Washington / Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. agreed to sell its feature phone business to FIH Mobile Ltd. and HMD Global for $350 million, exiting a business that once dominated the mobile market under the Nokia name before Apple Inc.’s iPhone. FIH, part of Foxconn Technology Group, will also acquire a manufacturing facility in Hanoi, Microsoft said in a statement on ...

  Tokyo / AFP Finance ministers and central bankers from the G7 meet in Japan this week for talks likely to highlight a sharp divide over currency policy and how to breathe life into the wheezing global economy. The group — including US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi — converge at a hot spring ...

  CAIRO/ AP A leading international rights group on Wednesday released a report documenting atrocities by Libya’s IS affiliate — including instances of “crucifixions” and shooting a man to death for “cursing God” — in the coastal city of Sirte, a stronghold of the militants. Human Rights Watch recounts “scenes of horror” that followed the city’s seizure by IS militants ...

  ISTANBULI / AP Turkey’s state-run news agency says Turkish fighter jets have killed 10 Kurdish rebels during bombing runs in the country’s southeast. Citing a military source, the Anadolu Agency said on Wednesday that the Monday air raids targeted the mainly Kurdish province of Hakkari, which borders with Iraq. The Turkish military is engaged in renewed conflict with rebels linked ...

  The Hague / AFP War crimes prosecutors on Wednesday called for former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba to be sentenced “to at least 25 years” in prison for a slew of rapes and murders in the Central African Republic over a decade ago. Bemba sat stony-faced at the end of three days of hearings at the International Criminal Court ...

  RAMSTEIN AIR BASE / AP A series of deadly attacks by IS operatives in and around Baghdad may be a sign that the militants are “reverting to their roots” as a terrorist organization, the top US commander for the Middle East said on Wednesday. Army Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of US Central Command, said this does not mean ...

  Jerusalem / AFP Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is close to agreeing a unity government with the main opposition leader, Israeli media said on Wednesday, in a move that could help revive peace talks with the Palestinians. The head of the rightwing Likud has reportedly been engaged in intense negotiations with Labour Party chief Isaac Herzog in recent weeks in ...

  Geneva/ AFP Millions of refugees worldwide risk living on the street due to a lack of funds for shelters, the United Nations warned on Wednesday, urging the private sector to help amid surging displacement. Launching a global campaign called “Nobody Left Outside”, the UN refugee agency said it still needed half a billion dollars to provide adequate shelter. “Without ...

  Paris/ AFP Police across France were to demonstrate on Wednesday against the “anti-cop hatred” they say they have endured during a wave of anti-government protests since early March.Rallies are planned in around 60 towns and cities, with the Paris event to be held in the Place de la Republique, the venue of the youth-driven “Up All Night” movement that ...

  COLOMBO / AFP Massive landslides triggered by torrential rains crashed down onto three villages in the central hills of Sri Lanka, and more than 200 families were missing on Wednesday and feared buried under the mud and debris, the Sri Lankan Red Cross said. Sixteen bodies have already been recovered and about 180 people have been rescued from the ...