Some Colombians fear ex-paramilitary leader deported from US

BUCARAMANGA, Colombia (AP) — On the north coast of Colombia there is anxiety over the return to the South American country of one of the most feared former paramilitary commanders: Hernán Giraldo Serna. “El Patrón” (the boss) or “El Taladro” (the drill, as he became...

China labels Pompeo 'doomsday clown' over genocide claims

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Foreign Ministry described outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday as a “doomsday clown” and said his designation of China as a perpetrator of genocide and crimes against humanity was merely “a piece of wastepaper.” The...

Pompeo says China's policies on Muslims amount to 'genocide'

WASHINGTON (AP) — On his way out the door, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lashed out anew at China on Tuesday by declaring that its policies on Muslims and ethnic minorities in the western Xinjiang region constitute “crimes against humanity” and a “genocide.” The rarely used...

Lawsuit: Community college program was human trafficking

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Eleven students from Brazil and Chile have filed a federal lawsuit accusing a northwest Iowa community college, a recruitment company, a pet food manufacturer and a packaging company of human trafficking and involuntary servitude. The lawsuit filed Monday in the Northern District of...

China demands US lift Xinjiang cotton, tomato import ban

BEIJING (AP) — China on Thursday demanded Washington drop a ban on cotton and tomato imports from its Muslim northwest over complaints they are produced by forced labor, which a spokesman dismissed as the “lie of the century.” The ban announced Wednesday adds to a flurry of sanctions imposed...

US to block cotton from China region targeted in crackdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government announced Wednesday that it will halt imports of cotton and tomatoes from the Uighur region of China in its most sweeping action yet to pressure the Communist Party over its campaign against ethnic minorities. Officials said Customs and Border Protection will use its...

US to block cotton from Uighur region of China, citing forced labor of ethnic minorities targeted by Communist Party

WASHINGTON (AP) — US to block cotton from Uighur region of China, citing forced labor of ethnic minorities targeted by Communist Party.

UK to use fines to target forced labor in China's Xinjiang

LONDON (AP) — British companies will face fines unless they meet new government requirements showing their supply chains are free from forced labor, the U.K.'s foreign secretary said Tuesday as he announced measures aimed at tackling human rights abuses against the Uighur minority in China’s...

China denies coercive birth control measures in Xinjiang

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese official on Monday denied Beijing has imposed coercive birth control measures among Muslim minority women, following an outcry over a tweet by the Chinese Embassy in Washington claiming that government polices had freed women of the Uighur ethnic group from being...

US bans second Malaysian palm oil giant over forced labor

The U.S. said it will ban all shipments of palm oil from one of the world’s biggest producers after finding indicators of forced labor and other abuses on plantations that feed into the supply chains of some of America’s most famous food and cosmetic companies. The order against Malaysian-owned...