President Joe Biden to visit Africa this week in an attempt to showcase a U.S.-backed railway project in three countries that he has pushed in countering some of China’s global influence.Biden’s first visit to the continent as president will highlight the Lobito Corridor railway redevelopment in Zambia, Congo and Angola. It aims to advance U.S. presence in a region rich in the critical minerals used in batteries for electric vehicles, electronic devices and clean energy technologies.The U.S. has for years built relations in Africa through trade, security and humanitarian aid. The 800-mile (1,300-kilometer), $2.5 billion railway upgrade is a different move and has shades of China’s Belt and Road...

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine for the first time in more than 2 1/2 years Monday just weeks after he was criticized by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for having a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.That call came at a time of widespread speculation about what the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump will mean for Ukraine as the incoming president has promised to end the conflict. In a major shift, Zelenskyy signalled Friday that an offer of NATO membership to territory under Kyiv’s control could end “the hot stage of the war” in Ukraine.Scholz’s visit comes ahead of an...

Canada’s ambassador to the United States said Sunday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was successful in getting President-elect Donald Trump and key Cabinet nominees to understand that lumping Canada in with Mexico over the flow of drugs and migrants into the U.S. is unfair.Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador in Washington, told The Associated Press in an interview that Trudeau’s dinner with Trump on Friday was a very important step in trying to get Trump to back away from threatened tariffs on all products from the major American trading partner.Hillman was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and sat at an adjacent table to Trudeau and...

 Japan’s popular Princess Aiko marked her 23rd birthday on Sunday while she takes on more official duties even while her future in the imperial family remains in doubt.According to the Imperial Household Agency, Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, graduated from university earlier this year and has since been participating in official duties and palace rituals while working at the Red Cross Society.But Japanese law requires her to renounce her royal status and leave the family if she marries outside the imperial family.The vast majority of Japan’s public supports changing the law to allow her to remain a royal and...

President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he was pardoning his son Hunter Biden, who faced sentencing later this month in two federal cases. The younger Biden was convicted of federal gun charges, and he pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges in September.The president had previously maintained that he would not pardon his son, and his reversal prompted criticism from Republicans as well as a few Democrats.“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my...

President Bola Tinubu will leave France on Monday for Cape Town, South Africa, to co-chair the 11th session of the Nigeria-South Africa Bi-National Commission alongside President Cyril Ramaphosa. The presidential BNC, scheduled for Tuesday, December 3, will be preceded by a ministerial meeting on December 2, 2024, at the South African Parliament Building in Cape Town. President Tinubu and President Ramaphosa will engage in substantive talks on a wide range of issues of mutual interest, including bilateral, regional and international matters. Building on the commitments from their June 20, 2024, meeting in Johannesburg shortly after President Ramaphosa’s inauguration for a...