Kataib Hezbollah, a hard-line Iraqi militia linked to Iran, held Elizabeth Tsurkov, a citizen of Israel and Russia, hostage for more than two years.

The namesake of Mazar-i-Sharif suffered countless cracks in a 6.3-magnitude quake, but, like Afghanistan, it has endured for centuries.

Officials have accused the United States of foreign interference and called on Washington to support the country’s democracy instead of fomenting division.

China’s new national drive to embrace artificial intelligence is also giving the authorities new ways to monitor and control its citizens.

The murder of Mexico’s most vocal anti-crime mayor shows that, despite President Claudia Sheinbaum’s crackdown on drug cartels, the battle is just beginning.

The country will introduce fixed-term military contracts to try to attract recruits and ease the strain on soldiers after years of fighting.

Bucking the anti-immigration trend in British politics, remote areas of Scotland would like to attract foreign workers to offset declining local populations.

Brazil, which is hosting the 30th U.N. Climate Change Conference this month, wants to show the world it is a leader in safeguarding the planet. Its record tells a more complicated story.

Tens of thousands of people evacuated before the storm brought heavy rain and flooding. But many others were trapped in homes and buildings.

In a country where political purges are frequent, Mr. Kim was a notable exception and served three generations of its dynastic rulers.