As crackdown on illegal immigrants began, the phone at an organization in Austin that runs a deportation hotline is always ringing. The centre received more than 1,000 calls in three days by fearful immigrants who wanted information about the raids. They are a worried lot. Those who saw a friend or family was taken are scared by the raids. ...

  About a decade ago, EBay Inc. made a legendary retreat from the Chinese auction business in the face of growing local competition. It was a defeat so humiliating that it became a business school case study. Since then, however, the Chinese e-commerce market has changed drastically — and so has EBay. As the company makes its return to the ...

  Bank of England (BOE) policy maker Kristin Forbes suggested that the need to restrain inflation might “soon suggest an increase” is required in interest rates. The central bank’s latest survey of businesses, however, suggests weakening pay growth should persuade the bank to keep borrowing costs on hold. The bank’s regional agents regularly survey about 700 businesses around the U.K. ...

  Compared with the US last year, European nations that face hotly-contested elections in 2017 aren’t seeing a major fake news explosion. In the Netherlands, where elections are scheduled for March 15, Geert Wilders’ nationalist Freedom Party is the front-runner. Wilders was recently caught out in a fake news scandal: He tweeted a Photoshopped image of a rival party leader ...

  BAGHDAD / AP Backed by the US-led international coalition, Iraqi forces fought their way on Thursday into a sprawling military base outside of Mosul and onto the grounds of the city’s airport, taking control of the runway amid fierce exchanges of fire with IS militants. The two-pronged advance is part of a major assault that started earlier this week ...

  LAHORE / AP An explosion rocked an upscale neighborhood in the eastern city of Lahore on Thursday, killing eight people, officials said, in what could be the latest in a string of brazen attacks over the past two weeks that have killed over 125 people. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion, which took place at a ...

  AMMAN / AP Jordan’s state security court has sentenced eight men to 15-year prison terms for involvement in alleged plans by the extremist IS group to attack a military airport, military personnel, foreign aircraft and foreign embassies in the kingdom. The sentences are part of an ongoing crackdown. Jordan is a member of a US-led coalition against IS, which ...

  SRINAGAR / AP Three Indian soldiers and a woman were killed when rebels ambushed soldiers in the disputed region of Kashmir, police said on Thursday. Inspector-General Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani said the militants tossed grenades and sprayed bullets at soldiers returning from a search operation in the southern Shopian area early Thursday. Gillani said the attack triggered a brief ...

  MEXICO CITY / AP Mexico’s mounting unease and resentment over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown are looming over a gathering of US and Mexican leaders that the U.S. had hoped would project a strong future for relations between neighbors. There is no shortage of tension points as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly ...

  MANILA / AP The Philippines’ top diplomat says any move by China to transform a Manila-claimed shoal into an island would be a “game-changer” in blossoming relations although he says Beijing has pledged not to undertake any construction in the strategically located area of the South China Sea. Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. said in response to a reporter’s ...