The U.S. Supreme Court decided on Wednesday to hear a bid by TikTok and its China-based parent company, ByteDance, to block a law intended to force the sale of the short-video app by Jan. 19 or face a ban on national security grounds. The justices did not immediately act on an emergency request by TikTok and ByteDance, as well as by some of its users who post content on the social media platform, for an injunction to halt the looming ban, opting instead to hear arguments on the matter on Jan. 10. The challengers are appealing a lower court’s ruling that upheld the law. TikTok is used by about 170 million Americans.

The United States voiced alarm at the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday that Russia was close to accepting a nuclear-armed North Korea, as Moscow and Pyongyang defended their growing cooperation.

Rescuers in Vanuatu on Wednesday searched for people still trapped after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific nation’s capital Port Vila on Tuesday, killing 14 people, and damaging reservoirs, commercial buildings, embassies and a hospital.

Israeli officials say a ceasefire in Gaza is a more realistic prospect than at any time in the past year, suggesting a long-awaited deal to free hostages and boost aid to the beleaguered territory could be close.

A top Russian general accused by Ukraine of being responsible for the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops was assassinated in Moscow by Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service on Tuesday morning in the most high-profile killing of its kind.

Despite mostly partisan concern over an apparent closeness to ousted-Syrian President Bashar Assad and what critics say is a tendency to repeat Kremlin propaganda, it seems former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has found a warm reception on Capitol Hill.

PRINCETON, New Jersey — For weeks, residents of New Jersey and other U.S. states have reported seeing thousands of unidentified lighted drones flying overhead, a phenomenon that has sparked conspiracy theories and prompted lawmakers to demand the Biden administration explain what was behind the mysterious sightings. U.S. officials have said that most of the sightings involve manned aircraft and that there is no evidence of any threat to public safety or national security. But those responses have done little to reassure anxious Americans or placate state and local officials.

OTTAWA — Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland quit on Monday after clashing with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on issues including how to handle possible U.S. tariffs, dealing an unexpected blow to an already unpopular government.

An expanding coalition of health and consumer advocates is campaigning against Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to the top U.S. health job over concerns about his activism against vaccines and other health issues, according to the groups’ representatives.

PALM BEACH, Florida — President-elect Donald Trump, with SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son at his side, announced on Monday that SoftBank would invest $100 billion in the U.S. over the next four years in what would be a boost to the U.S. economy.

BERLIN — The German parliament accepted Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s invitation to withdraw its confidence in him and his government on Monday, clearing the way for an early election on Feb. 23 necessitated by the collapse of his government.

A teenage shooter killed a fellow student and a teacher at a Wisconsin school and wounded six others on Monday before police found the suspect dead at the scene in the latest school shooting to devastate a U.S. community.