World

MOSCOW (AP) – Moscow joined the fight in Syria to return to relevance in international diplomacy. It has succeeded by anyone’s measure – and Russia hopes to use its air power to dictate the terms of a cease-fire and prospective peace talks. Russian warplanes have helped the Syrian army make …

MEXICO CITY (AP) – Pope Francis heads into the heart of Mexico’s drug-trafficking country Tuesday for meetings with young people, whom he is holding up as the hope for a better future for a country wracked by the violence and gang warfare of the drug trade. Francis’ visit to Morelia, …

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) – After two years of painstaking work, experts have completed the initial phase of a delicate restoration project at the Church of the Nativity, giving a much-needed face-lift to one of Christianity’s holiest sites. The project, partially funded by the Palestinians and conducted by a team …

BEIRUT (AP) – An airstrike in the northern Syrian province of Idlib destroyed a makeshift clinic supported by an international aid group on Monday, killing and wounding several people, activists and the group said. In the neighboring Aleppo province, a missile struck a children’s hospital in the town of Azaz, …

BEIRUT (AP) – The latest on the civil war in Syria (all times local): 2:40 p.m. Turkey says Kurdish forces have been expelled from areas around the northern Syrian town of Azaz after a weekend of cross-border shelling. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday vowed the “harshest reaction” should the …

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) – The United States and Japan have already announced plans for new sanctions over North Korea’s recent nuclear test and rocket launch, and the U.N. Security Council is likely to deliver more soon. Cross-border tensions with Seoul are escalating quickly and even China is starting to …

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has praised scientists involved in the country’s recent rocket launch that he said struck a “telling blow” to enemies and ordered them to press ahead with more launches, state media reported Monday. Earlier this month, North Korea ignored repeated …

WASHINGTON (AP) – A coup leader with a penchant for song. A sultan with a taste for the high life. A ruthless prime minister with 31 years on the job. A former furniture salesman. A communist politburo veteran. A prime minister trying to shake off a $700 million financial scandal. …

MEXICO CITY (AP) – Pope Francis kicks off his first trip to Mexico on Saturday with speeches to the country’s political and ecclesial elites, riding in on the success of his historic meeting in Cuba with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. During a three-hour stop in Havana on …

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – The United States temporarily deployed an additional Patriot missile battery in South Korea in response to North Korea’s nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch, ahead of talks next week to set up an even more sophisticated U.S. missile defense in a move that has …