Mullah Krekar: The wanted

Mullah Krekar, the founder of the militant organization Ansar al-Islam, but his whereabouts is very much open to all . He lives and moves freely in front of everyone in Oslo, where he received refugee status in 1991.

Pope: countries must receive refugees despite difficulties; migration causes must be addressed

SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO, Italy — Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that countries must continue receiving refugees despite the difficulties they create while also addressing the causes that drive so many people from their homes.

Clinton urges countries to combat refugee crisis, says US committed to help

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the U.S. is committed to helping the world’s 34 million refugees build safe and fulfilling lives, calling their struggle a “humanitarian emergency.”

Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt donate $1 million to UN agency caring for Pakistan refugees

GENEVA — Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have donated $1 million to the U.N. refugee agency providing aid to hundreds of thousands uprooted by violence in Pakistan.

John Calvin Superstar: Protestant reformer, born 500 years ago, celebrated worldwide

GENEVA — John Calvin, the Great Reformer, used dictatorial means in making Geneva a “Protestant Rome,” but he also planted the seeds of modern democracy.

Refugee survey finds fewer people fleeing violence, but conditions remain bad for many who do

WASHINGTON — Fewer people sought refuge outside their homelands last year than in 2007, but the world remained an unwelcoming place for many who fled.

Analysis: Netanyahu overture not likely to bring Palestinians a state

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s grudging endorsement of Palestinian independence — couched in layers of stifling conditions — does not necessarily signal the hawk-to-moderate transformation that hard-line Israeli leaders before him have undergone.

Freed from Guantanamo, 4 Chinese Muslims savor weekend of freedom, new home in Bermuda

HAMILTON, Bermuda — The four men in short-sleeve shirts looked like ordinary tourists, enjoying a Sunday lunch and butter pecan ice cream afterward as they observed the sparkling waters surrounding this Atlantic resort island.

US envoy says his visit to Pakistan showed growing crisis for citizens displaced by fighting

WASHINGTON — Pakistan faces a “major crisis” in managing damage and dislocation from its U.S.-endorsed military offensive against the Taliban, the Obama administration’s special envoy to the region said Wednesday.

Refugees already fleeing what could be Pakistan’s next front against Taliban

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — Kashif Mehsud shut up shop in his hometown in Pakistan’s tribal belt two weeks ago and moved to this river city with 20 relatives, a small group among thousands fleeing what they fear is the next big military offensive against the Taliban.

Aid groups: 3,000 villagers flee to Thailand as Myanmar troops shell area near their camp

BANGKOK, Thailand — More than 3,000 ethnic Karen villagers have fled into Thailand as Myanmar troops shelled near a camp where they were sheltering, one of the largest movements of refugees across the border in a decade, aid groups said Sunday.

Aid group: 3,000 villagers flee to Thailand as Myanmar troops shell area near their camp

BANGKOK, Thailand — More than 3,000 villagers have fled into Thailand as Myanmar troops shelled areas near their camp while fighting ethnic Karen guerrillas, one of the largest movements of refugees across the border in a decade, aid groups said Sunday.

Survivor: Teen’s tale of escape from Rwandan genocide to high school graduation in America

SEATTLE — Two years ago, Candide Uwizeyimana could not speak a word of English. A survivor of the Rwandan genocide, she lost her family and later was separated from those who rescued her from an orphanage, fed and housed her and paid for her education.

Urine on floor, blood on beds: Pakistan hospitals overwhelmed by war and refugees

DAGAR, Pakistan — She doesn’t have a name yet.

Pakistan: Security forces block Swat residents from returning home

GOT KOTO, Pakistan — Hundreds of Pakistani refugees were stopped from returning to their homes in the Swat Valley on Friday, even after the army chief said the battle against the Taliban there had “decisively turned” in the military’s favor.

In dusty camps, US envoy Holbrooke tells Pakistani refugees more help is coming

SHAIKH SHAHZAD CAMP, Pakistan — Top U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke brought promises of more American aid to sweltering camps where some of the 3 million refugees uprooted by Pakistan’s offensive against the Taliban have fled.

US envoy Holbrooke meets Pakistanis made refugees by military-Taliban fight, promises aid

MARDAN, Pakistan — A top U.S. envoy expressed sympathy Thursday to refugees displaced by Pakistan’s military offensive against the Taliban and promised them more aid from Washington.

Pakistan officials tell state TV that last batch of kidnapped students, teachers rescued in NW

ISLAMABAD — Pakistani officials say that the last batch of students and staff kidnapped in the northwest after leaving their school this week have been rescued.

US envoy Holbrooke meets Pakistanis made refugees by military-Taliban fight in Swat Valley

MARDAN, Pakistan — A top U.S. envoy visited Pakistani refugees who have fled fighting between their country’s military and Taliban guerrillas and told them Thursday that the United States can’t offer them security, but it can offer them aid.

Pakistani military says it may have to stay in Swat for another year to keep the peace

MINGORA, Pakistan — Pakistani soldiers stood guard along its narrow roads, but there was no sign of civilian life in the Swat Valley’s main city, nor signs of the Taliban. Across the river stood another militant stronghold, reminding the army its work was not done.

Pink Floyd’s Waters says he’ll perform if Israel tears down its West Bank wall

AIDA REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank — Pink Floyd’s former frontman Roger Waters said Tuesday he’ll take to the stage the minute Israel tears down its West Bank separation wall, just as he did in Berlin two decades ago when another wall came down.

Doctors group finds rape common against Darfur women, urges international warrants

NEW YORK — A survey of dozens of women who fled violence in Darfur found that a third of them reported or showed signs of rape, and revealed a widespread fear of sexual violence in their refugee camp in Chad, a human rights group reported Sunday.

Police official says 39 suspected Taliban fighters arrested among Pakistani refugees

ISLAMABAD — Police have arrested 39 suspected Taliban fighters hiding among refugees from a military offensive against militants from Pakistan’s Swat Valley region, a senior officer said Friday.

Members of banned group allegedly tied to Mumbai attack resurface to help NW Pakistan refugees

MARDAN, Pakistan — Members of a charity banned for its alleged links to the Mumbai terror attack have resurfaced in northwestern Pakistan under a new name, distributing food and medicine Thursday among thousands of refugees from the government’s bloody fight against the Taliban.

Pakistan says 54 Taliban, 9 troops killed in Swat Valley as army battles toward main town

MARDAN, Pakistan — The Pakistani army says 54 Taliban and nine troops have been killed in the northwestern Swat Valley and that government forces are fighting their way in on the ground.

Half of Iraq’s Christians have left, and few plan to return, in historic exodus after war

BAGHDAD — Iraq has lost more than half the Christians who once called it home, mostly since the war began, and few who fled have plans to return, The Associated Press has learned.

Banned charity helping Pakistani refugees from Swat fighting

MARDAN, Pakistan — A banned charity with alleged links to the Mumbai terror attacks is helping people fleeing the fighting between the Pakistani military and the Taliban, group members said Thursday, raising questions about the government’s pledge to crack down on the organization.

Bolivia says Peru ties threatened by decision to harbor ex-officials accused in 2003 killings

LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivia’s president says relations with Peru are at “high risk” after the neighboring nation gave refuge to two more former Bolivian officials accused in the 2003 army killings of dozens of protesters.

In Bethlehem, pope supports Palestinian hopes for state, sympathizes with frustrations

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Pope Benedict XVI made a powerful plea Wednesday for a Palestinian state, mixing prayer and politics at Jesus’ birthplace and expressing solidarity at a refugee camp with “all the homeless Palestinians who long to be able to return to their birthplace.”

Refugees scuffle over aid as Pakistan reports progress in anti-Taliban offensive

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Refugees fleeing Pakistan’s fight against the Taliban scuffled for relief supplies on Wednesday as the military said it had secured footholds in a northwestern valley overrun by the insurgents.