Mbau / AFP Antoine Kakule Kihumuledi longs for a car to transport his cocoa crop and, like fellow residents in the Beni region in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, he wants peace so he can pursue his dreams. Kakule, 51, is a pioneer in cultivating cocoa in this area of Nord Kivu province, which has been ravaged by war ...

  Madrid / DPA Two years ago, a district in Madrid got lucky in Spain’s hugely popular Christmas lottery, with people working or living there winning prizes of between 120,000 and 3.0 million euros. As Spaniards gear up for the next windfall from the world’s richest lottery known as el “Gordo”, or the “Fat One”, AFP asked the 2014 winners ...

  United Nations / AFP The UN Security Council demanded that Israel halt settlements in Palestinian territory, after the United States refrained from vetoing a resolution condemning its closest Middle East ally. In a rare and momentous step, the United States instead abstained, enabling the adoption of the first UN resolution since 1979 to condemn Israel over its settlement policy. ...

  Jerusalem / AFP Israel scrambled on Saturday to contain the fallout from the UN Security Council vote to halt settlements in Palestinian territory after lashing out at US President Barack Obama over the “shameful” resolution. By deciding not to veto the move, the US took a rare step that deeply angered Israel, which accused Obama of abandoning its closest ...

  Aleppo / AFP Syrian troops strengthened their hold over Aleppo after retaking full control of the city, as residents anxious to return to their homes moved through its ruined streets. The army announced on Thursday it had recaptured the former rebel stronghold of east Aleppo following a landmark evacuation deal that saw thousands of opposition fighters and residents bussed ...

  Brussels / AFP A high-level commission that oversees Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers will meet in Vienna on January 10 to address a complaint by Teheran about the renewing of sanctions by the United States. The meeting was called on Saturday by the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who coordinates follow-up of the nuclear deal for ...

  Bloomberg Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. agreed to pay $519 million to US authorities after admitting to paying bribes in Russia, Ukraine and Mexico to boost sales. Teva, the world’s biggest maker of generic medicines, admitted to making corrupt payments to public officials and doctors, including an unidentified high-ranking Russian government official, according to a statement on Thursday by the ...

  Bloomberg Purchases of new US homes increased in November to the second-fastest pace in almost nine years as the beginning of a spike in mortgage rates persuaded buyers to quickly sign contracts. Sales rose 5.2 percent to a four-month high of a 592,000 annualized pace, Commerce Department data showed. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey was for a ...

  Bloomberg Canada’s gross domestic product shrank unexpectedly in October as factories suffered their worst month in almost three years, adding to signs the country’s outlook is worsening. Output fell 0.3%, Statistics Canada said in Ottawa. Economists surveyed by Bloomb-erg expected a flat reading, but widespread declines in goods-producing industries contributed to the largest monthly drop since May. Manufacturing output ...

  Bloomberg The UK current-account deficit widened in the third quarter as Britain posted its worst trade performance in almost three years. The difference between money coming into the UK and money sent out was 25.5 billion pounds ($31.3 billion), the Office for National Statistics said. That’s equal to 5.2 percent of gross domestic product. The trade deficit widened to ...