil and human rights made him a revered leader during the struggle to end apartheid in his native South Africa, has died. He was 90.

Pope Francis has dedicated a large part of his traditional Christmas message on Saturday to reflect on the pandemic and its impact on relationships.

At least 16 people died when their boat overturned off the Greek island of Paros in the central Aegean Sea on Friday, in the third maritime disaster involving migrants this week, the country's coastguard said.

Sixteen European governments have issued a statement to "firmly condemn the deployment of mercenary troops" in the west African state of Mali.

The White House will eject Ethiopia from a trade program between sub-Saharan African countries and the United States over human rights violations, according to a statement Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's past came into sharper focus recently with the admission that, in the tumultuous days following the collapse of the Soviet Union, he earned cash on the side as a taxi driver.

The South Korean government has pardoned former President Park Geun-hye, who was serving 22 years in prison for corruption, the country's Justice Ministry said on Friday.

Japan will not send any senior officials or Cabinet ministers to the Beijing Winter Olympics in February, the government said Friday -- but stopped short of calling the decision a diplomatic boycott.

US President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law legislation that bans imports from China's Xinjiang region over concerns about forced labor, the White House said, provoking an angry Chinese condemnation.

The Middle East nation of Qatar has announced an ambitious plan to expand its public art program as it prepares to play host to the 2022 Fifa World Cup.