Tag Archives: World

HELSINKI – World military spending was largely unchanged in 2014 as lower spending in the United States and Western Europe was matched by increases elsewhere, prompted by conflicts in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa, an arms watchdog said Monday. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said total global …

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Drug law amendments decriminalizing small amounts of pot and paving the way for a lawful medical marijuana sector have come into effect in Jamaica. The amended drug act became effective Wednesday with little public acknowledgement in a country where marijuana has long been culturally entrenched. Jamaica’s Parliament …

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Ten months after taking office, Cabinet ministers in a Palestinian unity government are making a rare visit to the Gaza Strip. The Cabinet ministers, all from the West Bank, are spending the week in Gaza in hopes of wresting more control from the Islamic Hamas …

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s military says its warplanes have pounded a militant hideout in a troubled tribal region along the Afghan border, killing 22 “terrorists.” In a statement released Wednesday, the military said the airstrikes were carried out the night before in the North Waziristan region, where the military launched a …

PARIS – France is stepping up efforts to save the life a Frenchman facing a firing squad in Indonesia on drug charges, amid signs that his execution may be suspended. Serge Atlaoui is among 10 foreigners slated for execution in the coming days in Indonesia. His case has drawn national …

MOSCOW – Russia’s Mission Control has failed to stabilize a cargo ship spinning out of control in orbit, but says it has not yet given up on saving the unmanned spacecraft. The Progress M-27M was launched Tuesday and was scheduled to dock at the International Space Station six hours later …

BAGHDAD – A prominent Yazidi lawmaker in Iraq says Islamic State group militants have killed at least 25 captive Yazidis at a prison camp. Legislator Mahma Khalil said late Saturday that the militants killed the captives on Friday in the town of Tal Afar. Khalil said he spoke to four …

RIO DE JANEIRO – A Brazilian court has cleared three people of responsibility for a 2007 jetliner crash that killed 199 people at a Sao Paulo airport. In a sentence that was handed down last week and made available Monday, federal judge Marcio Assad Guardi in Sao Paulo acquitted the …

VOLGOGRAD, Russia – German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says Russia and NATO are making progress in restoring military contacts that were suspended as the Ukraine crisis intensified. “I’m glad that, after the situation we had last year, we are now in the process of re-establishing this level of information,” Steinmeier …

BEIJING – Authorities say passengers in China have opened airplane emergency doors without authorization 12 times this year during taxiing or while at a standstill, and one of the passengers has been put on trial in the country’s first such legal case. The Civil Aviation Administration of China said Monday …