The Biden administration will remove a former Colombian rebel group from a list of foreign terrorist organizations, a measure intended to demonstrate American support for a fragile peace agreement with the guerrillas in Colombia, said U.S. and congressional officials with knowledge of the coming announcement.

More from WPR: Colombia’s Shaky Peace Deal Needs Biden’s Support

Joe Biden has invited Taiwan to a virtual summit on democracy alongside more than 100 countries—a move bound to anger China, which is not on the list.

A United States envoy said Tuesday he sees “nascent progress” in talks with Ethiopia’s warring sides toward a cease-fire, but he fears it will be outpaced by “alarming” military developments in the yearlong war in Africa’s second-most populous country.

More from WPR: The U.S. Needs Sharper Tools to Stop the War in Ethiopia

The United States will release 50 million barrels of crude from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help cool oil prices,that will start hitting the market in mid- to late-December, the White House said Tuesday.

The United States’ top diplomat in El Salvador announced Monday that she is leaving the post, adding that the government of President Nayib Bukele “is showing no interest” in improving the bilateral relationship.

More from WPR: Bukele Is Turning El Salvador Into a Bitcoin Lab Experiment

A U.S. warship sailed through the strait separating Taiwan and China on Tuesday, the navy said, the first such passage since leaders from the two rival superpowers held a video summit.

More from WPR: U.S.-Taiwan Relations Are Flourishing Under Biden and Tsai

Two of the 17 people with an American missionary group who were kidnapped in Haiti more than a month ago have been released, the organization said Sunday.

Australia formally embarked Monday on a hotly-contested program to equip its navy with nuclear-powered submarines in a new defense alliance with Britain and the United States.

More from WPR: Looming Over the AUKUS Deal Is the Shadow of War

America’s top defense official vowed Saturday to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to counter its “dangerous use” of suicide drones in the wider Mideast, a pledge coming as negotiations remain stalled over Tehran’s tattered atomic deal with world powers.

The Biden administration will remove a former Colombian rebel group from a list of foreign terrorist organizations, a measure intended to demonstrate American support for a fragile peace agreement with the guerrillas in Colombia, said U.S. and congressional officials with knowledge of the coming announcement.

More from WPR: Colombia’s Shaky Peace Deal Needs Biden’s Support

A measure to legalize marriage and adoption by same-sex couples was approved by the lower house of Chile’s Congress on Tuesday, moving it close to final adoption. It had already passed the Senate.

The authorities in El Salvador have raided the offices of seven social service and advocacy groups in an embezzlement investigation that rights advocates charge is part of a politically motivated crackdown on independent voices.

More from WPR: Bukele’s Power Grab Is Alarming Everyone but Salvadorans

Guatemala has decreed a state of emergency in El Estor, an eastern town of mainly Indigenous people in conflict with a Swiss-owned nickel mine they accuse of polluting their lake.

Venezuela’s regional elections on Sunday were distorted by an uneven playing field, violence and injunctions against opposition leaders, European Union election observers said Tuesday.

More from WPR: To Buck Global Pressure, Latin America’s Dictators Turn to ‘Isolation-Proofing’

The Nicaraguan government has dropped visa requirements for Cuban citizens, a move that may spark an increase in Cubans traveling there in a bid to reach the United States.

Voters across the hemisphere look poised for a booster shot of toxic polarization, fiscal denialism and political faith healing that could condemn much of the region to more social upheaval and another lost decade.

More from WPR: Four November Elections Could Shake Up Latin American Politics

The United States’ top diplomat in El Salvador announced Monday that she is leaving the post, adding that the government of President Nayib Bukele “is showing no interest” in improving the bilateral relationship.

More from WPR: Bukele Is Turning El Salvador Into a Bitcoin Lab Experiment

The administration of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador issued a broad decree Monday requiring all federal agencies to give automatic approval for any public works project the government deems to be “in the national interest” or to “involve national security.”

Nicaragua’s former ambassador to the Organization of American States was detained by unidentified men outside his home, his wife said Monday.

More from WPR: Ortega Is Leaving Nothing to Chance in Nicaragua’s Election Farce

Mexico’s army drew criticism Monday for meddling in politics, in a country where the military has long been excluded from political debate.

Two journalists arrested at an Indigenous protest against a pipeline last week in western Canada were released Monday on bail, but journalism groups in the country condemned the decision to continue with contempt charges against them.

Chile’s presidential runoff will now be a race to the middle, as most voters want change but not radicalism. Can either candidate deliver?

Two of the 17 people with an American missionary group who were kidnapped in Haiti more than a month ago have been released, the organization said Sunday.

Chileans on Sunday gave the lead in the country’s presidential race to a far-right politician, a stunning development in a nation that has been rattled by political and social protest over inequality and the rising cost of living.

More from WPR: Four November Elections Could Shake Up Latin American Politics

Venezuela’s socialist ruling party claimed sweeping victories Sunday night in the first elections to include the country’s top opposition parties in nearly four years, a low-turnout vote that critics say was rigged from the start.

The top two contenders to be the next president of Honduras held boisterous final rallies over the weekend, one week ahead of an election that could end diplomatic support for Taiwan in the Central American country if the leftist candidate wins.

More from WPR: Honduras’ Presidential Election Is a Choice Between Uncertainty and Ruin

Armed police with water cannons and a low-flying helicopter have faced off against Indigenous villagers brandishing sticks and bows in the latest clash over land rights in Paraguay, a country with one of the highest inequalities of land ownership in the world.

Nicaragua’s government announced Friday that it will withdraw from the Organization of American States, a regional body that has accused President Daniel Ortega’s government of acts of repression and rigging this month’s election.

French authorities have dispatched police reinforcements to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe after a week of violent protests over coronavirus restrictions.

Germany’s Social Democrats, Greens and liberals have reached a deal on forming a new government, paving the way for finance minister Olaf Scholz to succeed Angela Merkel as leader of Europe’s largest economy.

More from WPR: Merkel’s Exit Is Remaking Germany’s Political Landscape

Sweden’s parliament elected Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson as the country’s first woman prime minister Wednesday, hours after she clinched a last-minute deal that gave her victory by the slimmest of possible margins.

Russia staged military drills in the Black Sea, south of Ukraine, on Wednesday and said it needed to sharpen the combat-readiness of its conventional and nuclear forces because of heightened NATO activity near its borders.

Norwegian political and sporting leaders protested Wednesday against the arrests of two Norwegian TV reporters in Qatar where they were covering preparations and controversies around the 2022 World Cup.

The Kremlin is destabilizing Bosnia and Herzegovina in pursuit of broader strategic goals.

Lawmakers who helped broker a deal with governments on reforms to the European Union’s huge farming subsidy program urged the European Parliament to give it the final green light Tuesday.

Armenian says one of its soldiers was killed by Azerbaijani shelling Monday amid simmering tensions on the border between the two ex-Soviet neighbors.

France’s armed forces minister called for an investigation Monday after a report that secret French intelligence intended to track jihadist militants had been misued by Egypt to target smugglers on the Libyan border and kill civilians.

French fishermen are planning actions, including possibly blocking British vessels’ access to French ports, in protest against Britain’s refusal to grant them more licences to operate in U.K. territorial waters, fishermen said Tuesday.

It’s true that Russia still considers the West to be its chief adversary, but its foreign policy is ever more guided by the need to learn to operate in a world no longer dominated by the West. With the notable exception of Ukraine—control over which seems to be President Vladimir Putin’s very personal and heartfelt goal—the Kremlin is operating cautiously in a world it regards as fractured and complicated.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, a popular anti-corruption figure in the European Union’s poorest country, scored a comfortable reelection victory Sunday.

French authorities have dispatched police reinforcements to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe after a week of violent protests over coronavirus restrictions.

Opposition supporters blocked traffic in Armenia’s capital Monday to urge the government to take a tougher stance amid tensions with neighboring Azerbaijan.

The speaker of Sweden’s parliament said Monday lawmakers will vote later this week on whether Swedish Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson should become the country’s first female prime minister even though she has not succeeded in securing the support of a left-leaning party.

China has officially downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania in protest, the foreign ministry in Beijing said Sunday, after Taiwan established a de facto embassy in Vilnius.

The transformation of Michel Barnier into a nationalist is a warning sign for the EU.

South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, has lost control of the city councils of Johannesburg and other major cities, following recent local government elections.

At least 19 people, including nine security force members, have been killed during an attack by suspected extremists in Burkina Faso, the government-press agency said Tuesday.

A United States envoy said Tuesday he sees “nascent progress” in talks with Ethiopia’s warring sides toward a cease-fire, but he fears it will be outpaced by “alarming” military developments in the yearlong war in Africa’s second-most populous country.

More from WPR: The U.S. Needs Sharper Tools to Stop the War in Ethiopia

Burkina Faso's government said Monday it had cut mobile internet access in the country under a legal provision related to national defence and public security.

Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister says he will lead his country’s army “from the battlefront” starting Tuesday, a dramatic new step as the year-long conflict moves closer to the capital Addis Ababa.

More from WPR: How Abiy’s Effort to Redefine Ethiopia Led to War in Tigray

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has been welcomed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to start a two-day state visit to South Africa.

Militiamen targeting a camp for displaced people in Congo’s east have killed at least a dozen people in attacks on two village in the Ituri province, the army said Monday.

Police have said that seven suspects were killed and 106 people detained during operations by the security services linked to three suicide bombings in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, last week.

After four weeks under house arrest, Sudan’s ousted prime minister was reinstated Sunday after he signed a deal with the military intended to end a bloody standoff that led to dozens of protester deaths and threatened to derail Sudan’s fragile transition to democracy.

Felix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has demanded a ban on issuing and trading mining permits until the country’s mining registry has been audited, a measure aimed at combatting fraud within the sector.

A prominent Somali journalist who was a critic of the al-Shabab armed group has been killed by a suicide bomber as he was leaving a restaurant in the capital, Mogadishu, relatives and officials said.

Israel and Morocco signed a landmark agreement Wednesday that lays the foundation for security cooperation, intelligence sharing, and future arms sales.

The U.N. special envoy for Libya, Jan Kubis of Slovakia, has quit just a month before crucial presidential elections in the war-torn nation—without giving Security Council members a clear reason for his sudden departure.

Norwegian political and sporting leaders protested Wednesday against the arrests of two Norwegian TV reporters in Qatar where they were covering preparations and controversies around the 2022 World Cup.

Australia on Wednesday said it intends to add far-right extremist group The Base and the entirety of the Lebanese group Hezbollah to its list of outlawed terrorist organizations as national security services grapple with a surge in neo-Nazi cells and other ideologically motivated extremists.

France’s armed forces minister called for an investigation Monday after a report that secret French intelligence intended to track jihadist militants had been misued by Egypt to target smugglers on the Libyan border and kill civilians.

Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid has been reappointed prime minister, state media said Tuesday, and tasked with forming a cabinet that would be the Gulf OPEC oil producer’s third this year in a domestic political standoff.

Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz is headed to Morocco to “formalize” security cooperation between the two countries.

Jordan’s parliament began deliberations Monday of proposed constitutional reforms that officials say revitalise the monarchy and are part of a drive to deliver on long promised political reforms.

The head of the United Nations’ atomic watchdog met Tuesday with Iranian officials to press for greater access in the Islamic Republic ahead of diplomatic talks restarting over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers.

America’s top defense official vowed Saturday to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to counter its “dangerous use” of suicide drones in the wider Mideast, a pledge coming as negotiations remain stalled over Tehran’s tattered atomic deal with world powers.

A Palestinian teacher shot dead an Israeli tour guide with an automatic gun near the holiest site in Jerusalem on Sunday morning, Israeli officials said. It was the first killing of a Jewish Israeli civilian by a Palestinian gunman since May.

Over the past 20 months, Israeli intelligence operatives have assassinated Iran’s chief nuclear scientist and triggered major explosions at four Iranian nuclear and missile facilities, hoping to cripple the centrifuges that produce nuclear fuel and delay the day when Tehran’s new government might be able to build a bomb.

Libya’s interim prime minister has registered as a presidential candidate, joining a bulky and growing list of candidates that includes Saif-al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, and Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, a warlord.

Oman and Qatar on Monday signed agreements on military cooperation, taxation, tourism, ports, labor and investment as Oman seeks to invigorate its debt-burdened economy, the state news agencies of both the Gulf states said.

Joe Biden has invited Taiwan to a virtual summit on democracy alongside more than 100 countries—a move bound to anger China, which is not on the list.

Australia on Wednesday said it intends to add far-right extremist group The Base and the entirety of the Lebanese group Hezbollah to its list of outlawed terrorist organizations as national security services grapple with a surge in neo-Nazi cells and other ideologically motivated extremists.

Australia’s defense minister Wednesday won a defamation case over a six-word tweet that called him a “rape apologist.”

China has blocked public access to shipping location data, citing national security concerns, in another sign of its determination to control sources of sensitive information.

India’s government will introduce a bill to ban private cryptocurrencies and create a framework for a central bank-backed digital money, parliament said in a shock announcement late Tuesday.

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have held military drills near the former’s border with Afghanistan, imitating a response to an incursion, the Uzbek defense ministry said Wednesday.

A U.S. warship sailed through the strait separating Taiwan and China on Tuesday, the navy said, the first such passage since leaders from the two rival superpowers held a video summit.

More from WPR: U.S.-Taiwan Relations Are Flourishing Under Biden and Tsai

Kazakhstan’s former president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, will hand over his role as the leader of the ruling Nur Otan party to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Nazarbayev’s spokesman said Tuesday.

Chun Doo-hwan, South Korea’s most vilified former military dictator, who seized power in a coup and ruled his country with an iron fist for most of the 1980s, dispatching paratroopers and armored vehicles to mow down hundreds of pro-democracy protesters, died Tuesday at his home in Seoul. He was 90.

The Taliban has expanded its shadowy war against the Islamic State branch in Afghanistan, deploying hundreds more fighters to this eastern province in an increasingly violent fight and critical test of the group’s counterterrorism abilities after the U.S. troop withdrawal.

A Sri Lankan court Tuesday began the trial of 25 men accused of plotting the Easter Sunday bombings that killed nearly 270 people in 2019, as lawyers warned of a protracted and complicated legal battle ahead.

India’s anti-terrorism agency Monday night arrested Khurram Parvez, a prominent human rights activist in Indian-administered Kashmir, after hours-long raids at his residence and office in Srinagar, according to his wife, Sameena Mir. The agency confirmed the arrest Tuesday but declined to provide details about the case.

Beijing’s actions show determination, not insecurity.

Australia formally embarked Monday on a hotly-contested program to equip its navy with nuclear-powered submarines in a new defense alliance with Britain and the United States.

More from WPR: Looming Over the AUKUS Deal Is the Shadow of War

The top two contenders to be the next president of Honduras held boisterous final rallies over the weekend, one week ahead of an election that could end diplomatic support for Taiwan in the Central American country if the leftist candidate wins.

More from WPR: Honduras’ Presidential Election Is a Choice Between Uncertainty and Ruin

Indonesia’s defense minister has said his country understands the reasons behind the United States, Australia and Britain establishing the AUKUS security agreement, though at a forum at the weekend repeated concerns about an arms race in the region.

Three Cambodian refugees deported by Thailand have been jailed on charges of conspiracy and incitement, police said Monday, as pressure grows on Thailand to protect activists at risk of persecution at home.

The number of defectors, while not enough to topple the Tatmadaw, is growing, galvanized by the nationwide anti-coup movement.

More from WPR: How to Help Myanmar Before It’s Too Late

China has officially downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania in protest, the foreign ministry in Beijing said Sunday, after Taiwan established a de facto embassy in Vilnius.

China’s hypersonic weapon test in July included a technological advance that enabled it to fire a missile as it approached its target traveling at least five times the speed of sound—a capability no country has previously demonstrated.