World leaders are making another diplomatic push in hopes of preventing a Russian invasion of Ukraine, even as heavy shelling continues in Ukraine's east and the Kremlin considered recognizing the independence of the separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.

The White House said President Joe Biden had agreed "in principle" to meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin if he refrains from launching an assault on his neighbor that U.S. officials say appears increasingly likely.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Germany's chancellor on Tuesday after the Kremlin signaled that it was still possible for diplomacy to head off what Western officials have said could be an imminent invasion of Ukraine.

In another possible sign that the Kremlin would like to lower the temperature raised by its amassing of troops bear Ukraine's border, Russia announced that some units participating in military exercises would begin returning to their bases.

Even if a Russian invasion of Ukraine doesn't happen in the next few days, the crisis is reaching a critical inflection point with European stability and the future of East-West relations hanging in the balance.

A convergence of events over the coming week could determine whether the stalemate is resolved peacefully or Europe is at war. At stake are Europe's post-Cold War security architecture and long-agreed limits on the deployment of conventional military and nuclear forces there.

After years of behind-the-scenes activity in the Gaza Strip, Egypt is going public.

Since mediating a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's ruling Hamas militant group, Egypt has sent crews to clear rubble and is promising to build vast new apartment complexes. Egyptian flags and billboards praising President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi have sprung up across the Palestinian territory.

The Islamic State is a growing threat to northeast Syria, and the group will again flourish unless immediate action is taken, the Kurdish-led region's security chief said in the wake of last month's deadly prison attack.

Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, said immediate security measures were taken to contain active IS sleeper cells, but the group is proving to be a resilient insurgency. The threat remains high, he said, despite the death of the group's leader in a U.S. commando operation last week.

Be it sports, politics, hacking or war, the recent history of Russia's relationship with the world can be summed up in one phrase: They get away with it.

Vladimir Putin's Russia has perfected the art of flouting the rules, whether the venue is the Olympic arena, international diplomacy or meddling in other countries' elections from the comfort of home. And it has suffered little consequence for its actions.

Libyans found themselves with two prime ministers on Friday, raising the specter of renewed violence in a country where elites have ignored the wishes of citizens to choose their leaders, analysts say.

After weeks of maneuvering since December 24 elections were indefinitely postponed, the House of Representatives in the country's east on Thursday picked former interior minister and ex-fighter pilot Fathi Bashagha to replace interim prime minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah.

Roza Barakat's tormentors have been defeated, but the horrors she endured still hold her captive.

She was 11 years old when she was captured and enslaved by the Islamic State group, along with thousands of other Yazidi women and girls taken when the militants overran northern Iraq in their brutal 2014 campaign.

When the U.S. and NATO rejected the Kremlin's security demands over Ukraine last week, fears of an imminent Russian attack against its neighbor soared.

But instead of sending armored armadas across the Ukrainian border as the U.S. and its allies worried, Moscow bombarded Western capitals with diplomatic letters about an international agreement that the Kremlin sees as a strong argument for its position in the standoff.

A day after the death of Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi during a U.S. raid in Syria, many questions remain on the operation and the jihadist group's future.