World

UNITED NATIONS – A new U.N. report says Libya’s ability to prevent the flow of weapons into the chaotic country is “almost nonexistent,” and it calls for the tightening of an arms embargo that the government says must be loosened so it can defend itself. The report by a panel …

BEIJING – China’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that a Chinese cargo ship was carrying legitimate military items when it was stopped in Colombia on its way to Cuba. Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the items were part of “normal military trade” between China and Cuba and did not violate Chinese …

PARIS – A Frenchman accused of helping a 14-year-old runaway try to join Islamic State by arranging her travel is on trial on terrorism charges. Friday’s trial of Riad Ben Cheikh sheds light on the shadowy networks that recruit European adolescent girls to join jihadi fighters in Syria. The girl …

BRUSSELS – The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations says peacekeeping missions in conflict areas around the world need contributions from European militaries “more than ever.” Speaking Monday in Brussels, Samantha Power said that European nations, which 20 years ago contributed more than 40 percent of U.N. peacekeepers around the …

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel’s last will, which laid the foundation for the prestigious prizes bearing his name, has been put on public display for the first time. The handwritten document from 1895 is shown at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm as part of the “Legacy” exhibition that …

SEOUL, South Korea – An Asiana Airlines plane has returned to Hong Kong after finding a wrong passenger was aboard the aircraft. Asiana officials say the plane was bound for Incheon, South Korea when it had left Hong Kong earlier Monday. The officials say the passenger was supposed to take …

KIEV, Ukraine – Separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine are threatening to abandon a cease-fire following changes to a law granting their regions self-rule. Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky said Wednesday in a statement that legislation giving areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions special status has been weakened by the …

BEIRUT – Syria’s state media and an activist group say a twin bombing attack targeting Kurds celebrating their New Year has killed and wounded dozens of people. State TV said the two bombings targeted Kurds in the northeastern city of Hassakeh. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday’s …

BENJINA, Indonesia – The Burmese slaves sat on the floor and stared through the rusty bars of their locked cage, hidden on a tiny tropical island thousands of miles from home. Just a few yards away, other workers loaded cargo ships with slave-caught seafood that clouds the supply networks of …

SYDNEY – Officials are warning that hazardous tsunami waves could hit some coastlines in the Pacific after a powerful earthquake struck near the South Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea. The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck on Monday at a depth of 41 miles. The epicenter was …