BEIJING – China’s Foreign Ministry says a Canadian woman detained with her husband on suspicion of stealing state secrets has been released on bail. Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Thursday that Julia Garratt was released while the case remains under investigation. She and her husband Kevin were detained on Aug. …
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CANBERRA, Australia – Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says her government is continuing to make high-level representations to Indonesia to spare the lives of two Australian drug traffickers on death row despite the Indonesian president rejecting their requests for clemency. Bishop told Nine Network television on Tuesday that Prime Minister …
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JERUSALEM – Israel’s prime minister is facing accusations of politicizing the country’s most prestigious award after moving to disqualify some of the judges because he disagreed with their political views. A number of judges for the Israel Prize have resigned in protest, while nominees say they won’t accept the prize. …
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UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis in Yemen. The open meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. (2200 GMT) Sunday to consider the situation in Yemen after a rebel takeover spun the Arab world’s poorest country into the danger of …
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PARIS – The French president says he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have spoken with the leaders of Ukraine and Russia about the cease-fire that has been faltering amid fierce fighting over the eastern town of Debaltseve. Ukrainian forces began abandoning Debaltseve on Wednesday after weeks of heavy fighting against …
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BUCAHREST, Romania – Romanian lawmakers have voted to allow the arrest of a former tourism minister, a close aide of an ex-president, on suspicion of taking a bribe. Parliament approved the arrest of Elena Udrea in a 170-118 vote to be investigated on suspicion of illegally financing a boxing gala. …
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BEIJING – A forestry officer says a tiger cub spooked by Chinese New Year fireworks jumped off a building to its death in eastern China. Reports in state media say the 7-month-old cub escaped its chains and cage and fell onto a parking lot on Feb. 18, the lunar new …
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TEHRAN, Iran – Iran has offered to safeguard potentially at-risk Iraqi artifacts after a video released by the Islamic State group showed its militants using sledgehammers to smash relics in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul. Mohammad Hassan Talebian, a senior official at Iran’s Cultural Heritage Organization, says Iran has written …
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CAIRO – A rights group is urging Egypt to halt the execution of six men condemned to death by a military tribunal for killing security forces, citing lawyers and family who contend some of them were in jail at the time of the attack. New York-based Human Rights Watch said …
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PARIS – France’s government has pledged measures to boost the country’s stagnant economy, including an income tax cut and tax breaks to companies that invest in industry. Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls outlined the government’s plans to combat unemployment and encourage growth during a speech Wednesday in Paris. He said …
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