CORONAVIRUS

The Army fell about 15,000 soldiers — or 25% — short of its recruitment goal this year, despite a frantic effort to make up the widely expected gap in a year when all the military services struggled in a tight jobs market to find young people willing and fit to enlist.

Germany’s health minister warned Friday that the country is seeing a steady rise in COVID-19 cases as it goes into the fall and urged older people to get a second booster shot tweaked to protect against new variants.

This year’s Nobel Prize season approaches as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shattered decades of almost uninterrupted peace in Europe and raised the risks of a nuclear disaster.

A former vice governor of China’s sprawling Tibet region has been indicted on charges of accepting bribes.

The new director of the federal Bureau of Prisons vows that “the buck stops" with her when it comes to fixing the crisis-plagued agency.

Michael Curry, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, says he has tested positive for COVID-19.

The economy shrank in the first half of this year, underscoring fears of a broad-based slowdown that could lead to a recession.

Six Republican-led states are suing the Biden administration to try and halt its plan to forgive student loan debt for millions of Americans.

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro enlisted the help of soccer star Neymar on a campaign stop Wednesday, just four days before the country’s general elections.

A scientist who built a global COVID-19 website received this year's Lasker award for public service.

Members of U.S. congregations unite each week in prayer and worship, but that doesn’t mean they agree in the voting booth.

Austria says it will start checks at its border crossings with Slovakia following a similar decision by the Czech Republic.

Federal officials say an increasing number of fake prescription pills containing potentially deadly fentanyl are helping drive overdose death rates to record levels in the U.S. And officials warn that some of the pills are being manufactured in rainbow colors designed to look like candy.

As the country’s food charities struggle to keep up with rising inflation and demand, the White House will host a conference on Wednesday.

Sen. Joe Manchin has abandoned his push to speed up the permitting process for energy projects.

Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank have voted to fire its president, Mauricio Claver-Carone.

South Korea says North Korea and China have resumed their freight train service following a five-month hiatus.

The United Nations was established on one simple notion above all others — that working together is better than going it alone.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wants to “reintroduce the Philippines” to the world.

While the coronavirus pandemic was not the main focus of the U.N. General Assembly, the conversations were still happening on the sidelines.

The Biden administration is ramping up diplomatic efforts to press China to end provocative actions against Taiwan and keep it from active support for Russia's war against Ukraine.

In-person voting for the midterm elections has started in Minnesota, South Dakota, Virginia and Wyoming, in a landscape that has changed since the pandemic drove a shift to mail balloting in the 2020 presidential contest.

An Iowa man has been convicted of charges that he led a crowd of rioters in chasing a U.S. Capitol police officer up a staircase and accosting other officers guarding the Senate.

As billions of dollars in opioid lawsuit settlements are starting to flow to governments, families and advocates impacted by the opioid crisis are pushing for a meaningful say in how the money will be used.

Thailand’s government will lift an emergency decree it imposed in March 2020 to battle the coronavirus as it relaxes most pandemic restrictions.

Hong Kong’s leader has announced the city would no longer require incoming travelers to quarantine in designated hotels.

The U.N. food chief is warning that the world is facing “a perfect storm on top of a perfect storm" when it comes to hunger.

Both Republican incumbent Brian Kemp and Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams are touting education proposals in Georgia's race for governor.

After several seasons affected by coronavirus restrictions, Milan Fashion Week is back to its pre-pandemic splendor.

Novak Djokovic is still awaiting word on whether he will be allowed to return to the Australian Open in January after missing the tournament this year because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Israel has started administering doses of the new COVID-19 vaccine tailored to fight the highly infectious omicron variant.

Church members in Zimbabwe are getting their children vaccinated against measles in secret amid a deadly outbreak.

Pubs, restaurants, breweries, retailers and other businesses across the United Kingdom are being pushed to the brink by skyrocketing energy bills.

The White House is reaching out to local governments.

After two years of discourse dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, the war in Ukraine has taken center stage at this year’s U.N. General Assembly.

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates combined characteristic optimism with sobering questions about persistent gender inequality and hunger at an event the Gateses’ foundation convened on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Home Depot workers in Philadelphia have filed a petition with the federal labor board to form what could be the first store-wide union at the world’s largest home improvement retailer.

Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II has tested positive for the coronavirus after attending the funeral of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.

Venezuelans have surpassed Guatemalans and Hondurans to become the second-largest nationality stopped at the U.S. border in August after Mexicans.

Ukraine’s president has implored the world to punish Russia for its invasion.

The Asian Development Bank has downgraded its forecasts for growth in the region, citing the war in Ukraine, rising interest rates to combat decades-high inflation, and China's slowing economy.

U.S. health regulators say their response to the ongoing infant formula shortage was slowed by delays in processing a whistleblower complaint and test samples from the nation’s largest formula factory.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is stressing the need for wealthy nations to share their advanced technologies and innovations with developing countries.

The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that all new vehicles in the U.S. be equipped with blood alcohol monitoring systems that can stop an intoxicated person from driving.

An influential health guidelines group says U.S. doctors should regularly screen adults for anxiety.

New York City will lift its private-sector COVID-19 vaccine mandate on Nov. 1 but will continue to require city employees to be vaccinated against the virus.

A nighttime bus crash that killed 27 people in southwest China this week has set off a storm of anger online over the harshness of the country’s strict COVID-19 policies.

The world’s problems are seizing the spotlight as the U.N. General Assembly’s yearly meeting of world leaders opens.

U.S. authorities say the number of Venezuelans taken into custody at the U.S. border with Mexico soared in August.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will get some high-powered help this week to reach its $18 billion goal to fund another three years to slow the spread of these diseases.

With COVID-related school disruptions setting back children around the world, activists implored world leaders Monday to prioritize school systems and restore educational budgets slashed when the pandemic hit.

Sharply rising cases of some sexually transmitted diseases are prompting U.S. health officials to call for new prevention and treatment efforts.

So much has changed since the International team nearly won the Presidents Cup the last time.

Russia’s war against Ukraine, the lingering coronavirus pandemic and the damage of climate change are putting intense pressure on the world’s poorest, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warns.

After the pomp and pageantry of a grand state funeral, Queen Elizabeth II has been laid to rest with her husband and parents in an intimate ceremony at Windsor away from media cameras.

Visitors to the new terminal at Orlando International Airport may want to wear sunscreen.