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  KUALA LUMPUR / AP A North Korean envoy rejected a Malaysian autopsy finding that VX nerve agent killed Kim Jong Nam, saying on Thursday the man probably died of a heart attack because he suffered from heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Malaysia dismissed the claim. The death of Kim, the estranged half brother of North Korea’s ruler, ...

  Bloomberg French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen was stripped of her European Parliament immunity from prosecution because of a judicial investigation in France into the posting on her Twitter account of images of murders by IS. The European Union assembly voted by a show of hands on Thursday in Brussels to make the move against Len Pen, who leads ...

  BEIRUT / AP Syrian government forces battling the IS group re-entered Palmyra on Thursday in their quest to again take the historic town they had lost to the militants in December, state media reported. The SANA news agency reported by early afternoon that government troops entered the town’s archaeological site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, around mid-day, then the ...

  GENEVA/ AP Diplomats and negotiators have set their sights on modest achievements in the latest round of Syria talks in Geneva, after a week of discussions centering on setting an agenda for future talks. Meanwhile, fighting continued Thursday near Palmyra in central Syria. UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura is due for another round of meetings on ...

  WASHINGTON / AP White House lawyers have instructed the president’s aides to preserve materials that could be connected to Russian interference in the 2016 election and other related investigations, three administration officials said on Wednesday. The instructions, which were sent to White House staff on Tuesday, come after Senate Democrats last week asked the White House and law enforcement ...

  PESHAWAR / AP A suspected US drone strike in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region on Thursday killed two militants, three intelligence officials said. The latest strike took place in the Kurram tribal region bordering Afghanistan and the identity and nationality of the slain men were not immediately known, said the officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were ...

  MOSCOW / AP The Ukrainian emergencies service says an explosion at a coal mine in western Ukraine has left at least eight people dead. The blast took place about midday Thursday in the Stepovaya mine in the Lviv region, 460 kilometers (285 miles) west of the capital Kiev, about 550 meters (1,800 feet) underground, news reports cited the service ...

  Dubai / WAM Al Futtaim Carillion, a Dubai-based company, will be the main contractor for the key development of the three Theme Districts at Expo 2020 Dubai. The AED2.2 billion contract announced on Thursday is the first of AED 11 billion worth of construction contracts that Expo 2020 Dubai plans to award in 2017. Expo’s three Theme Districts will be ...

  Sharjah / WAM His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, inaugurated on Thursday, the Art For All Centre- Falaj of Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services (SCHS), located at Sharjah Heritage Square in The Heart of Sharjah area. Upon his arrival, His Highness signed the memorial board plaques, which is distinguished by ...

  Dubai / WAM Ireland voiced its interest in making Dubai the re-export hub of Irish food and dairy products. Michael Creed, Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine discussed this proposal in a meeting with Eng. Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director-General of the Dubai Municipality, on Thursday at the municipality’s headquarters. Praising the relations between the UAE and the Republic ...