KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan officials say insurgents have killed nine policemen in separate attacks in the country's west and east. In western Farah province, attacks on police checkpoints killed eight policemen. Mohammad Naser Mehri, spokesman for the Farah governor, says…
AMMAN, Jordan – Amer Othman's life turned upside down in an instant. The Ohio entrepreneur, who came to the United States 38 years ago and won praise for helping revive once-blighted downtown Youngstown, was arrested during what he thought was…
TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian media have updated the death toll from clashes the previous night with Sufi followers in Tehran, saying two members of the paramilitary forces were also killed, as well as three policemen. The semi-official Fars news agency…
CARACAS, Venezuela – On many days, Ramon Medina has no choice but to skip work to make ends meet. Like around half of Venezuelans, he earns the minimum wage — the equivalent of around $3 a month — so whenever…
MEXICO CITY – A gray whale has been returned safely to the Pacific Ocean after three days beached on the coast of Mexico's Baja California Sur state. The federal environmental protection agency says in a statement that the whale swam…
Chloe Ayling is seen in this undated photo. (Fotogramma/Ropi via ZUMA Press) Video of British model Chloe Ayling retracing her movements during the week that she was allegedly kidnapped and held for ransom was played in a Milan courtroom Monday…
Oxfam’s deputy chief executive on Monday resigned amid a scandal involving sex abuse in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. Penny Lawrence says she’s ashamed of what happened on her watch. Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt is demanding that Oxfam show moral…
LIMA, Peru – A court in Peru has determined that former Peruvian strongman Alberto Fujimori can be tried in connection with a 1992 massacre despite his recent pardon from a 25-year jail sentence. The ruling Monday paves the way for…
As North Koreans return home this week from the Pyeongchang Winter Games, possibly without any medals, Olympians hope to avoid the gulags — a fate the losers of the 1966 World Cup are believed to have experienced. Twenty-two North Koreans participated…
CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico – Mexican marines have captured an alleged top boss of the Gulf drug cartel in the northern border state of Tamaulipas. A statement from the Mexican navy says the suspect it identifies only as Jose Alfredo, with…
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivers his annual "State of Hungary" speech in Budapest Sunday. (Zoltan Mathe/MTI via AP) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban used his annual state of the nation speech to ramp up anti-immigration rhetoric Sunday, warning that…
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal judge has approved a $300 million loan for Puerto Rico's power company that officials say will help keep it operating until late March. Monday's ruling comes just days after the judge had rejected…
MEXICO CITY – Mexican experts say the recently mapped Sac Actun cave system "is probably the most important underwater archaeological site in the world," but is threatened by pollution. Subaquatic archaeologist Guillermo de Anda says researchers found a human skull…
SAO PAULO – A Brazilian leader says that use of the military to combat rising violence in Rio de Janeiro could be a test case for other violent areas of Brazil. The military took over Rio's police on Friday under…
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's semi-official Fars news agency says a supporter of a Sufi leader has rammed a bus into police, killing three of them before being arrested. The semi-official ILNA news agency quoted Mohsen Hamedani, a senior security official…
GALAXIDI, Greece – For a few hours every year, residents and visitors of this pretty Greek seaside town have a license to lose their civility. They have what's known as a "flour war" — participants pelt each other with bags…
JERUSALEM – An Israeli settler leader says the number of settlers in the West Bank grew at nearly twice the rate of Israel's overall population last year. Yaakov Katz says the settler population reached over 435,000 people last year, up…
Israel on Monday successfully tested its Arrow-3 system. (Israeli Ministry of Defense) Israel successfully tested its new Arrow missile defense system Monday, the Defense Ministry announced in a tweet, the accomplishment capping a program that’s seen a series of delays…
Geophysicist Matthew Falder is seen in an undated booking photograph handed out by the National Crime Agency. (Reuters) A British academic who went by the online aliases of “evilmind” and “666devil” was sentenced to 32 years in prison Monday for…
A woman wrote that she didn't care if "the whole street collapsed" but wanted the ambulance to be moved. (West Midlands Ambulance Service) A British woman was arrested Monday after she allegedly left a scathing note on an ambulance that…
JERUSALEM – Benjamin Netanyahu traces his meteoric rise in Israeli politics to his days as a telegenic media star who dazzled audiences in both English and Hebrew. But he has also had a rocky relationship with Israel's notoriously aggressive media,…
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan's defense minister says the planned deployment of 1,000 troops to Saudi Arabia does not violate a parliamentary resolution against taking part in combat operations in Yemen. Khurram Dastigir told the Senate on Monday that the troops would…
KUWAIT CITY – Kuwait's ruling emir has reportedly invited Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to his country to resolve tensions after a Filipina maid was found dead in a freezer. That's according to a report Monday by Kuwait's state-run KUNA news…
Rescuers recover a body as they search for survivors at the collapse of a garbage mound in Mozambique. (AP) At least 17 people were killed and several others were injured when a massive garbage mound partially collapsed in Mozambique’s capital…
A male orangutan was found riddled with at least 130 air gun pellets in Borneo earlier this month. (Center for Orangutan Protection) Four farmers and a 13-year-old boy in Indonesia admitted they stabbed, clubbed, and shot a male orangutan with…
MILAN – Video footage of a British model leading Italian police to locations connected to her alleged kidnapping has been played at the trial of the man charged with abducting her. The evidence shown in court Monday features the model,…
PARIS – The French government has presented a plan to ensure the survival of wolves in the country as farmers repeatedly protest about financial losses caysed bt attacks on livestock. Environment minister Nicolas Hulot's plan, presented Monday, aims to have…
MEXICO CITY – Mexico's federal Attorney General's Office says two bodies found in a car have been confirmed to be those of two prosecution agents kidnapped Feb. 5 and forced to appear on a video by a drug gang. The…
ISIS claimed responsibility Monday for the deadly attack on Orthodox churchgoers in Russia that left at least five women dead. In a statement posted on an ISIS-affiliated website, the group said a Muslim fighter attacked a "a Christian temple" in…
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Rumbling Mount Sinabung on the Indonesian island of Sumatra shot billowing columns of ash more than 16,400 feet into the atmosphere and hot clouds down its slopes on Monday. There were no fatalities or injuries from the…
LONDON – A judge in Britain has sentenced a prolific pedophile to 38 years in prison in what is being described as a watershed moment for authorities coming to grips with technology's ability to spread depravity. Geophysicist Matthew Falder admitted…
BELGRADE, Serbia – Two U.S. and two Ukrainian citizens have been arrested in Serbia for trying to photograph the military security headquarters in downtown Belgrade with a drone. A Serbian state TV report Monday did not identify the four or…
KUWAIT CITY – A lawyer says two Kuwaiti ruling family members have been found guilty of insulting the country's National Assembly speaker. Sheikh Athbi Al Sabah, a nephew of Kuwait's ruling emir and former head of Kuwait's National Security Office,…
JERUSALEM – Israeli energy company Delek Drilling has announced a $15 billion deal to supply natural gas to Egypt. Delek and its U.S. partner, Noble Energy, signed a deal Monday to sell a total of 64 billion cubic meters of…
JOHANNESBURG – Mozambican media say at least 17 people died when heavy rains triggered the partial collapse of a huge mound of garbage in Mozambique's capital, Maputo. Radio Mocambique reported Monday that rescue workers believe more bodies could be buried…
KUWAIT CITY – In Kuwait, activists have been gathering nightly to peacefully demonstrate against their government — something that elsewhere in the Arabian Peninsula would see protesters tear-gassed, beaten, arrested and sentenced to prison. The rallies, just across the street…
JOHANNESBURG – South African authorities are escalating an anti-corruption drive against a business family linked to former president Jacob Zuma, saying they could seek Interpol's help to track suspects believed to be out of the country. Police Minister Fikile Mbalula…
MALE, Maldives – The president of the Maldives has asked Parliament to extend a state of emergency by two weeks as political turmoil continues in the country. The 85-member Parliament was expected to vote on the proposal later Monday, a…
PARIS – Morocco's king has ordered an investigation into a deadly train crash that killed six people. In a statement Monday, Morocco's interior ministry said King Mohammed VI is creating a joint commission to investigate the causes of the rail…
CAIRO – Egypt's military says three troops, including an officer, were killed in restive Sinai in fighting with militants. They are the first casualties Egypt has announced from an offensive Cairo launched on Feb. 9. Military spokesman Tamer al-Rifai said…
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has backed down and accepted the resignation of Nigerian bishop who had been rejected for years by the priests of his Ahiara diocese. The announcement Monday came after Francis in June issued a harsh ultimatum…
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesian police say they have arrested four men and a boy who shot a critically endangered orangutan at least 130 times with an air gun. Villagers spotted the wounded orangutan in a lake in the East Kutai…
BAGHDAD – Islamic State militants have ambushed a group of Iraq's Shiite-led paramilitary fighters, killing at least 27. The Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of mostly Shiite militias, said on Monday that the attack took place the previous night…
MANILA, Philippines – Philippine police say authorities have arrested an Arab man who they believe is a former commander of the Islamic State group. Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa said Monday that police and military personnel arrested Fehmi Lassoued,…
BANGKOK – A cartoonist who lampoons Thailand's military government has done a caricature of a historian critical of the nation's monarchy and sold it in an online auction to raise money for legal aid for political dissidents. Anon Nampha of…
Militants disguised as Iraqi soldiers ambushed paramilitary troops Monday north of Baghdad, leaving at least 27 dead, officials said. It is unclear who was behind the attack. The attack comes days after NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the alliance will…
BUCHAREST, Romania – Religious protesters in Romania have disrupted the screening of two movies in Bucharest, saying they violate traditional values in the Eastern European country. The recent protests illustrate divided views about homosexuality which remains a difficult topic in…
NAPLES, Italy – In the Naples suburb of Torre del Greco, a port town at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, voters are steaming. Local seamen have jobs lost to foreigners willing to work for lower pay. The town is without…
HELSINKI – Latvia's financial regulator has ordered the crisis-struck ABLV Bank to cease all payments on the request of the European Central Bank amid U.S. accusations of money laundering and breaching sanctions on North Korea. The ECB said Monday that…
BANJUL, Gambia – Gambia's president has declared a moratorium on the death penalty, calling it a "first step toward abolition." President Adama Barrow announced the moratorium while addressing a large crowd gathered Sunday for the country's independence anniversary. This tiny…
