World

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has led prayers in St. Peter’s Square for the dead and displaced from the massive earthquake in Nepal and surrounding areas. Francis called for assistance for the survivors during his weekly Sunday blessing. He said he was praying for the victims, the injured and “all …

ATHENS, Greece – Lawmakers from Greece’s new left-wing government have voted to reinstate the country’s public broadcaster, ERT, which was abruptly shut down two years ago as part of austerity measures. Parliament voted early Wednesday to re-hire more than 1,500 ERT workers and incorporate a protest TV station operated online …

KATHMANDU, Nepal – An official says rescuers have found three survivors in a mountainous village in Nepal, eight days since the earthquake. Surya Prasad Upadhaya, a government administrator, says two men and a woman were pulled out Sunday from near Syauli village. They have been taken to a nearby military …

UNITED NATIONS – Suspected rebels ambushed a Tanzanian unit of U.N. peacekeepers in eastern Congo on Tuesday, killing two and wounding 13, the spokesman for the secretary-general said in a statement. Four peacekeepers were reported missing. The ambush came a day after gunfire hit a helicopter carrying the mission’s force …

A 20-year-old Scottish university student was elected Britain’s youngest lawmaker in almost 350 years Thursday, defeating one of the opposition Labour Party’s most senior politicians in the process. Mhairi Black of the separatist Scottish National Party (SNP) won the seat of Paisley and Renfrewshire South in western Scotland by a …

MOSCOW – A third charge has been filed against a Ukrainian military officer who has been behind bars in Moscow for nearly a year over the deaths of two Russian journalists in Ukraine. Nadezhda Savchenko, who worked as a spotter for Ukrainian troops fighting separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, had …

MARGRATEN, Netherlands – Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has paid tribute at a Memorial Day ceremony to U.S. troops who fought and died liberating the Netherlands from Nazi occupation in World War II. Thousands of people sat under blue skies and wispy white clouds for Sunday’s ceremony at the American …

BERLIN – Emergency officials say the crew of a freighter carrying fertilizer has abandoned the ship off the German coast because of the risk of explosion. Residents along the North Sea coast in the region around Bremerhaven had reported a strong smell, likely caused by fumes from the ship. Germany’s …

BEIJING – China’s military will hold live-firing exercises along its volatile border with Myanmar near where Chinese civilians were killed by stray bombs from a conflict between rebels and Myanmar’s government. The Defense Ministry says the exercises starting Tuesday in Yunnan province will include both ground and air elements. It …

UNITED NATIONS – A British non-governmental organization is threatening legal action against the Israeli government over its accusation that the organization is linked to the militant group Hamas. The Palestinian Return Center this week was granted consultative status at the United Nations, prompting Israel’s U.N. mission to protest that the …