VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis pushed open the great bronze doors of St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday to launch his Holy Year of Mercy, declaring that mercy trumps moralizing in his Catholic Church. Francis stood in prayer on the threshold of the basilica’s Holy Door then walked through it, …

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – The latest developments as tens of thousands of people make their way to Europe and across the continent, seeking safety and a better life. All times local. 2:35 p.m. The U.N. refugee agency is urging Jordan’s government to allow in around 12,000 people who are stranded …

Despite efforts to improve the air, levels of contamination a dozen times the World Health Organization safe level are not unusual, and the city issued a red alert for smog this week, keeping schools closed and half the vehicles off the streets. Not content with just the industrial white variety …

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) – As a student graduating from computer college two years ago, Mohammed Qudih was dreading the “painful” unemployment in the Gaza Strip – a war-battered coastal territory where nearly half the population is without work. Today, the 25-year-old engineer boasts about his company, its 20 …

BERLIN (AP) – The latest developments as tens of thousands of people make their way to Europe and across the continent, seeking safety and a better life. All times local. 4 p.m. A Polish official says that the country will continue to upgrade surveillance methods to prevent an influx of …

PARIS (AP) – One said he couldn’t afford the bullets to load his gun in Syria, while another compared carrying a Kalashnikov to wearing a superhero costume. Most of the six men on trial in Paris for their alleged roles in a recruiting network for European Islamic extremist fighters portray …

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Venezuela’s opposition won control of the National Assembly by a landslide, stunning the ruling party and altering the balance of power 17 years after the late Hugo Chavez kicked off the nation’s socialist revolution. The opposition coalition won at least 99 seats in the incoming 167-seat …

JOHANNESBURG (AP) – Oscar Pistorius must appear in court on Tuesday to apply for bail now that an appeals court has overturned his manslaughter conviction and instead found him guilty of murder for shooting his girlfriend to death, a South African official said. The double-amputee Olympian might also be given …

BEIJING (AP) – Beijing issued its first-ever red alert for smog on Monday, urging schools to close and invoking restrictions on factories and traffic that will keep half of the city’s vehicles off the roads. The red alert – the most serious warning on a four-tier system adopted a little …

NEW YORK (AP) – Keurig, the maker of single-cup coffee machine maker, said Monday that it has agreed to be sold to private equity firm JAB Holding Co. for almost $14 billion. Its shares rose more than 74 percent in premarket trading Monday. Keurig has been dealing with slowing sales …