LONDON – A British teen has been arrested as part of a joint investigation with the FBI into hoax bomb threats against U.S. facilities. Police said Friday the bogus threats were made against schools, media companies, airports and airlines. The police and FBI say the 16-year-old boy committed offenses using …
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ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan – Turkmenistan has marked its leader’s 58th birthday by opening a park named after him, a move reflecting his blossoming personality cult. The park called Arkadag (Protector), the nickname of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, has a massive marble arch at its entrance adorned with a large portrait of him. …
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BEIJING – Two surveys show China’s manufacturing was weak in June and employers cut more jobs in a new sign of weakness in the world’s second-largest economy. HSBC Corp. said Wednesday its purchasing managers’ index stood at 49.4, largely unchanged from May’s 49.2 on a 100-point scale on which numbers …
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MADRID – Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has revised Spain’s economic growth forecast upward for this year and next and said the improved circumstances allowed him bring forward a tax reduction plan. Rajoy says the economy will grow 3.3 this year and 3 percent in 2016, up from the previous 2.9 …
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DAMASCUS, Syria – Syrian state TV says a bomb has exploded inside a mosque in an opposition-held suburb of Damascus, killing a Sunni Muslim cleric. The TV says the bomb was placed under the pulpit, or minbar, at the Grand Mosque in the Tal area and went off shortly after …
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MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – Nigeria’s military has freed 180 detainees held for months, including women carrying babies with toddlers clinging to their skirts, declaring they are no longer suspected of being part of the Boko Haram Islamic extremist insurgency. Army chief Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minima says they “have been investigated and …
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ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan – Turkmenistan’s oil and gas ministry has accused Russian state gas company Gazprom of failing to pay for deliveries in a sign of friction between the two major gas producers. The Central Asian nation’s ministry said in a statement that Gazprom “has failed to pay under its contracts …
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UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. human rights chief is warning that an explosion of violence is close in Burundi, sparked by the president’s decision to seek a third term and a crackdown especially by the youth wing of his ruling party, which has carried out dozens of recent killings. Zeid …
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CAIRO – Italy’s Embassy in Egypt says it is suspending all consular services in Cairo, a day after its consulate was hit by a car bomb that killed a passer-by and blasted a gaping hole in the historic building. In a statement Sunday, Italy says diplomats were working to restore …
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AUSTIN, Texas – A Texas police officer who pulled over a driver for illegal use of a cellphone ended up helping the woman, who was trying to call 911 while choking. Austin police on Monday released patrol car video taken during the July 5 incident. The video shows Officer Dustin …
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