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KHARKIV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian troops expanded their territorial gains Monday, pushing all the way to the country's northeastern border in places, and claimed to have captured a record number of Russian soldiers as part of the lightning advance that forced Moscow to make a hasty retreat. A spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence said Russian troops were surrendering en masse as “they understand the hopelessness of their situation.” A Ukrainian presidential adviser said there were so many POWs that the country was running out of space to accommodate them. Blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags fluttered over newly liberated towns across a wide swath of reclaimed land. The Ukrainian military said it had freed more than 20 settlements in 24 hours. In recent days, Kyiv’s forces have captured t...

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico and the United States plan to take advantage of the Biden administration's massive investment in semiconductor production to push the integration of their supply chains and cooperate on expanding the production of electric vehicles through Mexico's nationalized lithium industry, officials from both countries said Monday Both efforts seek to eat into Asia's advantage in semiconductors and batteries needed for electric vehicles and promote North American production. They were among the main topics discussed within and on the sidelines of the two countries' High-Level Economic Dialogue in Mexico's capital. “Major elements of the semiconductor supply chains are already well established in Mexico, with U.S. based companies like Intel and Skyworks conducting research and...

CANBERRA, Australia -- Lawmakers in an Australian state are to pledge their allegiance to King Charles III on Tuesday in a legal quirk that underscores how complicated the process of Australia severing its constitutional ties with Britain’s monarch could become. Australia’s center-left Labor Party government wants an Australian president to replace the British monarch as the nation’s head of state. The death of Queen Elizabeth II last week after a 70-year reign is seen by many as an ideal opportunity for change. But the legal process in Victoria, Australia’s second-most populous state and named after the 19th century monarch Queen Victoria, underscores how each state has its own unique relationship with the new monarch King Charles III. Lawmakers’ oath or affirmation of allegiance in th...

TORONTO -- King Charles III was officially proclaimed Canada’s monarch Saturday in a ceremony in Ottawa. Charles automatically became king when Queen Elizabeth II died Thursday. But like the ceremony in the United Kingdom hours earlier, the accession ceremony in Canada is a key constitutional and ceremonial step in introducing the new monarch to the country. Charles is now is the head of state in Canada, which is a member of the British Commonwealth of former colonies. “Canada has enjoyed a long history and a close friendship with His Majesty King Charles III, who has visited our country many times over the years," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement. “On behalf of the Government of Canada, we affirm our loyalty to Canada’s new King, His Majesty King Charles III, and offe...

CANBERRA, Australia -- Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who had started laying the groundwork for an Australian republic after elections in May, said Sunday that now was the time not for a change but for paying tribute to the life of Queen Elizabeth II. Many regarded Australians’ respect and affection for the late monarch as the biggest obstacle to the country becoming a republic with its own head of state. Albanese, who describes himself as the first candidate with a “non-Anglo Celtic name” to run for prime minister in the 121 years that the office has existed, had created a new position of Assistant Minister for the Republic and appointed Matt Thistlethwaite to the role in June. Thistlethwaite had said there would be no change in the queen’s lifetime. “Now is not a time to...

NEW DELHI -- India on Sunday observed a day of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II with flags lowered to half-staff on all government buildings. Official entertainment events were also canceled “as a mark of respect to the departed dignitary,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said. Flags atop Indian Parliament, President House, Red Fort and other government offices in New Delhi were lowered. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called Elizabeth “a stalwart of our times.” Britain ended two centuries of colonial rule of the Indian subcontinent in 1947.