Mazar-i-Sharif / AP At least 14 Shiites were killed on Wednesday in a bombing at a mosque in northern Afghanistan, the second deadly attack on the minority in as many days during the major festival of Ashura. “The explosion happened at the gate of the Shiite mosque in the centre of Balkh district (in Balkh province),” said provincial governor’s …

  Karbala / AFP Huge crowds of black-clad Shiite Muslim pilgrims thronged the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala on Wednesday, weeping and beating their chests in mourning for the seventh-century killing of the prophet’s grandson. Shiites around the world mark Ashura, but attacks on those commemorating bloodshed 1,300 years ago often result in more mourning and loss, including in Afghanistan, …

  Bloomberg Britain announced an agreement to double the number of flights allowed to operate between UK cities and China as Prime Minister Theresa May’s government seeks to boost inter-continental transport links following June’s vote to quit the European Union. Passenger services can now increase from the current maximum of 40 a week for carriers from each nation to as …