World

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) – Syrian government troops who have besieged dozens of rebel-held communities are moving toward their biggest target yet – the opposition-controlled neighborhoods of the city of Aleppo, where some 300,000 people risk being trapped. Sieges were widely used for centuries as a military tool – from Jerusalem …

HAMMERFEST, Norway (AP) – After hiding below the horizon for two long months, the sun has finally risen in Hammerfest, casting a pale pink hue over the Arctic landscape surrounding the world’s northernmost refugee shelter. From her modest room, Huda al-Haggar admires the wonderland of snow and ice, a sight …

MEXICO CITY (AP) – Pope Francis wraps up his trip to Mexico on Wednesday with some of his most anticipated events: a visit in a Ciudad Juarez prison just days after a riot in another lockup killed 49 inmates and a stop at the Texas border when immigration is a …

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea’s president warned Tuesday that rival North Korea faces collapse if it doesn’t abandon its nuclear bomb program, an unusually strong broadside that will likely infuriate Pyongyang. President Park Geun-hye, in a nationally televised parliamentary address defending her decision to shut down a jointly …

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Repeatedly over the past six weeks, since the morning North Korea surprised the world with its fourth nuclear test, the United States, South Korea, Japan and their allies have vowed to get tough on Pyongyang. “Reckless and dangerous,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said …

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 …