World

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s official news agency says that special operatives have freed an Iranian diplomat abducted more than 19 months ago in Yemen. IRNA quotes deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdolahian as saying the intelligence officers carried out a “difficult and complicated operation” to secure the freedom of Nour Ahmad …

CANBERRA, Australia – An official says two Australian brothers aged 16 and 17 have been stopped at Sydney Airport on suspicion they were headed to the Middle East to fight with the Islamic State group. Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton told reporters Sunday the young brothers from Sydney raised the …

CAIRO – An Egyptian court on Wednesday convicted four men over the grisly killing of a dog whose torture was captured on video, sentencing them to three years in prison. The video, which triggered an uproar on social media, shows the dog named Max tied up on a busy Cairo …

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Thousands of people of different faiths have formed a human ring outside the synagogue in Copenhagen where a Jewish security guard was fatally shot last month. Organizer Niddal El-Jabr says the idea behind the show of unity was to “send a powerful statement” that “Jews should able …

UNITED NATIONS – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is accusing the Syrian government of violating a 1974 agreement creating a buffer zone between Syria and Israel. Ban criticized the increased use of heavy weapons by Syria’s government and armed groups operating in the separation area. He called on President Bashar Assad …

MANAMA, Bahrain – Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior says an explosion west of the Gulf island nation’s capital of Manama has wounded two policemen. The ministry reported the blast, which happened late on Thursday, on its official Twitter account. It says the explosion took place in the area of Karrana. It …

BEIRUT – Activists say Syrian government warplanes have attacked areas close to the site where an army helicopter crashed a day earlier and its crew members were captured. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says nine air raids were conducted Monday in the Jabal al-Zawiya region in the northwestern …

JERUSALEM – An Israeli district court has indicted an Arab Druse from the Golan Heights on suspicion of spying for Syria. Israeli police said Friday that in a joint investigation with the Shin Bet security service, they arrested two residents of the town of Majdal Shams who were documenting Israeli …

CANBERRA, Australia – The commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet says China is using land reclamation to create “a great wall of sand” in disputed areas of the South China Sea, causing serious concerns about its territorial intentions. Admiral Harry Harris Jr. told a naval conference in Australia on Tuesday …

ISTANBUL – A Turkish intelligence official says authorities believe the common law wife of one of the gunmen behind the attacks in France came through Turkey days before the attacks and may have crossed into Syria. The official told The Associated Press on Saturday that a woman by the same …