World

BERLIN – The U.N. human rights office has criticized Indonesia’s decision to execute eight people convicted of drug smuggling. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights says Indonesia asks for clemency for its own nationals facing execution in other countries, “so it is incomprehensible why it absolutely refuses …

ROME – Ships from the Italian Coast Guard and navy have rescued more than 1,200 migrants after smugglers’ boats ran into trouble in the Mediterranean Sea near Libya. Italian officials say the migrants were being taken Saturday to Italian ports after several different rescue operations, including helping some 200 people …

BANGUI, Central Africa Republic – The United Nations says that armed groups in Central African Republic have agreed to release any children they are holding and not to recruit child soldiers. U.N. Children’s Agency representative Mohamed Malick Fall said Tuesday that this is a major step forward though challenges remain, …

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Emirates airline says Sir Maurice Flanagan, the first managing director of the carrier who helped it get off the ground three decades ago, has died. The Dubai-based airline Flanagan was instrumental in launching now ranks as the Middle East’s biggest carrier. It said Thursday the …

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysian police say 1,018 Rohingyas and Bangladeshis have landed illegally on a beach in a northern resort island and all have been detained for processing. Langkawi island police chief Jamil Ahmed says they were believed to have come in three boats. He said Monday that police …

DOHA, Qatar – Women won two of the 29 seats up for grabs on Qatar’s municipal council, the only directly elected body in the small but wealthy Gulf nation. Election supervisory committee chairman Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Majid al-Khulaifi announced the election winners on Thursday. He says nearly 70 percent of …

TUNIS, Tunisia – Tunisia’s Foreign Ministry says 60 of its citizens have been released from detention in Libya, leaving more than 100 still under arrest. On Saturday, Tunisia’s consul in Tripoli, Brahim Rezgui, said that 172 Tunisians had been arrested by authorities. Differing reasons have been given for the arrest, …

CANBERRA, Australia – Australia plans to strip citizenship from Australian-born children of immigrants who become Islamic State fighters in its crackdown on homegrown jihadis. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told Sydney Radio 2GB on Thursday that his government wants to change the Citizenship Act to make fighting for the Islamic State …

MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s governmental human rights commission says it condemns violent incidents like a shootout between federal police and suspected criminals that left 42 suspects and one policeman dead. The rights commission said Tuesday it has opened a formal investigation into last week’s shootout at a ranch in western …

CAIRO – The head of Egypt’s state human rights agency says 2,600 people, nearly half of them supporters of the nation’s ousted president, were killed in violence over an 18-month period starting June 30, 2013. Mohammed Fayeq, head of the National Council for Human Rights, told reporters Sunday that 700 …