JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) – Rahman Wali’s younger brother was one of 10 Afghan men forced by Islamic State militants to kneel over bombs buried in the soil in a lush green valley in eastern Nangarhar province. The extremists then detonated the bombs, turning the pastoral countryside into a scene of …

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The U.N. Security Council’s unanimous support of a peace process for Syria that is set to begin next month with government-opposition talks and a cease-fire represents its strongest gesture yet in support of a solution to the civil war. The council’s adoption of a resolution Friday …

MADRID (AP) – Spain’s political landscape has changed dramatically since 2011, when voters ousted the Socialist Party and gave a landslide victory to the right-of-center Popular Party. The rise of two influential new parties to challenge the two longstanding traditional parties has injected tension and suspense into Sunday’s ballot, when …

BEIRUT (AP) – At tightly guarded facilities in south Lebanon, men as young as 17 undergo training by the Shiite guerrilla group Hezbollah on weapons and anti-insurgent tactics before being sent to Syria to fight alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces. Hezbollah has been conducting a large recruitment drive, a sign …

BRUSSELS (AP) – The European Union warned Thailand on Friday that it should “promptly” address the human rights and slavery issues that have dogged its seafood industry if it wants to stave off an EU seafood import ban. Several investigative reports by The Associated Press focused on slavery in the …

VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis has signed off on the miracle needed to make Mother Teresa a saint, giving the tiny nun who cared for the poorest of the poor one of the Catholic Church’s highest honors just two decades after her death. The Vatican said Friday that Francis …

WENZHOU, China (AP) – Alex Theil lost his innocence the day an envelope landed on his desk. It was filled with money from a counterfeiter of Toyota auto parts he’d busted, mistakenly delivered to him by a lawyer hired to help with the raid. Theil was running the office of …

NEW YORK (AP) – The U.S. is not winning the fight against potentially dangerous fakes, as corrupt investigators in China help counterfeiters perfect their art and make it easier for counterfeit goods to enter global supply chains. Seizures of counterfeits that can be harmful – including auto parts, semiconductors, and …

BEIJING (AP) – China’s capital Beijing issued its second smog red alert of the month on Friday, triggering vehicle restrictions and forcing schools to close. A wave of smog is due to settle over the city of 22.5 million from Saturday to Tuesday. Levels of PM2.5, the smallest and deadliest …

BENJINA, Indonesia (AP) – For the past year, The Associated Press has investigated slave labor in Thailand’s $7 billion seafood export industry, resulting in the freeing of more than 2,000 fishermen. This week, the AP came out with another investigation looking at slavery in shrimp processing sheds in Thailand. This …