JOHANNESBURG / AP Gunmen in Syria have abducted a South African freelance photographer who was traveling with aid workers to the border with Turkey, an aid group said on Saturday. Shiraaz Mohamed was kidnapped on Tuesday afternoon on a “relatively safe route” near a medical facility operated by Gift of the Givers, said Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of the South …

  Bloomberg Japan and Australia agreed to enhance coordination on Asian security issues, including the South China Sea and North Korea, at a meeting of the two countries’ leaders on Saturday, while reaffirming that the US remains the cornerstone of their strategic arrangements. “We confirmed our intention to maintain solid cooperation with the incoming Trump administration,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo …

  BERLIN / AP German Chancellor Angela Merkel is stressing as she awaits Donald Trump’s inauguration that the world’s problems need solving in cooperation, rather than by each country individually. Asked at a news conference Saturday about protectionist tendencies in the U.S., Merkel said she will seek a dialogue with the new president. “I don’t want to get ahead of that, …