International

PARIS — Europe's top police agency issued a stark warning Monday: Islamic State extremists will keep attempting lethal attacks on soft targets in Europe as the militant group increasingly goes global.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — An unusually cold weather front has been blamed for killing 57 mostly elderly people in Taiwan's greater Taipei area.

BEIJING — Two Chinese citizens have been killed and one injured in a suspected bomb attack in central Laos, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday, a mountainous area that in recent months has seen an increase in violence and in years past was the scene of clashes between government forces and the Hmong ethnic minority.

PARIS — New video released by the Islamic State group on Sunday shows the extremists who carried out the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris committing atrocities in IS-controlled territory while plotting the slaughter in the French capital that left 130 people dead and hundreds injured. The group also threatened to attack Britain.

WASHINGTON ― The youngest son of Cambodia's prime minister has an easy smile and conciliatory air. Hun Many's genteel manner contrasts with the ruthlessness that has characterized his father's 30 years in power, but that doesn't mean he's not ambitious.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland ― A blizzard with hurricane-force winds brought much of the U.S. East Coast to a standstill Saturday, dumping as much as 3 feet (90 centimeters) of snow, stranding tens of thousands of travelers and shutting down Washington and New York City.

YANGON — Myanmar's military-backed government released at least 20 political prisoners Friday, just a few months before it is scheduled to hand over power to an elected, pro-democracy party.

SEOUL — North Korea said on Friday it had detained a U.S. university student for committing a "hostile act" against the country who, if confirmed, would be the third western citizen known to be held currently in the isolated state.

RIO DE JANEIRO — The suspected number of cases of microcephaly, a rare brain defect in babies, continues to rise in Brazil, reaching 3,893 since authorities began investigating the surge in October, Health Ministry officials said Wednesday.

SEOUL — A drive to increase low blood reserves in South Korea expanded Thursday as the country's biggest firm said it was launching a blood donation drive to help boost supplies, a news report said.