BOGOTA, Colombia – U.S. prosecutors unsealed indictments against 17 alleged leaders of Colombia’s largest cocaine-trafficking organization in a move seeking to shore up bilateral cooperation in the drug war. The charges against members of the so-called Usuga clan were announced Tuesday by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Miami-based U.S. …

BERLIN – A U.S. Marine Corps commander says a unit equipped with tanks, light armored vehicles and artillery will be sent to Bulgaria this fall as part of American plans to help reassure NATO allies worried by Russia’s involvement in Ukraine. Brig. Gen. Norman Cooling, deputy commander of U.S. Marine …

BOGOTA, Colombia – A United Nations envoy is urging restraint amid a tense standoff on the front lines of Colombia’s conflict between security forces and farmers who expelled police allegedly under pressure from leftist rebels. Hundreds of riot police were deployed Saturday to the rural hamlet of El Mango in …

MADRID – Authorities in eastern Spain say at least four people, including a baby girl, have died in a gas canister blast that ripped through a house. A Civil Guard spokesman said the blast occurred Tuesday morning at a house in a rural area outside the eastern town of Villajoyosa. …

BEIRUT – Syria’s main Kurdish party warned Turkey on Wednesday that any military intervention would threaten international peace and said the country’s main Kurdish militia is ready to face any “aggression.” The statement by the Democratic Union Party, or PYD, comes as Turkish media is abuzz with talk of a …

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Authorities in North Carolina say they have detained a man walking through a mall with an assault rifle, a bulletproof vest, and multiple rounds of ammunition. Lt. Todd Joyce said the man was detained at the entrance of the Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville on Thursday evening …

EMERALD ISLE, N.C. – Authorities say a deck collapsed at a North Carolina beachhouse as a family was preparing to take a group photo, leaving at least 14 people injured with at least two of those in critical condition. Emerald Isle Police Chief Jeffrey Waters says in an emailed statement …

BERLIN – A man is in hot water after allegedly stealing a bicycle, pitching it through a Berlin restaurant window, then entering and quaffing half a bottle of Tabasco sauce — telling authorities he was thirsty. Police spokesman Jens Berger said Tuesday the 34-year-old was intoxicated, but it wasn’t clear …

LAUDERHILL, Fla. – Police in South Florida say an 11-month-old baby died after being left inside a sport utility vehicle parked outside their apartment near Fort Lauderdale. Lauderhill police spokesman Gregory Solowsky says the baby’s parents and four other children were unloading groceries on Wednesday afternoon and forgot to get …

Islamic extremists from the al Shabaab terror group have reportedly claimed responsibility for attacks at two hotels in the Somalia capital of Mogadishu, that left at least four people dead Friday. The Wehliya and Siyaad hotels were filled with people breaking their Ramadan fast when gunmen stormed the buildings and …