World

Cardinal emeritus Adrianus Simonis, who led the Dutch Catholic Church during a period of secularization in society and, after his retirement, had to confront abuse in the church, has died at age 88, his former archdiocese of Utrecht announced Wednesday.

Syrian air defenses opened fire late Wednesday on missiles launched by Israeli warplanes at a military airbase in the central province of Homs, shooting down some of them, state media said.

The sight of a huge oil tanker that has taken on water and is leaning to one side off a remote stretch of Venezuela's coast has triggered international calls for action.

Students at Hungary's University of Theatre and Film Arts have sealed entrances to the building to stop the new board of trustees getting in, and pledged to maintain the blockade until demands for autonomy from government control were met.

The BBC on Wednesday reversed its controversial decision to scrap the lyrics of two patriotic songs during its annual endofsummer concert, saying it had found a way around the problem a day after its new directorgeneral took office.

Antilockdown protesters and facemask refusers can be called "Covidiots", German prosecutors said on Wednesday, dismissing legal complaints against Social Democrat coleader Saskia Esken who used the term on Twitter.

A Saudi court has sentenced seven Islamic State militants to death over a 2014 shooting attack that killed eight Shi'ite Muslims near the eastern city of alAhsa, state television reported on Wednesday.

A major Australian barley exporter barred from China in the latest trade dispute to hit bilateral relations said on Wednesday the Chinese are only now acting on grain shipments dating back to 2019.

A German museum said Wednesday that it will return two mummified, tattooed Maori heads that were part of its collection for more than a century.

For survivors of Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime, the death of the group's executioner and security chief, known as Comrade Duch, has brought a further, small sense, of justice for their enduring suffering.

Danish toy company Lego saw its halfyear sales rise solidly despite headwinds posed by the coronavirus pandemic, as it benefited from longterm investments in ecommerce and product innovations.

Former Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida, a candidate for leadership of the ruling party to replace Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said on Wednesday that frank talks are needed with the United States over Japan's share of its defence burden.

Two highprofile Venezuelan opposition leaders are in talks with the government of President Nicolas Maduro to participate in the upcoming legislative elections despite a planned boycott, a Turkish official involved in the talks said on Tuesday.

The U.N. Security Council will hold a highlevel summit during the annual meeting of world leaders at the General Assembly later this month to discuss security threats in the world after the COVID19 pandemic ends.

The White House on Tuesday pushed back on concerns expressed by the World Health Organization after a U.S. health official said a coronavirus vaccine might be approved without completing full trials.

The United States will lift a 33year arms embargo on Cyprus and deepen its security cooperation with Nicosia, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday, prompting an angry response from Turkey.