BEIJING (AP) - A bishop who has resisted demands to join China's Communist Party-controlled church body has been taken into custody, a Catholic news service reported, despite recent moves by Beijing and the Holy See toward reconciliation.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon says it is reducing its counterterrorism forces in Africa and is studying whether to make similar moves elsewhere in the world. The stated reason for a planned 10 percent cut in the counterterrorism forces of U.S. Africa Command is to shift the military's attention toward security threats from Russia and China. That is in line with a revamped defense strategy announced in January by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
LONDON (AP) - The Latest on Britain's departure from the European Union (all times local): 5:30 p.m. British Prime Minister Theresa May says if politicians reject her Brexit deal, it will set the country on "a path of deep and grave uncertainty." Defiant in the face of mounting criticism, May said Thursday she believed "with every fiber of my being" that the deal her government struck with the European Union was the right one.
LONDON (AP) - What single word best captures the tone of the past year? Oxford Dictionaries says it's "toxic." Oxford University Press monitors changes in the English language and each year selects a word that catches the annual mood. Its lexicographers said Thursday that "toxic" grew into "an intoxicating descriptor for the year's most talked about topics." Beyond its literal sense, people also employed it to describe relationships, politics and habits.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - The U.N.-backed tribunal judging the criminal responsibility of former Khmer Rouge leaders for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians will issue verdicts Friday in the latest - and perhaps last - of such trials. Nuon Chea, 92, and Khieu Samphan, 87, are the last two surviving senior leaders of the radical communist group that brutally ruled Cambodia in the late 1970s.
MOSCOW (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin says Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has signaled readiness to discuss a Soviet-era proposal on settling a decades-old territorial dispute. Putin said that during their meeting Wednesday on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Singapore, Abe said that Tokyo could resume discussions on a 1956 Soviet proposal to return two of four disputed Pacific islands to Japan.
BEIRUT (AP) - Two rival Lebanese Christian leaders reconciled Wednesday ending four decades of enmity triggered by a massacre of dozens during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. Samir Geagea, leader of the Lebanese Forces group, and Sleiman Frangieh of the Marada Party shook hands and kissed each other on the cheeks at the headquarters of the Maronite Christian church north of Beirut. The reconciliation was sponsored by Cardinal Bechara al-Rai, head of the Maronite church, Lebanon's largest.
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) - A runoff presidential election in December is likely in Madagascar where two former presidents are in a tight race, according to results announced Wednesday from 70 percent of polling stations.
LONDON (AP) - The British government says it will cut the maximum stake on electronic slot machines from 100 pounds ($130) to 2 pounds ($2.60) in April - reversing an unpopular decision to delay the move. The government agreed to reduce the maximum wager on fixed-odds betting terminals to help tackle problem gambling. Critics of the machines, found in betting shops across the country, say they are addictive and players can quickly lose large sums.
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Romanian prosecutors are considering terror charges for a 20-year-old man who allegedly injured 10 people with a knife and car, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism spokeswoman Mihaela Porime told The Associated Press that prosecutors are investigating Marius Parfenie for alleged acts of terrorism. Parfenie previously was under investigation for attempted murder.
IXTLAN DEL RIO, Mexico (AP) - The U.S. government said it was starting work Tuesday to "harden" the border crossing from Tijuana, Mexico, to prepare for the arrival of a migrant caravan leapfrogging its way across western Mexico. Customs and Border Protection announced it was closing four lanes at the busy San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry in San Diego, California.
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Romania's prime minister dismissed suggestions Tuesday that the country isn't prepared to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union next year, despite criticism from the bloc that the country is backsliding on democratic reforms. "I assure you that Romania is ready... logistically and from an organizational point of view," Premier Viorica Dancila said, blasting the EU for a critical report on the country's justice system.
