He fought in a separatist rebel group that burned schools. Now he's a teacher emphasizing peace

DSCHANG, Cameroon (AP) — In a classroom nestled in Cameroon’s lush highlands, a former rebel fighter teaches logic and philosophy. His students know him as calm and thoughtful, but his past tells a more turbulent story. For a year and a half, Ateasong Belts Tajoah fought with the...

UN refugee chief calls for more help for Syria as refugees begin to return en masse

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The United Nations refugee chief said Saturday that some 200,000 refugees have returned to Syria from neighboring countries since the government of Bashar Assad was overthrown last month. The influx comes after an estimated 300,000 refugees returned from...

Colombia offers $700,000 reward for information on ELN rebel leaders

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s government on Saturday announced a roughly $700,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of four leaders of a rebel group, whose turf war with guerrilla dissidents in a coca-growing region bordering Venezuela has left dozens of people...

Mexican sailor returns home to festivities after 14 months in Houthi rebel captivity

MISANTLA, Mexico (AP) — Escorted by locals on bicycles and in cars that awaited his arrival outside his hometown in Mexico, Arturo Zacarías Meza returned home days after Houthi rebels in Yemen released him and his fellow crew members following more than a year in captivity. In...

UN suspends all trips into Houthi-held areas of Yemen over 7 more staffers being detained

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Nations on Friday suspended all travel into areas held by Yemen's Houthi rebels after seven more of their staff were detained by the rebels. The Houthis have already detained U.N. staffers, as well as individuals associated with the...

Nigerian soldiers killed 79 militants and suspected kidnappers in the past week, army says

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian soldiers killed 79 militants and suspected kidnappers over the past week, the army said Friday, in an operation targeting a decades-long insurgency by Islamic militants in the northeast and attacks by various armed groups in the northwest. The West...

Colombia president decrees emergency powers to restore order in coca region wracked by rebel combat

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s president issued a decree Friday giving him emergency powers to restore order in a coca-growing region bordering Venezuela that has been wracked in recent days by a deadly turf war among dissident rebel groups. President Gustavo Petro's decree,...

Colombia's president decrees emergency powers to restore order in coca region wracked by rebel combat

Syria's economic pains far from over despite Assad's ouster

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Samir al-Baghdad grabbed his pickax and walked up a wobbly set of stairs made of cinderblocks and rubble. He is rebuilding his destroyed family house in the Qaboun neighborhood near Damascus, Syria 's capital. The traditional building, which...

M23 rebels battling Congo's army close in on Goma as panic spreads among city's 2 million people

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Panic spread in eastern Congo's main city on Thursday, with M23 rebels steadily inching closer to Goma and seizing a nearby town as they battle the Congolese army. Bombs were heard going off in the city's distant outskirts and hundreds of wounded civilians were brought in to...