UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations says 24 people are confirmed dead and 3,300 have been displaced by Cyclone Pam in the South Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in its latest report Monday that radio and telephone communications with outer islands …

PARIS – France is limiting cash payments to 1,000 euros ($1,063) and requiring reporting for bank deposits of more than 10,000 euros ($10,635) in an effort to combat the financing of terrorism. Finance Minister Michel Sapin said Wednesday the idea wasn’t to “forbid cash,” but he said the system needs …

BEIRUT – The head of Syria’s Kurdish Red Crescent says the death toll from a twin bombing targeting Kurds celebrating their new year in the northeastern city of Hassakeh has risen to 49. Egid Ibrahim says the Friday evening blasts also wounded 177 others, some of whom remain in critical …

TEHRAN, Iran – An Iranian official has criticized the chief of the U.N. atomic agency for demanding snap inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites, saying such a demand stands in the way of Tehran and world powers reaching a deal on the country’s controversial nuclear program. The so-called P5+1 group — …

BEIRUT – A new video released by the Islamic State group on Sunday shows its fighters cutting off the heads of eight men said to be Shiite Muslims. The video posted on social media said the men were beheaded in the central Syrian province of Hama. The video could not …

BAGHDAD – Suicide car bombs targeting security checkpoints killed 15 people in Iraq on Thursday, officials said. Police said a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a police checkpoint in the town of Youssifiyah, just south of the capital Baghdad, killing three police and four civilians, and wounding another …

YEREVAN, Armenia – Armenian police have launched a nationwide manhunt for a Russian soldier suspected of shooting dead a family of six. Police said the soldier, Valery Permyakov, who was serving at a Russian military base in Armenia, had deserted from his unit and was suspected of killing the family …

YEREVAN, Armenia – Police in Armenia have clashed with protesters demanding the handover of a Russian soldier suspected of murdering a family to Armenian authorities. A crowd of about 2,000 protesters attempted to break through a police line to get into the Russian consulate building in the city of Gyumri. …

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE – Pope Francis says he wasn’t justifying violence when he said a friend who had cursed his mother could “expect a punch” in return. Rather, he says he was only expressing a very human response to a provocation, and that greater prudence would have avoided such …

A wealthy Egyptian woman convicted of conspiring to kidnap her grandson in the U.S.and take himto Cairo has had her jail sentence reduced from 10 years to three. Afaf Khalifa, 60, was found guilty in January on felony kidnapping charges for helping her daughter, Nermeen, steal 6-year-old Adam Shannon away …