Australia wins landmark tobacco packaging case

GENEVA - A landmark Australian law on restrictive tobacco packaging has been upheld at the World Trade Organization after a five-year legal battle, Bloomberg news reported on Thursday.

Protesters reject Constitution plan

TOKYO - About 55,000 people rallied on Wednesday to protest against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's attempts to amend Japan's pacifist Constitution as the nation marked its 70th Constitution Memorial Day.

Facebook tries to fix violent video issue with new employees

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook Inc will hire 3,000 more people over the next year to speed up the removal of videos showing murder, suicide and other violent acts, in its most dramatic move yet to combat the biggest threat to its valuable public image.

ROK begins early voting to replace ousted president Park

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea began early voting on Thursday in the election to replace ousted president Park Geun-hye.

Mentally ill woman who killed eight children escapes charges

SYDNEY - An Australian mother who killed seven of her children and a niece in a brutal case that shocked the country will not stand trial after being deemed of "unsound mind", a court has ruled.

Le Pen, Macron clash in final debate

PARIS - French centrist Emmanuel Macron and his far-right presidential rival Marine Le Pen clashed over terrorism, the economy and Europe on Wednesday in a bad-tempered TV debate that laid bare their profoundly different visions for the country.

Russia, Turkey agree to remove trade restrictions

SOCHI, Russia - Russia and Turkey have agreed to lift nearly all remaining trade restrictions imposed in the aftermath of Ankara's downing of a Russian warplane in 2015, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

May takes tough Brexit stance as nation holds elections to choose local councilors

LONDON - Theresa May faced her first nationwide electoral test as Britain's prime minister on Thursday, as she toughened her Brexit position just weeks before a crucial general election.

Puerto Rico seeks bankruptcy protection

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The governor of Puerto Rico announced on Wednesday that the US territory would seek a form of bankruptcy protection to restructure its $70 billion debt, the largest municipal restructuring in US history.

IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Abe unveils plan to revise Constitution

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday that he hopes to see a revised Constitution go into effect in 2020 under a plan that will see the first change to the postwar charter.

BOJ governor: AIIB positive for infrastructure development in Asia

TOKYO - Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said this week that the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is playing a positive role in the development of infrastructure in the region.