Politics

  WASHINGTON / AP President-elect Donald Trump says he’ll nominate former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats as national intelligence director. Trump says in a statement that Coats — a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee before retiring from Congress last year — will lead the new administration’s “ceaseless vigilance against those who seek to do us harm.” The post requires Senate confirmation. ...

  LONDON/ AP The British Red Cross says overcrowding in hospital emergency rooms has become a “humanitarian crisis.” The charity says it has dispatched volunteers to help patients go home and free up hospital beds. It claims cuts to social-care funding by the Conservative government mean some patients can’t be discharged because there is no support available, putting pressure on ...

  CAIRO / AP The Libyan military reports that a captured militant has confirmed the killing of Wissam Ben Hamid, the leader of militia groups in the eastern city of Benghazi. Army spokesman Ahmed al-Mesmary reported that the captured spokesman of the Revolutionary Shura Council of Benghazi, a coalition of armed groups controlling two remaining militia strongholds in Libya’s second ...

  BEIJING / AP The Taiwanese leader’s trip to the Americas starting on Saturday will be scrutinized by Beijing for signs that the incoming US president’s team will risk its ire by further engaging with the self-ruled island China considers its territory. President Tsai Ing-wen pledged to bolster Taiwan’s international profile as she set off on a trip to reinforce relations ...

  AMBALANTOTA / AP At least 21 people were injured on Saturday in violent clashes between Sri Lankan government supporters and villagers marching against what they say is a plan to take over private land for an industrial zone in which China will have a major stake. Police used tear gas and water cannons to try to break up the clashes, ...

  HARARE / AP The often nasty battle to succeed Zimbabwe’s aging president has turned into a tempest in a tea cup — literally. On the face of it, nothing was wrong with Facebook photos of one of the country’s vice presidents holding a mug with friends during the recent holidays. Problem is, the mug featured the words “I Am the ...

  ISTANBUL / AP Turkish police are closing in on the gunman who killed 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub, a senior official said on Thursday, insisting his possible whereabouts and contacts had been established. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak told A Haber news channel in an interview that gunman who attacked Istanbul’s upscale Reina nightclub during New Year’s ...

  JERUSALEM / AP Israel’s attorney general says he’s decided to indict an Arab lawmaker for smuggling cellphones to Palestinians serving prison sentences for security offenses. Avichai Mendelblit’s office said on Thursday that he will charge Basel Ghattas with prohibited use of property for terrorist purposes as well as fraud and breach of trust. Ghattas was caught last month smuggling phones ...

  BEIRUT / AP An al-Qaida-linked group in Syria says a nearly week-old cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey is “humiliating” and that those who agreed to it made a “big mistake.” The cease-fire, which excludes the Al-Qaida-linked Fatah al-Sham Front as well as the IS group, has largely held, except for intense fighting in the Barada Valley outside Damascus, ...

  BEIRUT / AP A leader of suspected sympathizers of the IS group was killed on Thursday in a clash with Philippine police in the south, raising fears that his brutal group may retaliate by attacking a huge Catholic procession in Manila next week. Senior Supt. Leonardo Suan and other officials said Mohammad Jaafar Maguid, leader of a small but ...