BAMAKO, Mali – Mali’s Tuareg separatist group has said it will suspend its participation in the committee monitoring a peace agreement with the government and other groups until militias that overtook its designated land leave. Mossa Ag Attaher, a spokesman for the main separatist group, the Coordination of Azawad Movements, …

SACO, Maine – Family and friends of a Maine woman who was killed in a supermarket knife attack remembered her as the rock of a beloved family in the community. About 600 people attended the funeral for Wendy Boudreau of Saco on Tuesday at Thornton Academy, where she worked in …

FARGO, N.D. – Two North Dakota State University students got a scare when armed police officers mistook their telescope for a rifle. WDAY-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1MXfrDu ) that Levi Joraanstad and Colin Waldera were setting up the telescope behind their apartment Monday night when they were blinded by a bright light …

BERLIN – The leaders of France, Germany and Russia have spoken by phone and are exploring the possibility of a summit with Ukraine’s president about the conflict in the country’s east. French President Francois Hollande’s office said he, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Saturday that …

PATERSON, N.J. – A northern New Jersey man has pleaded not guilty to charges that he threw lit firecrackers outside a synagogue while shouting “Allahu akbar.” NJ.com (http://bit.ly/1KzdnQ5 ) reports 21-year-old Rizek Musheisen, of Clifton, entered the plea Monday in state Superior Court. He faces two counts of bias intimidation. …

GENEVA – The U.N. special envoy for Libya has met with leaders of the Tripoli-based government and says he hopes a draft agreement aimed at forming a national unity government can be finalized in coming weeks. Bernardino Leon on Wednesday noted “tangible results” in the talks in Istanbul with the …

GENEVA – Envoys from Libya’s rival factions are arriving in Geneva for talks aimed at forming a unity government in the chaotic north African country. The talks come as part of a blitz of diplomatic activity under mediation of the U.N. special envoy for Libya, Bernardino Leon. Libya is currently …

MYSTIC, Conn. – Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has found himself upstaged by a beluga whale during a tourism news conference at the Mystic Aquarium. Malloy was standing in front of the Alaskan Coast exhibit Wednesday touting an increase in summer tourism in Connecticut when a whale named Juno swam …

New York Times columnist Frank Bruni is scratching his head over Donald Trump’s growing popularity with Evangelical Christians—and for good reason. How does one explain that a candidate like The Donald who has been married three times, runs casinos, discounts the need for asking God’s forgiveness, and has difficulty citing …

UNITED NATIONS – Russia says the U.N. Security Council’s approval in establishing a new international body to assign blame for chemical attacks in Syria will be finalized and sent to Ban Ki-moon Thursday. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the council president this month, told The Associated Press that “yes, the response …