World

N’DJAMENA, Chad – Residents say two blasts went off in the capital of Chad, killing at least 11 people, including five police. Souleymane Brahim said Monday the first explosion hit N’Djamena early in the morning, followed by a second one. He said gunfire was heard after the explosions. Several residents …

MOSCOW – Russia’s highest court has given the green light to holding next year’s parliamentary vote several months earlier. Lawmakers in the Kremlin-controlled parliament in June gave tentative approval to a bill that would move up next year’s vote by three months, a tactic that has been decried as an …

BAMAKO, Mali – Six United Nations peacekeepers were killed and five wounded in an attack on their convoy in north Mali near Timbuktu, the U.N. Mali mission said Thursday. The convoy was attacked in the morning about 27 miles south of Timbuktu while patrolling on the road between Goundam and …

JOHANNESBURG – Mozambique says it has destroyed a large stockpile of confiscated ivory and rhino horn in an effort to curb severe poaching of the country’s elephant population. Samiro Magane, a conservation official in Mozambique, said in a telephone interview that the burning of the ivory and rhino horn on …

KIGALI, Rwanda – A Rwandan opposition party leader says its lawyers have abandoned a case seeking to stop the government from scrapping presidential term limits because they fear for their lives. Jean Claude Ntezimana of Rwanda’s Democratic Green Party told the Associated Press Wednesday that lawyers are afraid their lives …

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia – The Vatican and Bolivia both insist no offense was intended or taken when President Evo Morales gave Pope Francis a “Communist crucifix” as gift during his visit to this South American nation. The Catholic blogosphere was buzzing Thursday about what Morales, a socialist who has attacked …

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – A conservation group in St. Maarten says a local Internet marketplace has illegally offered endangered sea turtle hatchlings. The Nature Foundation nonprofit says a “growing number of wild animals” are being advertised on local online sites. The group says it managed to intervene in the sea …

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabia’s state news agency says the kingdom has warned Iran against abusing funds that will follow from the landmark nuclear deal to incite turmoil in the region. The Saudi Press Agency says Tehran must use the resources in the service of the Iranian people, “rather …

MANILA, Philippines – A wall in a coal mining pit collapsed in the central Philippines, killing three workers and leaving at least six others missing, a provincial governor said Friday. Antique provincial Gov. Rhodora Cadiao said she ordered the operator to stop work at the open Panian pit on Semirara …

MOSCOW – Russia says it is considering banning imports of cut flowers from The Netherlands, a move that would aggravate tensions between the two countries already at odds over the downing of flight MH17. National veterinary agency Rosselkhoznadzor said Monday it has urged the European Union’s organization for plant protection …