NEW YORK (AP) — A retired three-star Venezuelan army general who twice tried to mount coups against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was sentenced Monday to over 21 years in prison after he admitted providing weapons to drug-funded rebels.Cliver Alcalá, 62, of Caracas, Venezuela, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin…

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis met Monday with relatives of hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, marking the six-month anniversary of the attack in southern Israel with an hour-long audience.The Vatican released photos of the encounter, showing relatives of several of the hostages sitting in a semicircle in…

44 million voters in South Korea head to the polls on Wednesday to elect a new 300-member parliament.Up to 30% to 40% of voters are politically neutral and could determine the results of the election.Many voters have deemed domestic concerns, such as the prices of agricultural products, to be the…

CHILPANCINGO, Mexico (AP) — Protesters in southern Mexico set the state government building afire Monday and torched at least a dozen cars in the parking lot.The protests occurred in the violence-wracked city of Chilpancingo, the capital of the Pacific coast state of Guerrero.PROTESTERS USE PICKUP TRUCK TO RAM DOWN DOORS…

BANGKOK (AP) — Guerrilla fighters from Myanmar’s Karen ethnic minority claimed Monday to be close to seizing control of a major trading town bordering Thailand, as soldiers and civil servants loyal to the military government appeared to be preparing to abandon their positions.The occupation of Myawaddy town by the Karen…

Heavy winds, storms and strong rainfalls battering South Africa’s coastal province of Western Cape, which includes Cape Town, have left at least one person dead, officials said on Monday.The severe weather led to the closure of schools and highways mainly in the Cape Winelands, Overberg and West Coast regions where…

China’s burgeoning production of electric cars and other green technologies has become a flashpoint in a new U.S.-China trade fight, highlighted by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during her five-day visit to China and seized on by former President Donald Trump in incendiary remarks on the campaign trail.China has sharply ramped…

South Korea has successfully launched its second military spy satellite into orbit, days after North Korea reaffirmed its plan to launch multiple reconnaissance satellites this year.The Koreas each launched their first spy satellites last year — North Korea in November and South Korea in December — amid heightened animosities. They…

The Vatican has released a document criticizing gender theory, transgender surgery and surrogacy as affronts to human dignity.Dignitas Infinita, Latin for “Infinite Dignity,” was released on Monday after more than five years in development by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) and focuses on threats to human…

A senior Ukrainian official has denied Russian accusations that his country’s army fired exploding drones at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which the Kremlin’s forces have been occupying and running in southern Ukraine since shortly after the war began more than two years ago.Andrii Yusov, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s military…