KUALA LUMPUR / AP Malaysia’s health minister said on Sunday that the dose of nerve agent given to North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un’s exiled half brother was so high that it killed him within 20 minutes and caused “very serious paralysis.” Kim Jong Nam died February 13 at Kuala Lumpur’s airport in what Malaysian police say was a well-planned ...

  RIYADH / AP Saudi King Salman has arrived in Malaysia to kick off a multi-nation tour aimed at boosting economic ties with Asia.The official Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday that the monarch’s tour will also take in Indonesia, Brunei, Japan, China and the Maldives. Salman will also visit Saudi Arabia’s neighbor Jordan before returning home. OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia ...

  TEHRAN / AP Iran’s navy began an annual drill on Sunday near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, its first major exercise since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, state television reported. The TV report quoted navy chief Adm. Habibollah Sayyari as saying the two-day maneuver will cover an area of 2 million square kilometers (772,000 square miles) in the ...

  KABUL / AP Springtime in Afghanistan usually brings a spike in violence as the Taliban takes advantage of the thaw to launch a wave of fresh attacks. But the Taliban’s leader has just issued a statement calling on Afghans to plant more trees. In a public letter issued on Sunday in four languages, including English, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada says that, ...

  BAGHDAD / AP Iraqi militarized police captured two neighborhoods on the western side of Mosul on Sunday amid fierce clashes with IS militants, as thousands of people continued to flee the battle to government-controlled areas, security officials said. Iraqi forces, backed by aerial support by the US-led international coalition, launched a new push last week to drive IS militants from ...

  WASHINGTON / AP The Pentagon wants to expand the military’s ability to battle al-Qaida-linked militants in Somalia, potentially putting US forces closer to the fight against a stubborn extremist group that has plotted attacks against America, senior US officials said. The recommendations sent to the White House would allow US special operations forces to increase assistance to the Somali National ...

  Moscow / AFP A convicted Russian opposition activist who says he was tortured in prison was freed on Sunday and has vowed to keep up the fight for human rights in Russia. Ildar Dadin was released from his jail in the remote Altai region in southern Siberia after Russia’s Supreme Court annulled his 2½-year sentence last week because of procedural ...

  NEW DELHI / AP India’s top diplomat will visit Washington this week for talks with the new US administration, an Indian foreign ministry official said on Sunday. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar is expected to discuss with American officials India’s concerns over proposed US legislation that could make it harder for companies to replace American workers with those from India and ...

  There was a brief moment after Donald Trump’s election when it was conceivable to ask whether he would strive to be a “uniter” or a “divider.” The moment passed quickly as Trump made it clear that he does not intend to abandon the style of politics — insulting and divisive — that got him elected. His declaration last week ...

  It’s nearly a decade since Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group Plc was bailed out. Today, the lender is still owned by taxpayers, shunned by shareholders and ruled by regulators. The management team has little else it can really do but keep shrinking and hope the bank can eventually buck a nine-year run of losses. These are noble objectives, ...