VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis entered his 80th year on Thursday amid hopes among his critics that it will be his last – at least as pope. While Francis remains enormously popular among most rank-and-file Catholics, a small but vocal group of conservatives who have never much cared for …

BRUSSELS (AP) – European Union leaders were gathering Thursday for a potentially divisive debate amid a migration crisis on whether to create a new border guard with powers to unilaterally deploy to countries unable to manage their borders. Hundreds of thousands of migrants have entered Greece this year, hopping into …

NEW YORK (AP) – Want even your younger kids to join the tech revolution by learning to code? Maybe you should get them a robot – or at least a video game. That’s the aim of entrepreneurs behind new coding toys for kids as young as 6. They’re spurred by …

BAGHDAD (AP) – Defense Secretary Ash Carter met with Iraqi leaders and his commanders Wednesday on an unannounced war zone visit aimed at broadening U.S. assistance to Iraq to defeat the Islamic State group. The Obama administration has been talking for days about “accelerating” the fight against IS, but that …

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) – Human rights advocates have called for an investigation following the Nigerian army’s raid on a Shiite sect in which hundreds of people were reportedly killed. Details of the weekend violence in Zaria have been slow to emerge, with the three attacked areas of the northern town …

HARSHAM CAMP, Iraq (AP) – The Islamic State militants who stormed into the Iraqi town of Sinjar last year, massacring members of the Yazidi minority and forcing women into sexual slavery, are gone. But Sunni Muslims who lived alongside the Yazidis there for generations say their own nightmare is far …

The closure was part a day of national mourning and a precaution against militant attacks tied to the anniversary, said government spokesman Mushtaq Ghani. Pakistan’s top civilian and military leadership attended a ceremony in the northwestern city of Peshawar to award medals to the victims’ families. In his address, Prime …

LONDON (AP) – Britain’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled unanimously against tycoon and U.S. presidential contender Donald Trump in his pitched battle to stop an offshore wind farm near his upscale Scottish golf resort. Trump claims the 11-turbine project, approved by the Scottish government in 2013, will spoil the view …

BEIJING (AP) – Chinese President Xi Jinping called Wednesday for governments to cooperate in regulating Internet use, stepping up efforts to promote controls that activists complain stifle free expression. Xi’s government operates extensive Internet monitoring and censorship and has tightened controls since he came to power in 2013. Speaking at …

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) – Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that 34 nations have agreed to form a new “Islamic military alliance” to fight terrorism with a joint operations center based in the kingdom’s capital, Riyadh. The announcement published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency said the alliance will be Saudi-led …