World

LONDON – The U.K. Independence Party, which wants Britain to leave the European Union, has suspended a candidate in the upcoming general election over claims a member of her staff inflated a restaurant receipt to be claimed on European taxpayer-funded expenses. The allegation is embarrassing for UKIP, which rails against …

GUATEMALA CITY – Guatemala and Honduras have set up a joint border task force to fight criminal gangs and tackle other causes of migration as part of an attempt to reduce the number of people headed north to the United States, officials said Monday. The “Maya-Chorti” task force comprises around …

MOSCOW – A senior Russian official says about 1,500 residents of Russia’s North Caucasus are fighting alongside Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. Sergei Melikov, President Vladimir Putin’s envoy to the North Caucasus, says at least five militants who came back after fighting in Syria were killed in security …

MEXICO CITY – A clash between two vigilante “self-defense” groups in the troubled Mexican state of Guerrero killed at least four people and dozens more were taken prisoner by each side, a leader of one of the groups said Tuesday. Over the last two years vigilantes have brought some peace …

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis is insisting that his concern for the poor and critique of the global economic system isn’t some novel, communist-inspired ideology but rather the original and core “touchstone” of the Christian faith. Some U.S. conservatives have branded Francis a Marxist for his frequent critiques of consumerism …

JERUSALEM – Israel’s half a million high school students are staying home for three days to protest cancelled field trips, the first time the country’s teenagers are playing hooky nationwide. Education Ministry spokeswoman Hagit Cohen said the strike was in protest against a decision by an organization of Israeli teachers …

TOKYO – Japan’s leading opposition Democratic Party has chosen 61-year-old Harvard-trained former Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada as its top leader. Okada won in a runoff vote Sunday against Goshi Hosono after another contender, former Health Minister Akira Nagatsuma, was eliminated in the first round. He faces the daunting challenge …

YANGON, Myanmar – Doctors Without Borders says it resumed providing medical aid in December in troubled Rakhine state in western Myanmar after being excluded for more than nine months. The government suspended the aid group’s activities last February, accusing it of lacking transparency in its work. It was thought to …

BERLIN – The head of a German serial killer known as the “Butcher of Hannover” has been cremated after lying in storage for almost 89 years. The Goettinger Tageblatt newspaper reported Saturday that the University of Goettingen’s medical department confirmed it had incinerated the remains of Fritz Haarmann last year. …

SANTIAGO, Chile – Chilean lawmakers have approved a bill that recognizes civil unions between same-sex couples. The bill has now been passed by both houses of congress in the South American country, and goes to President Michelle Bachelet for final approval. The legislation has been in the works for four …