MADRID (AP) — A Spanish judge on Thursday threw out a lawsuit against the leader of a movement seeking independence for Western Sahara from Morocco that had accused him of torture, genocide and other crimes. Judge Santiago Pedraz said the 20-year statute of limitations had expired for the ...

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian health authorities on Thursday began the mass immunization of Rio de Janeiro's Mare neighborhood in a novel bid to control COVID-19 in a poor community while studying vaccine effectiveness and the prevalence of worrisome variants. The bayside Mare complex is ...

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Thousands of Guatemalans took to the streets in protest Thursday, blocking highways and calling for a national strike over the government's apparent unwillingness to tackle corruption. Pressure has been building since Attorney General Consuelo Porras fired ...

NECOCLI, Colombia (AP) — A small city on Colombia's Caribbean shore is being crowded with migrants from Haiti, Africa and Cuba making what they hope will be a journey toward the United States. Local official estimate more than 10,000 migrants have massed recently in Necocli, a city of some ...

HONG KONG (AP) — A pro-democracy protester was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison in the closely watched first case under Hong Kong's national security law as the ruling Communist Party tightens control over the territory. Tong Ying-kit, 24, was convicted of inciting secession and ...

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The U.S. military is warning about what analysts have described as a major expansion of China's nuclear missile silo fields at a time of heightened tension between Beijing and Washington. Researchers at the Federation of American Scientists estimate that China has ...

TOKYO (AP) — They spit. They wait. They hope. About 30,000 people from scores of nations are spitting into tiny plastic vials at the Olympics in a daily routine that's grown crucial in going ahead with the pandemic-era Games, according to organizers. If you do the math for the two-week ...

LONDON (AP) — International governments and companies have pledged more than $4 billion to educate 175 million children around the world and prevent a generation's chances being blighted by the coronavirus pandemic. The commitments came Thursday at a conference in London hosted by Britain, ...

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal is beginning its journey to what the country's prime minister calls "total freedom," with a government decision Thursday to start winding down COVID-19 pandemic restrictions ahead of a forecast 70% of people being fully vaccinated by the end of this ...

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Health authorities in Thailand raced to set up a large field hospital in a cargo building at one of Bangkok's airports on Thursday as the country reported record numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths. Other field hospitals are already in use in the capital after it ...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's prime minister on Thursday announced that the country would offer a coronavirus booster to people over 60 who have already been vaccinated. The announcement by Naftali Bennett makes Israel, which launched one of the world's most successful vaccination drives earlier ...

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has retracted a decision to end a key defense pact with the United States, allowing large-scale combat exercises between U.S. and Philippine forces that at times have alarmed China to proceed. Duterte's decision was announced ...

LONDON (AP) — Fully vaccinated travelers from the United States and much of Europe will be able to enter Britain without quarantining starting next week, U.K. officials said Wednesday — a move welcomed by Britain's ailing travel industry. The British government said people who have ...

PAPEETE, French Polynesia (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has reasserted his nation's presence in the Pacific on a visit to French Polynesia, a trip aimed at countering growing Chinese dominance in the region. The trip was also designed to underline the French government's support ...

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Thousands of judges and prosecutors in Poland have signed an appeal urging state and justice authorities to heed recent rulings by Europe's top court and immediately suspend a chamber disciplining judges. Poland's government has taken no action on the ruling by the ...

ROME (AP) — Bologna's extensive porticoes, dating back to the 13th century and still very much part of the city's everyday life, have been added to the World Heritage List. At a meeting in China on Wednesday, the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO, the U.N. culture agency, inscribed the ...

NEW YORK (AP) — The leader of Belarus' embattled opposition hopes the United States and Europe will impose new sanctions on money-making government enterprises that will lead to the collapse of President Alexander Lukashenko's regime and a peaceful transition that pro-democracy supporters are ...

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — A judge in El Salvador ordered the pre-trial arrest of 10 former government officials, including ex-President Salvador Sánchez Cerén, on corruption charges Wednesday. All of the former officials were part of the government of ex-President Mauricio Funes. ...

BEIJING (AP) — China's foreign minister met Wednesday with a delegation of high-level Taliban officials as ties between them warm ahead of the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan. A photo posted on the ministry's website showed Wang Yi posing with senior Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar ...

DHAKA,Bangladesh (AP) — Days of heavy rainfall have pelted Rohingya refugee camps in southern Bangladesh, destroying dwellings and sending thousands of people to live with extended family or in communal shelters. Just in the 24 hours to Wednesday alone, more than 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) ...