World

ZURICH (AP) – The FIFA ethics committee has extended the ban on Jerome Valcke for another 45 days while it processes a case against him. Valcke faces a nine-year ban after being charged with violating the FIFA code of ethics while serving as President Sepp Blatter’s secretary general since 2007. …

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been named as this year’s recipient of a prestigious international award, with organizers lauding her “great moral leadership” in Germany and pivotal role in tackling the crises buffeting Europe. The Dutch-based Roosevelt Foundation says Merkel will receive the International Four …

VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis says restless hearts are seeking sure answers to life’s questions without finding them. Francis has voiced this reflection during Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Wednesday to mark Epiphany, recalling the Gospel account of the Three Kings, or Magi, who follow a star to find …

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran’s president said on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia cannot “cover up” its crime of executing a leading Shiite cleric by severing diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic, even as the kingdom’s allies began limiting their links to his country. President Hassan Rouhani’s comments came as Kuwait …

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Diplomatic tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which began with the kingdom’s execution of a Shiite cleric and later saw attacks on Saudi diplomatic posts in the Islamic Republic, have seen countries around the world respond. Some nations have followed the Saudis’ lead in …

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – At least 21 migrants drowned off Turkey on Tuesday after their boats overturned in rough waters in two separate incidents as they tried to reach the Greek island of Lesbos, authorities and news reports said. Nine bodies washed up on a beach in the resort town …

JERUSALEM (AP) – A Palestinian attacker stabbed an Israeli soldier on Tuesday in the West Bank, lightly wounding him before troops at the scene shot and killed the assailant, the military said. The stabbing at the Gush Etzion junction is the latest in three-and-a-half months of near-daily attacks that have …

PARIS (AP) – French President Francois Hollande has honored 17 victims killed in Islamic extremist attacks on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, a kosher market and police a year ago this week, unveiling plaques around Paris marking violence that ushered in a tumultuous year. Tuesday’s ceremonies come as Charlie Hebdo is …

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Saudi Arabia’s severing of diplomatic ties with Iran may force the Islamic Republic to stop its citizens from going on the annual hajj pilgrimage, a prominent Iranian lawmaker said Monday, as world leaders sought to cool tensions between the two Mideast rivals. The sharp escalation between …

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been tense since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, though there have been occasional thaws between the two rivals. The tensions have now sharply escalated with Saudi Arabia severing ties with the Islamic Republic following attacks on Saudi …