Politics

  MOSUL / AP First the tiny drones buzz overhead to observe Iraqi soldiers. Then, the IS group’s flying machines return to drop a small explosive device to sow panic among security forces — or deadlier still, to help guide a suicide car bomber to a target. And the innovations are expected to keep coming since IS has been spending freely …

  TEHRAN / AP Iran’s defense minister said on Wednesday that his country recently carried out a missile test, days after the White House said it was looking into reports of an Iranian ballistic missile launch that may have contravened a UN resolution. Gen. Hossein Dehghan was quoted by the semi-official Tasnim news agency as saying “the recent missile test …

  CAIRO / AP An American lawyer says hundreds of Yemenis with US visas are stranded in the tiny African state of Djibouti because of President Donald Trump’s ban on entry for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries. Lawyer Julie Goldberg told The Associated Press on Wednesday that “these are all the children, parents and the spouses of US citizens.” She …

  LONDON / AP Britain’s House of Commons is to vote on a bill authorizing Prime Minister Theresa May to start European Union exit talks — the first major test of whether lawmakers will try to impede the government’s Brexit plans. Wednesday’s vote comes after two days of debate, in which many government and opposition lawmakers said they would respect …

  SEOUL / AP Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday that he won’t run for South Korea’s presidency, a surprise announcement that removes a key figure from the scramble to replace impeached President Park Geun-hye and further stirs the country’s already tumultuous politics. The withdrawal of Ban, who had been considered the only major conservative contender, boosts liberal …

  DHAKA / AP Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh are worried about a government proposal to relocate them to a low-lying island deemed not ready for people to live there. The proposal briefly posted on a government website last week said a committee including representatives of the border guards and other agencies would prepare a list of hundreds of thousands of …

  Ukraine / AP Freezing and nerve-shattered residents of an eastern Ukraine town battered by an upsurge in fighting between troops and Russia-backed rebels flocked to a humanitarian aid center on Wednesday to receive food and warm up. Heavy shelling of government-held Avdiivka, just north of the rebel stronghold city of Donetsk, began over the weekend and persisted into early …

  WASHINGTON / AP In an extraordinary public showdown, President Donald Trump fired the acting attorney general of the United States after she publicly questioned the constitutionality of his refugee and immigration ban and refused to defend it in court. The clash Monday night between Trump and Sally Yates, a career prosecutor and Democratic appointee, laid bare the growing discord and …

  CAIRO / AP The local affiliate of the IS group in Egypt’s restive northern Sinai Peninsula says its fighters have killed and wounded 20 Egyptian soldiers in four days of fighting south of the city of el-Arish. In a statement released early Tuesday and posted on a pro-IS group website, the group said the fighting also resulted in the …

  TEHRAN / AP Iran’s foreign minister is refusing to confirm that the country conducted a missile test, saying Iran’s missile program is not part of a 2015 landmark nuclear deal between his country and world powers. The White House said Monday it is studying the details of an Iranian ballistic missile test. Iran is the subject of a United …