BEIJING – China says it is "highly concerned" about a reported ship-to-ship transfer on the high seas that could violate U.N. sanctions on North Korea. Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Thursday that Beijing is investigating the incident reported by…
NEW DELHI – Want an evening out with Donald Trump Jr.? Sorry, even if you have an extra $39,000 it's probably too late to buy a "conversation and dinner" with the eldest son of the American president. Trump Jr. arrived…
BALI, Indonesia – Indonesian customs officials have arrested two foreigners accused of attempting to smuggle drugs onto the tourist island of Bali. Customs chief Himawan Indarjono said Thursday that British citizen Adam Scott and German Siegfried Karl Achim Ruckel were…
BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel is calling for all European member states to do their share in helping to deal with the large influx of migrants, while also working together to stem the flow by strengthening external borders and…
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Disaster officials say a landslide on the Indonesian island of Java engulfed rice paddies where farmers were working, killing five people and leaving 15 others missing. National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said Thursday that…
PARIS – Radicalized inmates in the general prison population can quickly start influencing others and endanger prison staff. It's a problem that has dogged French authorities for years and is set to grow more acute as foreign fighters return to…
KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan official says Taliban fighters have attacked a police security post in central Ghazni province, killing eight local police. Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial governor, said Thursday the attack happened the previous night. He said…
HERZLIYA, Israel – Even as he faces a potential deportation from Israel, 30-year-old Eritrean asylum seeker Johny Goytiom Kafl brims with satisfaction as he looks out upon thousands of fellow protesters rallying against the impending expulsions, all while peacefully secured…
JAKARTA, Indonesia – An anti-corruption investigator blinded by an acid attack is urging graft fighters to "stay brave" as he returns to Indonesia after months of medical treatment. Activists said they would dress in white to greet Novel Baswedan when…
CARACAS, Venezuela – With two months to go before Venezuela's presidential election, the only challenger to jump in the ring against President Nicolas Maduro is a little-known television evangelist who was once arrested for fuel smuggling and has a range…
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addresses reporters at a news conference in Moscow, April 24, 2017. (Associated Press) Just hours before an explosion at the U.S. Embassy in Montenegro, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized Western policies toward his country,…
MANILA, Philippines – Communist guerrillas say a Philippine government court petition to have them designated as terrorists is a desperate attempt to alienate them from the people and add they're "heaven and earth" different from extremists notorious for beheadings and…
BEIJING – Chinese authorities say they've ruled out arson as the cause of a fire that damaged a 1,300-year-old monastery that is one of Tibetan Buddhism's most sacred sites. The official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday's fire at the Jokhang…
MEXICO CITY – Ruling-party presidential candidate Jose Antonio Meade says the government made a mistake by focusing more on seizing drugs headed for the United States than on weapons heading into Mexico. Meade said Wednesday if he wins Mexico's July…
Smoke rises from the rebel held besieged town of Hamouriyeh, eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, Syria, February 21, 2018. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh - RC12501BE200 After Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s military forces and allies Wednesday pounded civilians and infrastructure, including hospitals, in Eastern…
GOLD COAST, Australia – Six boys remain in an Australian hospital after suffering drug overdoses at a private school. Police said on Thursday some of the students, aged 14 and 15, were critically ill, but the Gold Coast University Hospital…
BOGOTA, Colombia – The Colombian cop who commanded the operation that killed drug kingpin Pablo Escobar has been arrested for laundering money on behalf of a demobilized right-wing militia. Colombia*s chief prosecutor said retired Col. Hugo Aguilar was detained Wednesday.…
UNITED NATIONS – Sweden and Kuwait called for a vote Thursday on a U.N. resolution ordering a 30-day cease-fire throughout Syria to enable delivery of humanitarian aid to millions of people in acute need, and the evacuation of the critically…
MEXICO CITY – A judge in Mexico has ruled that the arrest earlier this week of an alleged drug cartel boss in a city bordering Texas was illegal. A statement from the Federal Judiciary Council says prosecutors had sought to…
ATHENS, Greece – Greek authorities say an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8 has struck off the western island of Zakynthos, but no injuries or damage have been reported. The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the quake occurred at 01:44…
FILE - In this Dec.21, 2017 file photo, migrants queue outside a facility to apply for asylum, in Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron's government presents its first big immigration bill at Cabinet meeting Wednesday Feb.21, 2018. The government says the…
Chloe Ayling (ZUMA Press) A Polish man accused of kidnapping a British model told an Italian court Wednesday that the woman had agreed to the scheme in a bid to boost her career, contradicting earlier statements that he needed the…
In August, 30-year-old Swedish reporter Kim Wall stepped aboard the UC3 Nautilus, a 58-foot submarine built by Danish inventor Peter Madsen and was never seen alive again. Wall, who had plans to move to Beijing with her boyfriend, skipped her…
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Crews who are helping restore power in Puerto Rico as part of an $830 million federal contract are leaving as nearly a quarter of a million customers remain in the dark more than five months…
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Tens of thousands of Argentines joined a demonstration on Wednesday organized by truckers and other labor unions in the first major protest so far this year against President Mauricio Macri's austerity measures. Argentines continue to lose…
MEXICO CITY – Mexican authorities say an explosion on a ferry has hurt 18 people in the Caribbean beach city of Playa del Carmen, but none of the injuries are life-threatening. The municipal government reports that 15 of the wounded…
MEXICO CITY – Mexican environmental inspectors say they've found 7.4 acres (3 hectares) of illegal avocado plantations in the Monarch butterfly wintering grounds west of Mexico City. It's apparently the first time that a wave of avocado planting has directly…
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – About 50 young women remained missing Wednesday after Boko Haram extremists attacked a village in northern Nigeria that is home to a boarding school for girls, provoking fears that they may have met the same fate as…
CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela's opposition says it will boycott an election challenging socialist President Nicolas Maduro unless the government drops a ban on major candidates and takes other steps to ease fears it's rigged. Opposition leader Angel Oropeza says the…
ATHENS, Greece – Greece's powerful Communist Party has vowed to step up protests against online auctions of homes with defaulted mortgages, putting more pressure on the government which has promised bailout creditors it will speed up the auction process. More…
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is under fire for claims of Soviet-era collusion. (Reuters) Jeremy Corbyn, the far-left leader of the UK Labor Party, lashed out at the British press Tuesday after allegations surfaced that he, along with other high-profile…
ROME – More acts of vandalism and violence have occurred during Italy's tense election campaign, with targets including far-right and far-left advocates and other politicians. A swastika and written graffiti were found Wednesday defacing a Rome monument honoring police killed…
More than a dozen people were reportedly injured Wednesday in an explosion on a ferry docked at a Mexican tourist destination. The ferry, owned by Barcos Caribe, was docked at a pier in the popular Playa de Carmen tourist destination…
CAIRO – Egypt's official news agency says police have arrested six suspected Muslim Brotherhood members on a farm allegedly owned by a recently detained Islamist politician. The state-run MENA agency quoted an unnamed security official on Wednesday as saying the…
MILAN – A Polish man charged with kidnapping a British model for ransom has claimed she agreed to the ploy in a bid to boost her career. Lukasz Herba, testifying in his own defense at an Italian trial Wednesday, said…
MEXICO CITY – Religion has been the electrified "third rail" of Mexican politics since anti-clerical laws in the 1920s sparked a bloody uprising by Catholics in which thousands died. But this week, front-running presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador not…
In this photo provided by the government news agency Andina, a crashed bus lays on the bottom of a cliff in Arequipa, Peru, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018. At least 25 people were killed when their bus veered off a highway…
21-month-old Alfie Evans has a mystery degenerative brain condition that has left him in a coma for a year, reports said. (Facebook) Doctors treating a sick British toddler can shut off the child’s life support despite his parents’ wishes to…
PARIS – Newly-elected Liberian President George Weah and French counterpart Emmanuel Macron have announced the creation of a fund to support sport projects in Africa. Weah, a former international soccer star, on his first trip out of Africa as head…
BERLIN – A European space probe has swung into position around Mars in preparation to analyze its atmosphere for possible signs of life. The European Space Agency said Wednesday its Trace Gas Orbiter successfully performed a delicate maneuver known as…
PARIS – Two French soldiers died in Mali when their armored vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. The office of French President Emmanuel Macron said a soldier and an officer were killed Wednesday morning in the attack. They…
LONDON – Britain's Supreme Court says police can be held liable for failing to bring serious criminals to justice — a ruling that could open U.K. forces to a wave of lawsuits from victims. The top court upheld a lower…
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, declaring that anyone disqualified from holding office cannot serve as head of a political party. The decision will likely force Sharif to step down as president…
BELGRADE, Serbia – Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is criticizing Western policies toward his country, urging European countries to maintain good relations with Moscow despite the Russia-West divisions. Lavrov said Wednesday during a visit to Slovenia that being a member…
BERLIN – A German court has sentenced a Swede to life in prison for shooting dead a woman in Frankfurt 26 years ago. Public broadcaster HR reported that the Frankfurt regional court found John Ausonius guilty Wednesday of murdering restaurant…
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa's finance minister has announced the first increase in the value-added tax in a quarter-century as the country seeks to bring in new revenue. Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba's budget speech comes less than a week after South…
LONDON – Public awareness of the problem of plastic waste is swelling and companies are reacting. After alarming forecasts that there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050 and striking documentary footage of plastic in the…
YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar authorities says a bomb exploded in a bank in the northern city of Lashio, a region where there is fighting between the government and ethnic minority guerrillas, killing two people and injuring 21 others. The Facebook…
Kim Jong Un’s cash flow is expected to run dry by October if international sanctions continue crippling his regime’s economy, a South Korean lawmaker said Wednesday, following months of rumors about North Korea’s financial woes. Kang Seok-ho, of the Liberty…
SKOPJE, Macedonia – Macedonian authorities have begun replacing road signs on the country's main highway named by the previous government after the ancient warrior king Alexander the Great, in a goodwill gesture toward neighboring Greece. Gajur Kadriu, head of Macedonia's…
