DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The United Arab Emirates’ state news agency says the Gulf nation dispatched a medical plane to bring three sisters home nearly 10 months after they were attacked by a hammer-wielding intruder in their luxury London hotel room. The WAM news agency said the trip Saturday …
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BEIJING – China has reduced the minimum level of reserves its banks are required to hold in a new move to reverse a deepening economic slowdown. The central bank said Wednesday it was reducing the amount most of China’s commercial banks are required to hold in reserves by at least …
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BEIJING – Both China’s imports and exports declined in January in a sign of continued weak demand. The General Administration of Customs said Sunday that exports dropped 3.2 percent to 1.23 trillion yuan ($200 billion) in January, compared with a 9.7 rise in December. Imports tumbled 19.7 percent to 860 …
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BERLIN – Federal German prosecutors say they’ve charged a 22-year-old man with membership in a terrorist organization on allegations that he trained and fought with the Islamic State group in Syria. Prosecutors said Wednesday that Nezet S., whose last name was not released in accordance with German privacy laws, traveled …
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KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan official says gunmen have killed a member of the country’s High Peace Council in the southern city of Kandahar. The provincial spokesman, Samim Akhpelwak, said Friday that Sheirin Agha was assassinated during prayers at a Kandahar mosque on Thursday night. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned …
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TOKYO – Japan’s post office has agreed to buy a leading Australian transportation company in a $5.1 billion deal that will give the Japanese company an Asian distribution network. The board of Melbourne-based Toll Holdings Ltd. said Wednesday that it is recommending to shareholders that they accept the offer of …
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SEOUL, South Korea – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected a live-fire artillery drill by his country’s military units near the sea border with the rival South, believed to be timed ahead of annual U.S.-South Korean exercises, state media reported Saturday. Analysts in Seoul said North Korea was attempting …
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UNITED NATIONS – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed a veteran United Nations diplomat from Slovakia to head the United Nations political mission in Iraq. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday that Jan Kubis, who served as the top U.N. envoy in Afghanistan from 2012 to 2014, brings years of experience …
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – A lawyer says Maldives’ former president has denied in court that he ordered the arrest of a top judge three years ago. The former president, Mohamed Nasheed, also told a Criminal Court hearing Thursday that the charge against him is politically motivated, said lawyer Hisaan Hussain. …
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CAIRO – Egyptian security officials say two militant ambushes in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula have killed 10 soldiers. The two attacks, which also wounded 11 soldiers and several civilians, come as Egypt battles a growing insurgency in the northern Sinai, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip. Attacks mainly …
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