Willem Holleeder, a Dutch criminal notorious for the 1983 kidnapping of beer tycoon Freddy Heineken, has been freed from jail. He was released after serving two-thirds of a nine-year term for the extortion of two men who later died. Holleeder, 53, was not due to be freed until next Tuesday,…

Senior Afghan peace negotiators believe the Taliban are willing to significantly soften past hardline ideologies, with its leaders already laying the ground for possible peace talks in the Gulf state of Qatar. Former Taliban minister Maulvi Arsala Rahmani, a member of the High Peace Council set up by President Hamid…

A cancer-causing cadmium discharge from a mining company has polluted a long stretch of two rivers in southern China, and officials warned some 3.7 million people of Liuzhou in the Guangxi region to avoid drinking water from the river, state media reported on Friday. Pollution of waterways by toxic run-offs…

Baghdad, Iraq — A suicide car bomber targeted a Shiite funeral procession in the Iraqi capital Friday, killing 31 people and wounding 60 others, two police officials said. The blast occurred as mourners passed by an outdoor market headed toward a hospital in Baghdad’s Zafarniya district to recover the bodies…

The United Nations Security Council is due to discuss the crisis in Syria, as fighting continues around the country. The meeting was announced after talks between council members on a draft resolution which reportedly backs an Arab League call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down. Last October China…

Several of Italy’s consumer groups signed an agreement with Costa Cruises to offer about 11,000 euros ($14,500) to each of the more than 3,000 passengers aboard the Costa Concordia when it hit a rock and capsized near the Italian island of Giglio on January 13, a statement from the consumer…