JOHANNESBURG – A spokesman for South Africa’s justice ministry says a review board has up to four months to decide whether Oscar Pistorius will be released from prison into house arrest. Justice ministry spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga also said Thursday that the department has not yet had a response from Pistorius’ …

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Denmark’s foreign minister says the Scandinavian nation is briefly pulling back its Kuwait-based fighter jets that are taking part in the international coalition airstrikes against the Islamic State group to repair them and allow the staff to recover. Kristian Jensen said Saturday the four operational F-16 fighter …

UNITED NATIONS – The Islamic State extremist group has claimed responsibility for executing at least 30 people for sodomy, the head of an international gay rights organization said Monday at the first-ever U.N. Security Council meeting spotlighting what organizers called the “barbaric treatment.” “It’s about time, 70 years after the …

LONDON – The chair of Britain’s inquiry into the Iraq war has defended the time spent on the investigation amid heated criticism from families of those killed in the war. John Chilcot responded Wednesday to increasing pressure from bereaved families to release the findings, saying that the report must be …

BEIJING – With the Chinese stock market turmoil that incited global panic abated — at least for now — here are some questions and answers about it, as well as lessons to learn: ___ WHY DID THE CHINESE STOCK MARKET PLUNGE SO MUCH? China’s main stock index fell nearly 23 …

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis is urging people to work together to stop crimes against migrants, including the 71 who perished in a smuggler’s truck on the main Budapest-Vienna highway. Francis on Sunday invited faithful in St. Peter’s Square in Rome to pray silently with him for migrants who die …

SAN FRANCISCO – A San Francisco Bay Area man won $1 million in the California Lottery after buying a winning ticket with money he found at the airport. The California Lottery says that Hubert Tang had not bought a lottery ticket in 10 years. When he found a $20 bill …

MOGADISHU, Somalia – A day after Islamic extremists overran an African Union military base in Somalia, residents of a nearby town were describing what they saw during the attack and its aftermath. The attack early Tuesday happened next to the small farming town of Janale. No official death toll has …

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka’s president has sworn in a new Cabinet for a consensus government including members of the two main rival political parties. President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday presided over the swearing in of 48 ministers. It followed a consensus agreement between the parties led by Sirisena …

NEW ORLEANS – A New Orleans man is offering $3,500 for return of the silver trumpet stolen during the funeral for his brother, a rising 28-year-old jazzman called “Trumpet Black.” Travis Hill died on tour in Japan, from a dental infection that reached his heart. He was a grandson of …