Donald Trump, who overcame impeachments, criminal indictments and a pair of assassination attempts to win another term in the White House, will be sworn in as the 47th president on Monday, taking charge as Republicans assume unified control of Washington and set out to reshape the country's institutions.
Trump is expected to act swiftly after the ceremony, with executive orders already prepared for his signature to jumpstart deportations, increase fossil fuel development and reduce civil service protections for government workers, promising that his term will bring about "a brand new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride."

Poland's six-month presidency of the European Union is firmly focused on security. As Europe's biggest land war in decades rages, fewer places highlight the challenges and contradictions of defending the bloc and its values more starkly than the border with Belarus.
Some 13,000 border guards and soldiers protect around 400 kilometers of border. It's become a buffer zone since Belarus' ally, Russia, invaded neighboring Ukraine three years ago. Similar fortifications farther north line Poland's frontier with the Russian region of Kaliningrad.

Pope Francis said Donald Trump's plans to impose mass deportations of immigrants would be a "disgrace," as he weighed in on the incoming U.S. president's pledges nearly a decade after calling him "not Christian" for wanting to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.
History's first Latin American pope was asked about the Trump administration pledges of deportations during an appearance Sunday night on a popular Italian talk show, Che Tempo Che Fa.

President-elect Donald Trump used a raucous rally Sunday on the eve of his inauguration to promise swift Day 1 action remaking the federal government, shifting federal priorities at breakneck speed and ensuring that "the curtain closes on four long years of American decline."
Supporters filled nearly all of the 20,000-plus-seat Capital One Arena in downtown Washington for a "Make America Great" victory celebration, and cheered as Trump said he'd take quick action on everything from cracking down on the U.S.-Mexico border to promoting oil drilling, reining in the federal workforce and eradicating diversity programs.

Russian forces have captured two more villages in east Ukraine, including one just a few kilometers from Pokrovsk, a key supply hub for Kyiv's forces, the defense ministry said Monday.
Army units "liberated" Shevchenko and Novoyegorivka in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk respectively, it said. Shevchenko is around three kilometers from Pokrovsk.

TikTok disconnected access to its users in the United States late Saturday shortly before a national ban on the app was to take effect, with President-elect Donald Trump unable to intervene until he takes office.

Two judges were killed in a shooting attack on Saturday at the Supreme Court building in Tehran, state media reported.

Ronald Reagan probably didn't realize he was starting a tradition when he wrote a note congratulating his successor and left it in the Oval Office desk drawer after two terms as president.
He did that for George H.W. Bush, his successor and vice president of eight years. Bush did the same for Bill Clinton, who left a note for Bush's son, George W. The younger Bush left behind written words for Barack Obama, who later put pen to paper for Donald Trump.

Three lawyers who once represented the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny were convicted by a court Friday as part of the Kremlin's crackdown on dissent that has reached levels unseen since Soviet times.
Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Liptser were already in custody and were given sentences from 3 1/2 to five years by a court in the town of Petushki, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Moscow. They were arrested in October 2023 on charges of involvement with extremist groups, as Navalny's networks were deemed by authorities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting his Iranian counterpart Friday for the signing of a broad pact between Moscow and Tehran.
The Kremlin says the "comprehensive strategic partnership" agreement between Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will take their cooperation to a new level.
