COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka’s new president has pardoned and reinstated the rank of an ex-army commander who was imprisoned four years ago after challenging the former president in an election. President Maithripala Sirisena’s office said Sarath Fonseka is now entitled to enjoy all of his former privileges without …

Patrick Swayze|Liz Smith|Lola, Suzy and Lestat Swayze Will Salsa Back in Dirty Dancing 2 It’s official:Patrick Swayze (search)will do a star turn in Dirty Dancing 2, also known as Havana Nights. The sequel to the original Dirty Dancing is shooting in Puerto Rico as we speak. So far, only Swayze …

CAIRO – A spokeswoman for the U.N.’s World Food Program in Sudan says a six-person Bulgarian helicopter crew has returned to South Sudan and are well a week after they went missing in a conflict-torn area. Amor Almagro said Sunday the six-member crew was “released,” but said she had no …

BERLIN – Swiss police say an American skier has been rescued after getting stuck in snow for more than 48 hours when he went off-piste. Vaud canton (state) police said Wednesday that the 19-year-old student, whose name wasn’t given, was suffering from hypothermia when rescuers found him Tuesday and taken …

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – A nationwide referendum on restricting gay rights in Slovakia has failed to produce a legally binding result after the required number of eligible voters did not turn out. In Saturday’s vote, Slovaks were asked whether they agree to three points: that marriage can only be called a …

YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar’s government has reached an agreement with student protesters who have been marching to Yangon to seek educational reforms, but the deal announced by the two sides still needs parliamentary approval. Public support has been increasing for the students as they marched several hundred miles (kilometers) to …

UNITED NATIONS – Russia has circulated a draft resolution in the United Nations Security Council endorsing the latest cease-fire agreement on Ukraine and calling on all parties involved to carry it out. U.N. diplomats say the council is expected to meet Sunday to vote on the resolution, just hours after …

JERUSALEM – A four-year-old Israeli girl died two years after being seriously wounded when Palestinians threw rocks at the car she was riding in as it drove through the West Bank. Adele Bitton died Tuesday soon after she was hospitalized for a lung infection. Her mother Adva was driving her …

BEIRUT – A Syrian activist group says an explosion in the ancestral village of Syrian President Bashar Assad has killed at least four people. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the explosion took place Saturday in a hospital parking lot in Qardaha, the hometown and burial place of …

ROME – Italy’s top organized-crime fighter has warned of a danger that international terrorism could help finance itself through migrant trafficking. National Anti-mafia Prosecutor Franco Roberti, presenting an annual report on organized crime, told lawmakers in Rome Tuesday that “clandestine immigration and trafficking can feed international terrorism.” He says that …