Lithuania’s national opera house had stopped showing Tchaikovsky’s 1892 masterpiece in solidarity with Ukraine over the war with Russia. Then a new minister expressed fondness for the Russian composer, igniting a furor.

Although Iran has one of the biggest supplies of natural gas and crude oil in the world, it finds itself in a full blown energy emergency, coming just as it also suffers major geopolitical setbacks.

President Bashar al-Assad, who wielded fear and force over Syria for more than two decades, fled the country under the cover of night — and a fake political address.

Francis urged the Vatican inner circle to bless more and talk less badly of others. It wasn’t the first time he had used the occasion to scold them.

Canada’s prime minister gained global renown 10 years ago for his unabashedly progressive politics. But at home, voters turned sour on him long ago.

A popular restaurant in Buenos Aires is staffed almost entirely by workers with neurological challenges, tapping into often-overlooked talent and harnessing their skills.

The Ukrainian energy network has been so battered by Russian attacks that officials are seeking out new options to prevent a crisis, like renting floating power plants and scavenging scrapped ones from the region.

At least four people were killed and more than 200 others injured after a driver rammed an SUV into a crowded Christmas market in eastern Germany.

Political instability, dwindling public support and economic constraints are eroding the costly gains that the country made in combating militancy after a ghastly school attack in 2014.