BANGKOK – Thailand's former national police chief, who currently heads the Thai Football Association, has met with investigators to explain his financial links with a fugitive massage parlor owner. Somyot Poompanmoung reported Thursday to the Department of Special Investigation —…
CAIRO – Egyptian officials say a senior Islamist leader detained over alleged links to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group has been referred to state security prosecutors for questioning. They say five associates of Abdel-Monaem Abul Fetouh were released from detention…
VATICAN CITY – The Vatican is confirming that Pope Francis frequently meets with victims of sex abuse, seeking to defuse a mounting scandal over his unbridled support for a Chilean bishop accused by victims of witnessing and ignoring their abuse.…
KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan officials say attacks in the country's north and west have killed three members of the security forces and two children. The spokesman for the chief of police in northern Faryab province, Karim Yuresh, says a Taliban…
BERLIN – The head of a leading Turkish immigrant group in Germany says he's pressing charges against a politician from Germany's nationalist party for insulting Turks as "camel drivers" and immigrants with dual passports as a "homeless mob we no…
JOHANNESBURG – Up from Soweto township to become a leading anti-apartheid activist and then wealthy businessman, Cyril Ramaphosa has been a central figure in South Africa's tumultuous history before becoming the country's acting president. Astute and articulate, the 65-year-old former…
PARIS – France's National Union of Journalists has called on President Emmanuel Macron to reconsider a controversial decision to move the press room from inside the presidential palace to a nearby site. In a statement late Wednesday, the SNJ union…
LAHORE, Pakistan – A Pakistani public prosecutor says the trial of a suspect accused of brutally killing eight children has concluded and that a judge will announce the ruling this weekend. Abdul Rauf says the lawyer for the suspect, Mohammad…
Members of North Korea's Taekwondo demonstration team, pictured, are part of the delegation whose Olympic expenses South Korea agreed to pay, according to a report. (AP) South Korea on Wednesday approved a plan to pay North Korea's Olympic expenses to the…
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesian police have defended bestowing their highest honor on the Philippine police chief, who has been criticized for spearheading the war on drugs that has left thousands of suspects dead. Ronald dela Rosa was among five neighboring…
NAIROBI, Kenya – A Kenyan judge has rescinded the orders used to deport to Canada an opposition politician over his alleged role in a mock inauguration by opposition leader Raila Odinga. Judge Luka Kimaru also orders Kenya's government to return…
BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel is meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in Berlin. The two countries are taking small steps toward restoring friendlier relations after more than a year of tension. Hopes are high in Berlin that…
JOHANNESBURG – The Latest on South Africa's leadership transition (all times local): 11:15 a.m. South Africa's parliament spokesman says the speaker has received Jacob Zuma's resignation letter and his departure as president is effective immediately. Parliament is set to elect…
JUBA, South Sudan – Six African nations are among the 10 worst in the world to be a child in a war zone, a new report says. The Save the Children report released Thursday looks at factors including attacks on…
CANBERRA, Australia – Australia's prime minister has banned government ministers from having sex with staff as his deputy battles for his political survival over revelations that he is expecting a baby with a former press secretary. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull…
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa's government says acting President Cyril Ramaphosa is in charge until parliament elects a new leader Thursday afternoon following the resignation of Jacob Zuma. The 400-member parliament, dominated by the ruling African National Congress party, is expected…
PARIS – European planemaker Airbus says its earnings improved last year but it was hindered by further problems, both to its long-troubled military aircraft program as well as more recent engine problems on its single-aisle models. The company said Thursday…
KATHMANDU, Nepal – Nepal's prime minister has resigned after his party lost parliamentary elections, paving the way for a new government to take power. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba made the announcement Thursday, a day after the results of the…
BANGKOK – When five Myanmar journalists were sentenced to decade-long prison terms for reporting on an alleged military-run chemical weapons factory a few years ago, Aung San Suu Kyi — then an opposition lawmaker — condemned the harsh punishments as…
KABUL, Afghanistan – The number of civilians killed and wounded in the war in Afghanistan declined last year, but the number of deaths from airstrikes was on the rise, according to a new United Nations report released on Thursday. The…
JAKARTA, Indonesia – A key ideologue for Islamic State militants in Indonesia has gone on trial for ordering a 2016 suicide bombing and gun attack in Jakarta that killed eight people including the four attackers. The radical cleric, Oman Rohman,…
CANBERRA, Australia – Australia's beleaguered deputy prime minister has withstood a parliamentary vote that would have called for his firing after revelations of a relationship with a former staffer. The opposition Labor Party had hoped disaffected lawmakers in Barnaby Joyce's…
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine president has offered a nearly $500 bounty for each communist rebel killed by government forces to save on anti-insurgency costs and says insurgents are easier to hit than birds because they have bigger heads. President…
CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro says he's reopening the country's consulate in Miami, citing requests from fellow citizens who want to vote in the upcoming presidential election. Maduro announced the decision Wednesday at the opening session of Venezuela's…
A solar storm is forecast to hit Earth on Feb. 15, 2018. (Courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams) A solar storm is forecast to hit Earth early Thursday after the sun unleashed a powerful solar…
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a grand military parade celebrating the 70th founding anniversary of the Korean People's Army at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency…
MEXICO CITY – Mexican independent presidential candidate Maria de Jesus Patricio was injured in a crash that also killed a person riding in her caravan and injured two others Wednesday. The National Indigenous Council said in a brief statement that…
JOHANNESBURG – As scandal after scandal unfolded, South African President Jacob Zuma maintained an affable demeanor in public, rallying his support base, dispatching lawyers to fend off court challenges and, it is alleged, enabling his corrupt associates. Finally, the astute…
CAIRO – Egyptian security officials say police have arrested a senior Islamist politician over allegations that he had contacts with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. They say Abdel-Monaim Abu El-Fetouh was arrested at his home in a Cairo suburb Wednesday soon…
UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. Mideast envoy has briefed the Security Council behind closed doors at the request of Kuwait and Bolivia on what Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour calls the "catastrophic" humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. Bolivian Ambassador…
The Taliban in Afghanistan, under pressure from a stepped-up Trump administration military campaign, released a rambling letter to the American people on Wednesday, calling for dialogue to end the prolonged Afghan war. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid released copies of the…
South African President Jacob Zuma, in a televised address to nation, said he will resign as from his position 'with immediate effect.' The scandal-tainted leader said he has resigned despite his disagreement with the instruction of the ruling African National…
JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, fighting for his political life after being accused of taking bribes from billionaire supporters, is no stranger to scandal. Over a three-decade political career, Netanyahu has been accused of everything from accepting improper gifts…
HARARE, Zimbabwe – An official with Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change opposition party says its leader Morgan Tsvangirai has died at age 65. Elias Mudzuri, a vice president of the MDC, says Tsvangirai died Wednesday evening in a Johannesburg hospital.…
BUCHAREST, Romania – Romania's chief anti-corruption prosecutor has rejected allegations that prosecutors falsify evidence in cases against high-ranking officials. National Anti-Corruption Directorate Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi responded on Wednesday to a former Romanian lawmaker's claims that four anti-corruption prosecutors…
SKOPJE, Macedonia – Macedonia's prime minister says his country and Greece have made significant progress toward resolving their long-standing name dispute. Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said Wednesday that Macedonia's government is willing to add a "geographical qualifier" to the country's…
PRISTINA, Kosovo – Montenegro's prime minister is offering his country's goodwill to help resolve a dispute that has held up a proposed border deal with neighboring Kosovo. Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic visited Kosovo on Wednesday. He said Montenegro considers…
EDINBURGH, Scotland – Scottish soccer team Hearts has apologized to former player Isma Goncalves after he said racial abuse forced him to leave. The Portuguese forward, who is black, joined Uzbekistan club Pakhtakor Tashkent last month after a year in…
PARIS – Kamel Daoudi's days are parceled out in intervals as unvarying as the alarm reminders on his tablet: 7 a.m., 9:15 a.m., 11:45 a.m., 3:15 p.m., 5:45 p.m., 9:00 p.m. The times represent his nightly curfew and the exact…
BENGHAZI, Libya – A Libyan official says at least 19 illegal migrants have been killed in a truck crash near the town of Bani Walid, about 180 kilometers (112 miles) southeast of Tripoli. The chief of Bani Walid hospital, Mohamed…
BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that after months-long negotiations to form a new government, the country's politicians should now get back to real work. In a traditional Ash Wednesday address in Demmin in eastern Germany, Merkel referred to…
PARIS – French authorities say a man in custody has confessed to "unintentionally" killing a 9-year-old girl whose disappearance from a wedding party in the Alps prompted nationwide concern. Grenoble prosecutor Jean-Yves Coquillat said that investigators found some of Maelys…
AMSTERDAM – Ruud Lubbers, the Netherlands' longest-serving prime minister who guided his country through economic turmoil to prosperity and helped shape the foundations of the European Union, has died at age 78. The Dutch government announced that Lubbers died Wednesday…
KABUL, Afghanistan – The Taliban are urging the "American people" to press their government to withdraw from Afghanistan and reminded Americans that the Afghan war is the longest conflict in which they have been embroiled — and at a cost…
PARIS – A French court acquitted a man charged with harboring Islamic extremists after they carried out the 2015 Paris attacks, bringing a surprising end Wednesday to the first criminal trial from the country's deadliest extremist violence since World War…
LONDON – The leader of Northern Ireland's biggest political party says talks to restore the collapsed Belfast government have failed. Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster says negotiations with Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein to restore the power-sharing government "have…
UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. envoy for Syria says this is the most "violent and worrying and dangerous" moment in the country in four years, pointing to escalating violence on multiple fronts that undermines prospects for peace and regional stability.…
A Kim Jong Un impersonator looking for a Valentine’s Day love connection briefly danced with North Korea's “army of beauties” at a Winter Olympics hockey game -- but the bogus despot's charms were for naught and he was quickly, and…
PARIS – The Latest on the trial of a man charged with harboring terrorists from 2015 Paris attacks (all times local): 4:40 p.m. A French court has acquitted a man charged with harboring Islamic extremists after they carried out the…
A man used two cushion-like butt implants to try to smuggle more than two pounds of cocaine. (Polícia Judiciária) Two would-be drug smugglers failed in a "cheeky" attempt at slipping their stash by authorities at Lisbon airport, Portugal officials said.…
