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…
LIMA, Peru – Police say at least 25 people were killed when their bus veered off a highway and tumbled 200 meters (about 650 feet) down a cliff in southern Peru. Highway Police chief Dino Escudero tells RPP radio that…
MADRID – A Spanish judge has ordered the arrest of a leading Catalan separatist politician if she returns to Spain from Switzerland, where she has moved to avoid a judicial inquiry. Judge Pablo Llarena issued the national arrest warrant after…
KAMPALA, Uganda – Inside the immigration office in Tel Aviv, Yohannes Tesfagabr considered his options. He could not dare return to his native Eritrea, a country he risked his life to flee in 2010. He also hoped to avoid the…
There has been a muted and perplexed response here to reports that North Korea snubbed a planned meeting with Vice President Pence during his visit at the start of the Olympics. The presidential "Blue House" did not respond to…
SANTIAGO, Chile – The special envoy sent by Pope Francis to investigate allegations that sex abuse was covered up has been hospitalized in Chile. Catholic bishop's conference spokesman Jaime Coiro says the problems affecting Charles Scicluna aren't extremely serious, "but…
CAIRO – Egypt's president says his country "scored a goal" by signing a $15 billion deal with an Israeli company to supply natural gas that will help turn Egypt into a regional energy hub. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi said in televised comments…
JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting for his political life as a dizzying array of scandals has engulfed him, his family and his inner circle. Police last week announced they have sufficient evidence to indict Netanyahu for…
HARARE, Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe's former leader Robert Mugabe is celebrating his first birthday since his resignation in near solitude, far from the lavish affair of years gone by. The government that removed him with military assistance in November has declared…
MADRID – A language still spoken by the descendants of Jews expelled from Spain 500 years ago is getting a helping hand from the Spanish Royal Academy to keep it alive. Ladino, a language taken abroad by Spanish Jews expelled…
TIGHANIMINE, Morocco – Bitter cold and exceptionally heavy snowfall have beleaguered parts of Morocco this winter, disrupting schools, closing national highways — and delighting residents in cities where it hadn't snowed for decades. The effects are starkest in the north…
WARSAW, Poland – A Polish government official says a controversial law makes it a criminal act to blame Poles for Holocaust crimes they did not commit will not lead to criminal charges. The recently adopted law has sparked a bitter…
TOKYO – A Japanese man who has won legal custody of 13 surrogate children in Thailand has remained virtually anonymous in Japanese media. Mitsutoki Shigeta is the son of the founder of Japanese telecom and insurance company Hikari Tsushin. As…
RIGA, Latvia – Latvia's banking chief will miss a meeting of the European Central Bank's top council, of which he is a member, amid an investigation into suspected corruption. The Bank of Latvia's spokesman, Janis Silakalns, said Wednesday that Latvia…
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Budget carrier flydubai says its earnings and profits have increased, with revenue reaching 5.5 billion dirhams ($1.5 billion) in 2017 compared to 5 billion dirhams ($1.37 billion) in 2016. Profits for the Dubai-based airline reached…
BEIRUT – The Latest on the Syrian civil war (all times local): 12:15 p.m. The spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey is determined to press ahead with its offensive to clear a Syrian enclave of Kurdish fighters despite…
MANILA, Philippines – Justice officials have asked a court to formally designate the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army, as terrorist groups in a move that could further damage chances of a resumption…
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka's military says an explosion in a passenger bus has injured 19 people, including 12 military personnel. Brig. Sumith Atapattu said the explosion occurred Wednesday near Diyatalawa, a former garrison town about 190 kilometers (120…
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan says it has been given three months to prove it is doing enough to stay off an international watch list for countries that fail to curb the financing of terror groups. Pakistan has been scrambling to stay…
ATHENS, Greece – Greek lawmakers are debating whether to launch an investigation into 10 senior politicians — including two former prime ministers, the current central bank governor and a European commissioner — over allegations they were involved in a pharmaceutical…
BEIRUT – The Syrian Civil Defense rescue organization says 10 people have been killed by government airstrikes and shelling on a town in the suburbs of Damascus. The group, also known as the White Helmets, says government forces targeted Kafr…