Ratko Mladic’s genocide trial gets under way

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Twenty years after his troops began brutally ethnically cleansing Bosnian towns and villages of non-Serbs, Gen. Ratko Mladic went on trial Wednesday at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal accused of 11 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The …

2 killed in bombing targeting former Colombian minister

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A bomb targeting a former Colombian interior minister killed two people and injured at least 19 others in the heart of Bogota’s uptown commercial district on Tuesday, authorities said.

President Juan Manuel Santos said the former minister, Fernando Londono, was hurt …

Man sets himself on fire outside Breivik trial in Norway

OSLO, Norway — An unidentified man was seriously injured in a self-immolation Tuesday outside the courthouse where right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik is being tried on terror charges for a bombing and shooting massacre that killed 77 people on July 22. Police said the man …

Lightning hits new French president’s plane, none hurt

PARIS — Socialist Francois Hollande took over as France’s president Tuesday and jetted off to Berlin hours later for talks on Europe’s debt crisis — only to have his plane struck by lightning. No one was hurt.

The Falcon 7X aircraft was hit by lightning …

Ex-News of the World editor charged in phone hacking scandal

LONDON — Ex-News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, her husband and four others were charged Tuesday over alleged attempts to conceal evidence of Britain’s tabloid phone hacking scandal, prosecutors said. The criminal charges are the first to be filed since police launched a new …

Mexico drug war’s latest toll: 49 headless bodies

MONTERREY, Mexico — Forty-nine bodies with their heads, hands and feet hacked off were found Sunday dumped on a northern Mexico highway leading to the Texas border in what appeared to be the latest carnage in an escalating war between Mexico’s two dominant drug cartels. …

Libyans want answers over deadly NATO airstrikes

TRIPOLI, Libya — Mohammed al-Gherari lost five family members, including a young niece and nephew, when NATO accidentally struck their compound in the Libyan capital as they slept. Nearly a year later, his grief is compounded by threats and allegations from neighbors who believe he …

Dalai Lama alleges poison plot; China cries foul

BEIJING — China accused the Dalai Lama of being deceitful Monday after he reportedly alleged that Chinese agents trained Tibetan women to assassinate him by planting poison in their hair for him to touch during blessings. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the Tibetan spiritual leader’s …

Dead man wakes up at his own funeral in Egypt

LUXOR, Egypt — The funeral of a 28 year-old waiter in southern Egypt turned into a celebration when he woke up after being declared dead.

Hospital officials had pronounced dead Hamdi Hafez al-Nubi, who came from the village of Naga al-Simman in the southern province …

Pakistani leader: Time to open Afghan border to NATO troop supplies

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s foreign minister indicated Monday the time has come to reopen the country’s Afghan border to NATO troop supplies, saying the government had made its point by closing the route for nearly six months in retaliation for deadly U.S. airstrikes on its troops. …

Can buried treasure finally save Haiti?

TROU DU NORD, Haiti — Its capital is blighted with earthquake rubble. Its countryside is shorn of trees, chopped down for fuel. And yet, Haiti’s land may hold the key to relieving centuries of poverty, disaster and disease: There is gold hidden in its hills …

Spaniards rage against austerity, grim economy

MADRID — Spaniards angered by increasingly grim economic prospects and unemployment hitting one out of every four citizens protested in droves Saturday in the nation’s largest cities, marking the one-year anniversary of a spontaneous movement that inspired similar anti-authority demonstrations across the planet. The country’s …

U.S. drone strikes kill 6 al-Qaida militants: Yemeni officials

SANAA, Yemen — Two suspected U.S. drone strikes killed 11 al-Qaida militants in southern Yemen on Saturday, Yemeni military officials said. The first attack took place near the border of Marib and Shabwa provinces southeast of the capital, Sanaa, killing six militants, including one Egyptian …

German state vote could be setback for Angela Merkel

BERLIN — Germany’s most populous state holds an election Sunday, with polls showing good chances of victory for a center-left regional government that Chancellor Angela Merkel has sought to label as irresponsibly spendthrift. About 13.2 million people are eligible to vote for the state legislature …

Cargo plane mishap closes Guatemala City airport

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala’s civil aviation office says the capital’s international airport has been closed temporarily because an older-model cargo plane had problems with its landing gear and a propeller during landing and skidded on the runway. No injuries have been reported.

Civil aviation …