PARIS (AP) — France's parliament has passed a package of significant labor reforms Tuesday that the government hopes will help halt rising unemployment and jumpstart the country's stagnant economy.
The bill is one of President Francois Hollande's signature pieces of legislation designed to overhaul the country's notoriously hidebound labor market. It includes measures such as making it easier for workers to change jobs and for companies to fire employees....
MOSCOW (AP) — A U.S. diplomat was ordered Tuesday to leave the country after the Kremlin's security services said he tried to recruit a Russian agent, and they displayed tradecraft tools that seemed straight from a cheap spy thriller: wigs, packets of cash, a knife, map and compass, and a letter promising millions for "long-term cooperation."
The FSB, the successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, identified the diplomat as Ryan Fogle, a third secretary at the U.S. Embassy...
GENEVA (AP) — An elderly Swiss woman who would rather end her life now than decline further in health found sympathy Tuesday from the European Court of Human Rights, which called on the Swiss to clarify their laws on so-called passive assisted suicide.
The Strasbourg, France-based court said Switzerland must specify whether its laws are meant to include people not suffering from terminal illnesses and, if so, spell out the conditions under which they can end their lives...
STOCKHOLM (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a stern warning Tuesday to Syria's government, saying that new help will be given to opposition forces should President Bashar Assad's regime decide to back out of upcoming negotiations aimed at ending Syria's two-year war.
Kerry said he has every expectation that both sides in the conflict, which has left more than 70,000 dead, will participate in an international conference to negotiate a peaceful transition in...
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union says Visa has agreed to reduce some credit card payment fees significantly to address concerns raised by the bloc's antitrust authority.
The European Commission, which acts as the 27-nation bloc's competition watchdog, says Visa proposes to reduce its inter-bank fees for credit card payments to 0.3 percent of a transaction's value — a reduction of about 40 to 60 percent.
It says the company is also proposing to...
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Four more people have been detained in connection with two car bomb attacks that killed dozens in a Turkish town near the Syrian border, bringing the number of suspects in custody to 13, Turkey's prime minister said Tuesday.
Syria again rejected Turkey's contention it was involved, condemning the attacks and offering to conduct a joint investigation of an attack it has blamed on Turkey.
Police were still searching for six other...
NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AP) — Prosecutors in Mauritania are seeking to lengthen to 10 years the sentence of a Canadian man already imprisoned on alleged links to terror groups, a judicial official said Tuesday.
Aaron Yoon, 24, was convicted last July on charges of having ties to a terrorist group and of posing a danger to national security and sentenced to two years.
The new request stems from Yoon's alleged connections to two other Canadians...
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A safari guide rushed on foot toward an elephant at a South African game park while fellow guides whooped and laughed at the foolhardy stunt, which cost the ranger his job when a video of the incident was posted online.
The episode at Kruger National Park was a startling reversal of the occasional tales of elephants charging tourists in vehicles that got too close, and a variation of the "man bites dog" saying, originally a journalistic reference to...
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — In a blow to pro-Palestinian activists, Dutch authorities said Tuesday they will not prosecute a company on war crimes charges for renting out equipment to construct Israel's West Bank separation barrier.
Dutch human rights lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld, who filed in 2010 on behalf of the Palestinian group al-Haq, said she was disappointed by the decision. Still, she said the three-year investigation should serve as a warning to companies involved...
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday for talks that focused on the situation in Syria, amid concerns that Moscow could soon provide Damascus with advanced missiles.
Israeli officials have asked Russia to stop what they say is an imminent delivery of Russian S-300 air defense systems to Syria.
However, neither leader mentioned the missiles in their brief opening remarks and concluding...
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