WORLD

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP |  Saudi Arabia has invited regional rival Iran to discuss a return of its nationals to next year’s hajj after Iranians were excluded from the pilgrimage following a major diplomatic row, reports said Friday. The Al-Hayat daily reported that Riyadh’s pilgrims minister Mohammed Bentin had …

Islamabad, Pakistan | AFP |  China’s State Grid Corporation is set to build a $1.5-billion power line across Pakistan to enable the transmission of 4,000 megawatts of electricity from the country’s north to south, the government said Friday. Pakistani and Chinese officials signed an investment agreement in Beijing on Thursday …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | President Vladimir Putin said Friday said he would not expel any Americans in response to Washington turfing out dozens of Russian diplomats over alleged election interference. The Kremlin strongman’s shock decision came after Russia’s foreign ministry asked him to send home 35 US diplomats in …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | In Formula One, it was the year that had everything and more. From the arrival of a precocious teenage star to the abrupt retirement of a first-time champion, 2016 will be remembered as a roller-coaster of surprises, accidents, rivalries and farewells. Dutchman Max Verstappen, …

Los Angeles, United States | AFP |  Come Sunday, Californians will legally be able to raise a glass of alcohol while getting a haircut or beard trim at beauty salons and barbershops. Although the practice of offering complementary wine and beer at such establishments has been going on quietly for …

Washington, United States | AFP | Handing out multibillion-dollar fines right and left to domestic and foreign financial giants, the United States has taken on the role of the unforgiving global cop of the business world. In stark contrast to the relative inertia of white-collar law enforcement in Europe, Washington …

Tennis: Serena announces engagement to Reddit co-founder Washington, United States | AFP | Tennis superstar Serena Williams announced Thursday she is engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, breaking the news with a poem on her verified Reddit account. Williams, 35, and Ohanian, 33, did not reveal a wedding date in …

Washington, United States | AFP |  The United States on Thursday fired back at Moscow over its meddling in the presidential election, announcing a series of tough sanctions against intelligence agencies, expulsions of agents and shutting down of Russian compounds on US soil. “I have ordered a number of actions …

Beijing, China | AFP | As soon as China abandoned its one-child policy a year ago, Zheng Xiaoyu and her husband started trying for a sibling for their nine-year-old son. Their efforts bore fruit with another boy — one of a million extra births this year. “The traditional Chinese thinking …

Burning ivory, waging war: world battles poaching in 2016 Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  It was one of the most momentous events in the battle against poaching: 11 giant pyres of elephant tusks going up in flames in Kenya as the world looked on. The largest-ever destruction of ivory, which …