World

MADRID – Differences over a push for independence in Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region have torn apart the governing coalition group, an alliance that has ruled the region for much of the past 40 years. The Convergence and Union party pact was declared finished Thursday by Convergence, a day after Union …

They are not exactly Cain and Abel, but theologically and philosophically Christopher and Peter Hitchens are just as divided as the brothers of the Old Testament. Christopher Hitchens, 61, author of the bestselling book “God is Not Great,” is one of the world’s best-known atheists. Peter Hitchens, two years younger, …

UNITED NATIONS – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed an independent panel Monday to review the United Nations’ handling of allegations of child sexual abuse by French soldiers in Central African Republic. Confidential documents have shown that the U.N.’s top human rights officials did not follow up for more than half a …

SANAA, Yemen – Yemeni security officials say ground fighting and Saudi-led airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Shiite rebels continue across the country as negotiators in neighboring Oman try to bring a halt to the combat. The officials say representatives of the southern separatist movement were meeting with the rebels, known as Houthis, …

MONTREAL – A Canadian man sentenced to life in prison for killing and dismembering his Chinese lover and mailing the body parts to schools and political parties has joined a matchmaking website for inmates. Luka Magnotta’s profile was posted Sunday on Canadian Inmates Connect Inc., a website that tries to …

MELBOURNE, Australia – Australian authorities on Wednesday ended a 15-hour prison riot involving up to 300 inmates in Melbourne suspected to have been triggered by a ban on smoking. Rioters armed with pieces of wood lit fires in buildings, broke down an internal wall and smashed windows during the chaos, …

LONDON – Amnesty International has expressed outrage after a British tribunal confirmed that Britain’s government had spied on the human rights organization. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal wrote to Amnesty on Thursday to notify it that Britain’s electronic intercepting agency, GCHQ, had violated its rules when it kept intercepted communications from …

LISBON, Portugal – A Portuguese actor says he was detained on suspicion of terrorism after meditating and chanting Buddhist texts aboard a plane at Paris Orly airport. Heitor Lourenco, 47, says he was reciting texts in Tibetan from his smartphone screen on the Lisbon-bound Transavia plane when police ordered everybody …

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Hungary’s parliament has approved amendments tightening the country’s asylum system, a response to the record number of migrants and refugees reaching the country over the past year. The plan, sharply criticized by the U.N.’s refugee agency, was approved Monday by lawmakers from the governing Fidesz party, its …

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka’s revival of a media regulatory group that empowers the government to imprison or fine journalists is raising concerns from press freedom groups. President Maithripala Sirisena made new appointments last week to the council he had dissolved following his shock election victory in January over …