world news

Saakashvili supporters march to demand Poroshenko step down

MINSK, Belarus –  Several thousand supporters of deported Ukrainian opposition figure Mikheil Saakashvili marched through the center of Kiev on Sunday, demanding the resignation of President Petro Poroshenko. The protest included a nationalist faction, and some of its members broke…

Bolivia blames both Carnival blasts on dynamite

LA PAZ, Bolivia –  Bolivian authorities now say that both of the explosions that killed 12 people during recent Carnival celebrations were caused by dynamite, not exploding gas tanks as initially thought. Interior Minister Carlos Romero says officials are still…

Main party candidates formally join Mexico presidential race

MEXICO CITY –  Three presidential candidates have accepted the nominations of Mexico's main parties for the July 1 election, formally entering what is shaping up to be a crowded race. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the leftist Morena party is…

Maldives court delays reinstating pro-opposition lawmakers

MALE, Maldives –  The Supreme Court of the Maldives has delayed its order reinstating 12 pro-opposition lawmakers ahead of a key parliamentary sitting. Opposition lawmaker Ahmed Mahloof says the decision came Sunday. At a parliamentary sitting Monday, the government may…

Israeli police arrest telecom officials in graft case

JERUSALEM –  Israeli police say they have arrested senior officials at the country's national telephone company as part of an investigation into alleged corruption offenses. The Israeli daily Haaretz says police are investigating a possible relationship between the company, Bezeq,…

Hungarian leader calls Christianity 'Europe's last hope'

BUDAPEST, Hungary –  Hungary's prime minister says that "Christianity is Europe's last hope" and that politicians in Brussels, Berlin and Paris favoring migration have "opened the way to the decline of Christian culture and the advance of Islam." Viktor Orban…

Avalanche hits hikers in Switzerland, local police say

Hikers were reported missing after they were swept away by an avalanche in Switzerland.  (Valais Police) Hikers were reported missing on Sunday after they were swept away by an avalanche in Switzerland, reports said. The hikers were in the Swiss…

Nigeria releasing 475 Boko Haram suspects for rehabilitation

LAGOS, Nigeria –  Authorities in Nigeria are releasing hundreds of people accused of supporting an Islamic extremist group, citing a lack of evidence. Salihu Othman Isah, a special adviser to Nigeria's attorney general, said in a statement Sunday that 475…

Egypt sentences 65 Islamists to jail for incitement

CAIRO –  An Egyptian court has sentenced 65 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group to jail over alleged incitement against the state. The decision late Saturday by a court in the Nile Delta city of Zagazig also acquitted eight…

German police probe British woman over Holocaust remarks

BERLIN –  German police are investigating a British woman for suspected incitement after she questioned the Holocaust during a far-right protest in the eastern city of Dresden. A spokeswoman for Dresden police says Australian-born Michele Renouf is one of two…

2 Turkish soldiers missing after vehicle topples into flood

ISTANBUL –  Turkey's military says two soldiers are missing in a flood after heavy rains pummeled the country's southeast, and Turkish media reported that their armored vehicle had toppled into a river. In a statement Sunday, the army said the…

Russian news agency reports 4 dead in church shooting

MOSCOW –  Russian news agency Tass is reporting that a gunman opened fire on people leaving a church service in Russia's Dagestan region, killing four and wounding four others. Tass said the Sunday shooting occurred outside a church in the…

West Africa's extremism spreading as thousands flee homes

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso –  West Africa's extremist threat has moved into a new part of the vast Sahel region, with a previously calm area of Burkina Faso facing the kinds of assaults that have forced thousands elsewhere to flee over…

Turkey's PM expects top-level meetings of Erdogan, Merkel

BERLIN –  Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says he expects top-level visits between his country's president and German leader Angela Merkel, a sign of improved relations between the two countries. Ties between Germany and Turkey have been strained over a…

Kosovo celebrates 10 years of independence with ceremony

PRISTINA, Kosovo –  The Kosovo Assembly, or Parliament, has convened in a special session to celebrate the country's 10 years of independence. In a second day of celebrations Sunday, a ceremony started with the Parliament session and was being followed…

Dozens granted bail in Kuwait over 2011 parliament storming

KUWAIT CITY –  A judge in Kuwait has ordered dozens of politicians, activists and others imprisoned over protesters storming parliament in 2011 to be freed on bail pending their appeal before the country's highest court. The order Sunday by Court…

Job center for Syrians opens in Jordan refugee camp

AZRAQ REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan –  A job center has opened in Jordan's second largest camp for Syrian refugees, the latest sign of an EU-backed policy shift meant to improve life for Syrians in regional host countries. Dozens of refugees lined…

Pistorius prosecutor sets sights on South Africa's Zuma

JOHANNESBURG –  The former South African state prosecutor who led the case against convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius is prepared to take legal action against Jacob Zuma, the ex-president who left office last week following a series of scandals. A group…

Zimbabwe president sees deceased opposition leader's family

HARARE, Zimbabwe –  Zimbabwe's president Sunday visited the home of deceased opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to pay condolences to his family and to urge unity as power struggles within the opposition have heightened tensions. President Emmerson Mnangagwa pledged that his…