BRUSSELS – Fugitive ex-Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has announced he is temporarily withdrawing his bid to get back his old job as president of the independence-minded northeastern Spanish region. Puigdemont says in a video message posted from Brussels, where he…
German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted that no-go zones exist this week. (Reuters) German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a major concession to Europe's populist movement this week when she admitted the existence of so-called “no-go zones” in Germany. Conservatives and populists…
BARCELONA, Spain – Barcelona says it has sent a signed team jersey to the student who was credited with saving the lives of at least 20 other students during a school massacre in the United States two weeks ago. The…
BERLIN – A former Auschwitz death camp guard has submitted a fresh request for clemency in a bid to avoid serving his sentence for accessory to murder. German news agency dpa reported Thursday that officials say former SS sergeant Oskar…
PRAGUE – The Czech government has canceled a deal that could have given an Australian company the right to mine a huge deposit of lithium, a key component in electric batteries. Trade and Industry Minister Tomas Huner said Thursday he…
FILE - In this Friday, July 28, 2017 file photo, wildlife ranger Zachariah Mutai takes care of Sudan, the world's last male northern white rhino, at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia county in Kenya. The health of 45-year-old Sudan…
CARACAS, Venezuela – A top Venezuelan official says the government has reached an agreement with several opposition parties to delay presidential elections by a month. Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez made the announcement after signing an agreement Thursday with representatives of…
YEREVAN, Armenia – Armenia's president has annulled long-dormant protocols aimed at normalizing ties with Turkey. According to his spokesman, Vladimir Akopyan, President Serzh Sargsyan made the announcement Thursday at a meeting of the country's security council. The so-called Zurich Protocols…
LA CONCEPCION, Mexico – The brothers leading the nearly 15-year fight against a Mexico dam project have been hailed as environmental heroes, but after a confused gunfight between their vigilante forces and other townsfolk, they are now in jail facing…
SAO PAULO – Brazil's government says the country's economy grew in 2017 for the first time in three years, aided by a strong performance in the agricultural sector. The government's IBGE statistics bureau said Thursday that the country's gross domestic…
Documents revealed a troubled teenager attempted to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to New Zealand in 1981. (Reuters) New Zealand revealed a troubled teenager attempted to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II during her 1981 visit to the country, newly…
SAO PAULO – Brazil's Supreme Court has batted down challenges to key parts of a law that environmentalists say has contributed to increasing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. The 2012 law included an amnesty for illegal deforestation that occurred before…
BERLIN – Two Syrians have gone on trial in Berlin on allegations they fought with Islamic extremist organizations in their home country. Abdulmalk A., 31, and Anas Ibrahim A.S., 26, who came to Germany as refugees in 2015, went on…
The fire brigade of Airport Security Services (SSA) rides snowplows removing snow on the runway during at the Geneva Airport, in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, March 1, 2018. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP) GENEVA – Exceptional snow and wind forced airports to…
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – The Latest on the killing of a Slovak investigative journalist (all times local): 4:20 p.m. Slovakia's national police chief Tibor Gaspar says seven people have been detained during raids conducted in eastern Slovakia in connection with the…
BERLIN – A German federal appeals court has reversed the murder conviction of two men whose midnight drag race along a Berlin boulevard ended in the death of another motorist. The Federal Court of Justice ruled Thursday the crime didn't…
DHAKA, Bangladesh – A senior official in Bangladesh's border agency has accused Myanmar of deploying additional forces across its border near a no man's land where thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees are living in tents. Border Guard Bangladesh Brig. Gen.…
BUCHAREST, Romania – A senior European Union official has urged Romania not to backslide on the anti-corruption fight amid a judicial overhaul that critics say will make it hard to punish high-level graft. European Commission first vice president Frans Timmermans…
Russia has developed a new set of strategic nuclear weapons that can't be intercepted, Vladimir Putin claimed Thursday, marking a breakthrough that could dramatically increase the country's military capabilities. The Russian president made the bold claim during his state-of-the-nation speech…
SKOPJE, Macedonia – In a goodwill gesture to neighboring Greece, Macedonia has removed a prominent statue of the ancient Greek warrior-king Alexander the Great from its main airport terminal. The 2-meter-high (6.5-foot) statue was placed there in 2011 as a…
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects winners of the peace prize, says someone using a stolen identity has nominated U.S. President Donald Trump for the award. The Norwegian news agency NTB quoted committee secretary Olav Njolstad as…
MADRID – Separatist parties in Catalonia's regional parliament are continuing to defy the Spanish government, insisting that fugitive Catalan ex-president Carles Puigdemont is their legitimate leader despite a ruling by Spain's Constitutional Court that he can't take office. The three…
JOHANNESBURG – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says the transfer of some land from the country's white minority to the black majority will be handled without damaging the economy and that there will be "no smash and grab." South Africa…
SOFIA, Bulgaria – Leaders from the Western Balkans said Thursday they are determined to implement a wide array of reforms as a prerequisite to joining the European Union in the future. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters in the…