World

GENEVA (AP) – The U.N. refugee agency says persecution and conflict in places like Syria and Afghanistan raised the total number of refugees and internally displaced people worldwide to a record 65.3 million at the end of last year. The previous year, 2014, had already seen the highest number of …

ISTANBUL (AP) – Human Rights Watch on Monday urged the EU to evaluate Syrian refugees’ protection claims before returning them to Turkey citing a lack of refugee rights. It said in a statement released for World Refugee Day that refugees in Turkey lacked access to jobs, education and health care. …

BRUSSELS (AP) – Brussels remains on high alert with increased security after a weekend sweep which left three in jail facing terrorism charges. The MIVB metro system says a half dozen subway stations have reduced entry on request from authorities but all subway lines were running during the morning rush …

TOKYO (AP) – The U.S. robotics expert tapped to head Toyota’s Silicon Valley research company says the $1 billion investment by the giant Japanese automaker will start showing results within five years. Gill Pratt told reporters that the Toyota Research Institute is also looking ahead into the distant future when …

Taxi and limo drivers, fed up with the airport authority’s licensing system, blocked three roads leading out of Pearson. Anti-Uber taxi protesters who gridlocked City Hall’s surrounding streets last December were reviled by downtown commuters — but their protest didn’t come close to one 10 years earlier on June 20, …

NEW DELHI (AP) – Within six days of announcing a crackdown on Islamist militants, Bangladesh had filled its jailhouses with 11,600 new detainees in what seemed like an astonishing display of law enforcement might. The problem is, less than 2 percent of those picked up are suspected radicals, and not …

BAGHDAD (AP) – An Iraqi military official says government forces are clearing mines and explosives left behind by members of the Islamic State group in areas recently retaken from the extremists in the city of Fallujah. Brig. Haider al-Obeidi told The Associated Press on Saturday that operations are still ongoing …

BEIJING (AP) – Scores of paramilitary police have locked down a restive village in southern China to ward off fresh anti-corruption protests nearly five years after its uprising made it a symbol of grassroots defiance against the Communist Party. A resident from Wukan village in Guangdong Province said by telephone …

VIENNA (AP) – Russia’s track and field athletes will be banned from competing for their country at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics after a landmark decision Friday that punished the sports powerhouse for a systematic doping system that operated “from the top down” and tainted the entire team. In an …

A man has died after being struck by a falling tree branch in Trinity Bellwoods Park, Toronto police have confirmed. It happened in the park located in the Queen Street West and Strachan Avenue area a short time ago. “We had multiple witnesses that we took statements from who confirmed …