BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel is urging her party to sign off on a deal to form a new coalition government with the center-left Social Democrats. Merkel told a party convention Monday that Germany is in a "difficult and…
BEIJING – A close friend of a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer says the lawyer has "mysteriously" died in a military hospital. Bob Fu, a religious activist who has known Li Baiguang for over a decade, says the government should…
BUCHAREST, Romania – Romania's top legal body has summoned the chief anti-corruption prosecutor to answer charges made by the justice minister who wants her ousted over what he says are serious concerns about the way she does her job. The…
WARSAW, Poland – The last surviving Christian Poles who helped Jews during the Holocaust are appealing to Polish and Israeli authorities to return to a path of "dialogue and reconciliation" amid a diplomatic crisis and bitter emotions sparked by a…
Ten people were killed in airstrikes as bombardment resumed Monday in the rebel-held suburbs of east Damascus, a Syrian monitoring group and paramedics say, bringing the death toll to 24 since the U.N.-mandated cease-fire on Saturday. Syrian state television showed…
BRUSSELS – The European Union is weighing whether to impose sanctions on senior officials in Cambodia over the erosion of democracy and a crackdown on the opposition and media there. EU foreign ministers on Monday urged Cambodia "to restore democracy…
ATHENS, Greece – Greece's government is opening a last round of reforms talks with bailout creditors, just five months before the country's massive rescue loan program ends. Government officials say that the talks with representatives of Greece's European partners and…
HANOI, Vietnam – Vietnamese police have seized 100 kilograms of heroin worth $2.5 million in one of the country's largest drug busts. Two men were arrested on Friday in northern province of Cao Bang bordering China as they were allegedly…
BERLIN – German prosecutors say they have detained a 28-year-old Syrian man on allegations he fought with an extremist organization in Syria. Frankfurt prosecutors said in a statement Monday that the suspect, whose name was not released, was detained last…
BRUSSELS – European Union foreign ministers have tasked the EU's top diplomat with drawing up a list of sanctions to slap on senior Myanmar military officers over rights abuses against the Rohingya minority. The ministers on Monday also ordered EU…
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – Slovakia's top police officer says an investigative reporter has been shot dead in his home together with his girlfriend. Tibor Gaspar says Jan Kuciak and his partner were found dead on Sunday evening in their house in…
CAIRO – Human Rights Watch has sharply criticized Egyptian authorities for a series of "arbitrary" arrests of political opponents of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi ahead of next month's presidential election, which the group considers "unfair." Monday's HRW statement urges for the…
JOHANNESBURG – Two lions rescued from neglected zoos in war zones in Iraq and Syria have been transported to South Africa to recover from physical and psychological trauma at a big cat sanctuary. Fiona Miles with international animal welfare group…
CAIRO – A Yemeni minister has accused the United Arab Emirates of trying to fragment his country by creating separate "regional and tribal armies" in the south. Yemen has been engulfed in a civil war since 2015, with a Saudi-led…
ROME – The Latest on cold weather and snow across Europe (all times local): 10:25 a.m. Temperatures in Moscow have dropped to this winter's low despite the approaching spring. The Meteorological Office said on Monday the mercury in the Russian…
ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag says Ankara has submitted documents to the Czech authorities formally requesting the extradition of the former leader of a Syrian Kurdish party. Salih Muslim, former co-chair of the Democratic Union Party,…
JERUSALEM – An Israeli court has released four of the seven suspects held in a high-profile corruption case involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's confidants after a judge apparently discussed their detention with an investigator. The development leaves two Netanyahu aides…
BEIRUT – The Latest on the war in Syria (all times local): 11:15 a.m. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says it's "high time to stop this hell on Earth" in Syria's embattled eastern Ghouta region. Guterres also appealed on the warring…
Are exorcisms real? Spirited Debate: Father Vincent Lampert on the reality of exorcisms and that they are still occurring even today The Vatican is launching a new international exorcism training course in response to rising demand for priests skilled in…
LONDON – Police say four people have died in an explosion that collapsed a building in the English city of Leicester. Officials said Monday another four people are hospitalized and more people may be missing. A search and rescue operation…
BEIRUT – A Syrian monitoring group and paramedics say that despite the U.N. cease-fire resolution, new bombardment of the rebel-held suburbs east of Damascus killed 10 people as airstrikes and bombing resumed. Syrian state TV broadcast live footage showing the…
SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea's president has joined the growing number of supporters of the country's MeToo movement. President Moon Jae-in said in a meeting with his advisers Monday that he expressed respect to the victims who spoke up…
BEIJING – Chinese censors are acting quickly to remove satirical comments about the ruling Communist Party's move to enable President Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely, while political observers are examining the possibility that China will return to an…
ROME – Romans have awoken to a rare snowfall, after an Arctic storm passing over much of Europe dumped enough snow to force schools to close and public transport to reduce services. Rome's Mediterranean climate and proximity to the sea…