Growing pot at home is now legal in Uruguay, where president quietly signed marijuana law

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay –  A spokesman for Uruguay's president says Jose Mujica has quietly signed into law the government's ...

Crime bosses convicted in Macedonia gambling sweep, 13 gang members jailed

SKOPJE, Macedonia –  Two fugitive alleged crime bosses have been jailed for life in Macedonia on charges of attempted murder and ...

Yemen agrees on political map, giving regions _ including the restive south _ semi-autonomy

SANAA, Yemen –  The United Nations envoy to Yemen says that the country's political representatives have signed an agreement ...

200 more wounded over last 4 days in Central African Republic, doctors

BANGUI, Central African Republic –  An international charity says a renewed wave of violence in the capital of the Central Africa...

Bosniaks prevent Serb authorities from destroying house where 53 people were killed in 1992

VISEGRAD, Bosnia-Herzegovina –  Bosnian Serb authorities have postponed plans to demolish a house where Serb soldiers had burnt a...

Tunisian political rivals set Jan. 14 deadline for post-Arab Spring constitution

TUNIS, Tunisia –  Tunisia's rival political parties have set themselves a Jan. 14 deadline to adopt a new constitution, the f...

Storm problems cause severe delays at London Gatwick Airport and on many UK rail lines, roads

LONDON –  A severe winter storm has caused major travel problems in Britain and has led to substantial delays at London Gatwick A...

AU peacekeeper from Republic of Congo killed in Central African Republic

BANGUI, Central African Republic –  An African Union peacekeeper from the Republic of Congo was killed over the weekend in Centra...

$40 million fund being set up for victims, families of Bangladesh factory collapse

DHAKA, Bangladesh –  A compensation fund to benefit the victims of an April factory building collapse in Bangladesh that killed m...

At least 14 killed in attack on Egyptian police station, security official says

CAIRO –  A powerful explosion believed to be caused by a car bomb rocked a police headquarters in a Nile Delta city north of Cair...

Christmas a day of terror for Christians in Iraq, say human rights groups

While millions of Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Christmas, a dwindling number of believers in Iraq will be for...

Ruling party wins majority in Mauritanian parliamentary election

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania –  Mauritania's ruling party secured a majority of seats in the recent parliamentary election, with re...

Italy pledges to overhaul standards for refugee centers following outrage at migrant video

ROME –  Premier Enrico Letta has pledged to overhaul conditions in Italy's refugee holding centers following protests and a s...

Bahrain acquits 2 police officers accused of torturing doctors who treated protesters in 2011

MANAMA, Bahrain –  A lawyer says a Bahrain court has acquitted two police officers accused of torturing doctors who were detained...

Thousands of foreigners still in South Sudan city evacuated by US

NAIROBI, Kenya –  Civilian helicopters evacuated U.S. citizens from a violent South Sudan city seeing bouts of heavy machine gun ...

Fake snow flurries and halal turkeys: Cosmopolitan Dubai gets into the Christmas spirit

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates –  Just days before Christmas, Ben Elliott-Scott was busy touching up the paint on a foam snowman and...

Brits, Canadians, Australians among 3,000 foreigners in violent S. Sudan city US evacuated

NAIROBI, Kenya –  A top U.N. official in South Sudan says 3,000 foreign nationals remain in a strife-torn city from which America...

South Sudan rebels hold key oil-producing city

KAMPALA, Uganda –  South Sudan's central government lost control of the capital of a key oil-producing state Sunday, the mili...

3 suspected gang members fatally shot by police officers in Jamaica; 4 illegal firearms seized

KINGSTON, Jamaica –  Jamaican authorities say three suspected gang members have been fatally shot by police in a security operati...

Swiss watchmaker Swatch claims victory in contractual dispute with Tiffany & Co

BERLIN –  Swatch Group AG says it has won a contractual dispute with Tiffany & Co. The Swiss watchmaker says th...

6 drown, 1 survivor as leisure fishing boat capsizes off the west coast of Portugal

LISBON, Portugal –  Portuguese officials say six people have drowned and one survivor was hospitalized with hypothermia after a l...

3 parties in new Czech govt say they will sign coalition deal on Jan 6

PRAGUE –  The leader of the first-place party in the Czech Republic's parliamentary election says he will sign a deal with tw...

Israeli lawyer turns into one of the most effective champions of Palestinian land rights

JERUSALEM –  Growing up in Jerusalem, Michael Sfard had no contact with Palestinians who lived just across the street from him in...

100,000 demonstrate in Kiev as anti-government protests to demand early vote enter 2nd month

KIEV, Ukraine –  About 100,000 demonstrators are gathering in the center of the Ukrainian capital to demand the ouster of the pre...

Investigations show pilot intentionally crashed Mozambican plane, aviation official says

MAPUTO, Mozambique –  An aviation official says preliminary investigations show the pilot of a Mozambican plane intentionally bro...

Bangladesh police charge garment factory owners, 11 others in fire that killed 112

DHAKA, Bangladesh –  Police in Bangladesh have charged the owners of a garment factory and 11 of their employees with culpable ho...

Billionaire feared dead after helicopter crashes over newly-bought vineyard

A Chinese hotel magnate is believed to be among the dead after a helicopter taking him on a tour of his newly-bought French viney...

22 police injured as protest over eviction of German cultural center turns violent

BERLIN –  German police say 22 officers have been injured in clashes with protesters opposed to the eviction of a left-wing cultu...

Arab League rejects US proposal in Mideast deal

CAIRO –  The Arab League says it rejects a continued Israeli troop presence on the eastern border of a future state of Palestine,...

4 wounded as US military aircraft takes on fire during evacuation mission in South Sudan

Rebel gunfire hit a U.S. military aircraft trying to evacuate American citizens caught in a remote region of South Sudan that on ...

Freed Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky meets family in Berlin, plans to speak Sunday

BERLIN –  The former oil baron Mikhail Khodorkovsky is meeting with his family in Berlin a day after being released from decade-l...

Activists: Syrian rebels seize strategic hospital in northern city despite government bombing

BEIRUT –  Activists say Syrian rebels have gained control of a strategic hospital in the city of Aleppo despite days of relentles...

Officials: Attacks in western Iraq, south of Baghdad kill 4 policemen, 2 Shiite pilgrims

BAGHDAD –  Officials say attacks in western Iraq and south of Baghdad have killed six people — four policemen and two Shiite pil...

Indian environment minister resigns in pre-election shakeup, portfolio goes to oil minister

NEW DELHI –  India's environment minister has resigned in a government shakeup as the governing Congress party prepares for n...

Ban Ki-moon visits typhoon-devastated Philippine city

TACLOBAN, Philippines –  U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is visiting a central Philippine city devastated by a super typhoon t...

Taiwanese tourist kidnapped in Malaysia in November released in southern Philippines

MANILA, Philippines –  The Philippine military says a Taiwanese tourist who was kidnapped more than a month ago in Malaysia has b...

Libyan intelligence official killed by gunmen outside home

TRIPOLI, Libya –  Gunmen shot and killed a top Libyan military intelligence official Friday outside his home in an eastern city k...

US blocking Iran participation at Syria peace talks

GENEVA –  The U.S. is blocking Iran's participation at the Syria peace conference planned for next month. but the other deleg...

Canada Supreme Court strikes down anti-prostitution laws

OTTAWA –  Canada's highest court struck down the country's anti-prostitution laws Friday, a victory for sex workers who s...

Snowden leaks: NSA, UK eavesdropping agency targeted Israel PM, EU officials, UN aid groups

LONDON –  Newspaper reports say the latest documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden show tha...

Bosnian Islamic extremist given 45 years in prison for terrorist attack at police station

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina –  A Bosnian court has sentenced an Islamic extremist to 45 years in prison for terrorism. ...

Ukrainian prosecutors blame nationalists for provocations, opposition boycotts round table

KIEV, Ukraine –  Ukraine's chief prosecutor says a probe by his office so far has failed to determine who ordered a police cr...

Official: 2 Egyptian soldiers killed, 8 wounded in operation targeting Sinai militants

EL-ARISH, Egypt –  A security official in Egypt says clashes between soldiers and wanted al-Qaida-inspired militants in the north...

Madagascar voters in run-off election for new president and parliament

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar –  With hopes that the election of a new president will end international sanctions, residents of this I...

Uganda passes anti-gay law that punishes "aggravated homosexuality" with life imprisonment

KAMPALA, Uganda –  A spokeswoman for Uganda's parliament says lawmakers have passed a long-shelved law that punishes "ag...

Iraqi officials: Double bombing kills 6 people north of Baghdad.

BAGHDAD –  Authorities in Iraq say a double bombing at a sheep market in a town north of the capital, Baghdad, has killed six peo...

Indian ambassador says 3 UN peacekeepers from his country killed in South Sudan violence

UNITED NATIONS –  India's U.N. Ambassador Asoke Mukerji says three U.N. peacekeepers from his country were killed when armed ...

Mexico human rights body investigates deaths of 5 teens killed when struck by speeding gunmen

Mexico's human rights agency is investigating the case of five teenage students killed as they left their school Christmas party when gu...

Cyprus passes 2014 budget, 1st after agreeing to financial rescue deal

NICOSIA, Cyprus –  Cyprus' parliament has approved the 2014 state budget, the country's first after agreeing to a painful...

London theater balcony believed to have collapsed

LONDON –  A ceiling apparently collapsed at a crowded London theater during a performance Thursday night, trapping people inside ...

Diplomats say Russia objects to UN statement expressing outrage at Syrian airstrikes

UNITED NATIONS –  Diplomats say Russia has objected to a proposed U.N. Security Council statement expressing outrage at Syrian go...

South Sudan youth force way into UN peacekeeping mission base

The United Nations says a group of South Sudan youth have forced their way into a U.N. peacekeeping mission base in conflict-wrac...

German officials: Stolen cars may have ended up with people close to Tajikistan ruler

BERLIN –  German officials say stolen cars from Germany may have ended up with people close to the family of Tajikistan's pre...

Report says UK intelligence agencies may have been complicit in detainee abuse

LONDON –  An inquiry has found evidence that British intelligence agencies may have been complicit in the abuse of detainees by c...

Vatican outsources even more financial reform, tapping KPMG, McKinsey to join Promontory, EY

VATICAN CITY –  The Vatican is outsourcing more of its financial reform to big-name consulting firms, tapping McKinsey & Co. ...

Europe readies satellite that will map 1 billion stars, hunt for new planets

BERLIN –  The European Space Agency is preparing to launch a satellite that will produce the most accurate three-dimensional map ...

Rodman returns to North Korea amid political unrest

BEIJING –  Former NBA star Dennis Rodman is flying to North Korea to help train the national team and renew his friendship with t...

Israeli military raid in West Bank kills member of Palestinian security forces

JERUSALEM –  The Israeli military says it has killed a member of the Palestinian security forces during an overnight arrest raid....

South Sudan fighting continues as military loses capital of the rural state of Jonglei

KAMPALA, Uganda –  South Sudan's military says it is no longer in control of a town in a rural state where fighting has sprea...

US sends 2 Guantanamo prisoners home to Sudan

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba ( –  The U.S. military has sent two prisoners from Guantanamo Bay back to their native Sudan in t...

UN group says torture still occurs in Moroccan jails, but not like in the past

RABAT, Morocco –  A U.N. delegation investigating detention conditions in Morocco says torture occurs there, but is no longer as ...

4 dead in shootout with security forces in northern Mexico resort

HERMOSILLO, Mexico –  Prosecutors in northern Mexico say four men have been killed in a gun battle with police and military perso...