DUBAI / WAM The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Emirates Scientists Council to strengthen the bonds of cooperation and build strategic partnerships to serve the community. The signing ceremony was attended by Jamal bin Huwaireb, Managing Director of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, and Sara Amiri, President of ...

  WASHINGTON / AP President Barack Obama is traveling to the Capitol to give congressional Democrats advice on how to combat the Republican drive to dismantle his health care overhaul. Vice President-elect Mike Pence is meeting with GOP lawmakers to discuss the best way to send Obama’s cherished law to its graveyard and replace it with — well, something. The ...

  France / AP A French activist farmer faces up to five years in prison as he goes on trial accused of helping African migrants cross the border from Italy. The case has called attention to residents of the Roya valley in the Alps and others who have resisted anti-migrant sentiment and are offering food, lodging or other aid to ...

  WASHINGTON / AP Officials are investigating after a prominent part of Washington’s skyline went dark. The National Park Service tweeted Tuesday night that the Washington Monument’s lights went out around 7 p.m. Officials later said they believe there’s a problem with the automated program that controls the monument’s lights and electricians will be able to confirm whether that is ...

  PARIS / AP A French court has granted the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president more time to prepare his defense against charges that he spent millions in government funds on high-end cars, art and real estate abroad while his compatriots languish in poverty. Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue’s lawyer requested a delay in the trial, arguing that he hadn’t had ...

  NEW YORK / AP His inauguration less than three weeks away, President-elect Donald Trump is raising new doubts about the nation’s intelligence community, tweeting fresh criticism at the same people who will help inform his most sensitive decisions once he takes office. Trump charged on Twitter, without evidence, that the timing of an upcoming intelligence briefing on suspected Russian ...

  COPENHAGEN / AP A judge in Denmark said on Wednesday she is strongly considering taking legal steps against South Korean journalists for violating Danish law by filming inside a courtroom the daughter of the impeached South Korean president’s confidante during a detention hearing. Malene Urup says South Korean reporters filmed and spoke to Yoora Chung on Sunday, hours after ...

  Bloomberg The chances that the UK will make a disruptive break from its biggest market have grown with the resignation of the British envoy to the European Union, an experienced Brussels insider who was reviled by leading Brexit supporters. Ivan Rogers quit as Britain’s permanent representative to the 28-nation EU urging officials working for the UK in Brussels to ...

  Reuters Stock markets in the Middle East where foreign funds are most active outperformed for a second straight day on Wednesday, with Egypt’s index hitting a record high while Saudi Arabia was dragged lower by profit-taking. Egypt’s main index gained 1.5 percent to 12,608 points in the highest trading volume this week, surpassing the intra-day record high of 12,534 ...

  NEW YORK / AP US stocks rose on Wednesday as December auto sales start to roll in. General Motors and Ford are trading higher. That’s helping consumer-focused companies. The market is building on its gains from the day before. KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average added 30 points, or 0.2 percent, to 19,911 as of 10 a.m. Eastern ...