World

MEXICO CITY – Mexico will cut government spending by $8.4 billion this year because of a drop in revenues due to declining oil prices. Finance Minister Luis Videgaray also said Friday the government will put on hold plans to build a high-speed rail project that has been marred by allegations …

NAIROBI, Kenya – Hundreds of teachers in northern Kenya bordering Somalia have refused to return to work, fearing attacks by Islamic extremist. The teachers demonstrated outside parliament in Nairobi Tuesday demanding that the government transfer them to schools in safer regions. Kenya National Union of Teachers Chairman Mudzo Nzili said …

CAIRO – The wife of an Egyptian journalist for Al-Jazeera imprisoned in Egypt is pleading for a foreign passport for her husband in hopes it could secure his freedom. Jehan Rashed says she is also collecting a million-signature petition to push for Mohammed Baher’s release. She told The Associated Press …

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has protested China’s land reclamation in a disputed reef in the South China Sea as a violation of Manila’s exclusive right to authorize construction within its exclusive economic zone. Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Charles Jose said Tuesday a diplomatic protest was handed to the Chinese …

NAIROBI, Kenya – An international human rights group says the Burundian army, police and members of the ruling party’s youth league executed 47 people following a clash with an armed group in the country’s northwest. Human Rights Watch said Thursday it spoke with more than 50 people, including 32 witnesses …

YANGON, Myanmar – Australia is funding a three-year, 2.3 million Australian dollar ($1.8 million) project that will aid snakebite victims in Myanmar by upgrading care facilities and the quality and availability of antivenom. The University of Adelaide says Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has awarded it the grant …

BEIRUT – Rebels in Syria have captured 32 soldiers and pro-government gunmen near the northern city of Aleppo, where fighting is raging as the two sides try to grab new territory ahead of a possible truce, activists said Thursday. The fighting comes as U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura is trying …

UNITED NATIONS – Russia’s foreign minister is implicitly accusing the United States of violating U.N. principles by bombing Syria, occupying Iraq under false pretenses and manipulating a Security Council mandate to destroy and create chaos in Libya. Sergey Lavrov, clearly pointing at the U.S. without naming it, said these acts …

STOCKHOLM – A Swedish court has handed a five-year prison sentence to a Syrian refugee who was found guilty of abusing a captured member of President Bashar Assad’s forces. Mouhannad Droub admitted being part of a group under the Free Syrian Army that kicked and beat a prisoner, whose hands …

YANGON, Myanmar – Police in Myanmar have arrested a photojournalist who posted a satirical message on Facebook that mocked a historic battle and the country’s leader. Police confirmed Saturday that Aung Nay Myo was detained on a charge of violating the 1950 Emergency Provision Act. If found guilty, he could …