Japan's Abe triggers snap election

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a meeting of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Monday that he will dissolve the lower house of parliament when it convenes for an extraordinary session on Thursday and call a snap election.

Ride-hailing row sheds light on contradictions

LONDON - In less that 24 hours, more than half a million people signed an online petition backing Uber's fight to save its car operations in London, mirroring profound economic and political disagreements in Britain.

Hijacked jet flown back home

BERLIN - A Lufthansa passenger jet that was hijacked to Somalia 40 years ago at the height of a militant group's campaign against West German authorities has returned home.

Tattoos go mainstream after sketchy image

LONDON - Mothers shopping with teenage children and parents pushing baby buggies joined the crowds of body art enthusiasts at this weekend's annual London Tattoo Convention, underscoring the increasing acceptance of tattoos in mainstream culture.

NZ awaits Peters' pick of the parties

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - The leaders of the main parties prepared on Sunday to start talks with Winston Peters, the leader of a nationalist party who emerged as kingmaker after an inconclusive general election, but Peters indicated he was in no rush to pick a side.

First refugees taken from offshore detention center under US swap deal

SYDNEY - Refugees have left one of Australia's offshore detention centres on Sunday for the United States, an asylum seeker and a refugee advocate said, as part of a swap brokered by former US president Barack Obama last year.

IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Merkel win could pave the way

With Germans casting their ballots on Sunday to elect the country's new government, veteran French politician Jean-Pierre Raffarin said Chancellor Angela Merkel's expected victory will form a "perfect duo" with new French President Emmanuel Macron to deepen Europe's strategic partnership with China.

'Comfort women' memorial unveiled in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO - "I hate the crime, not the people," an emotional Lee Yong-soo, a Korean woman who survived sexual slavery by the Imperial Army of Japan during World War II, told a packed audience at a public square in San Francisco.

Double boost bolsters the Blues

STOKE-ON-TRENT, England - Antonio Conte was left frustrated by Chelsea's failure to beat Arsenal last weekend, but the Blues boss has been given a lift ahead of Saturday's trip to Stoke City by Eden Hazard's return and the end of the Diego Costa saga.

Emery evasive as PSG grapples with penalty problem

PARIS - Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery refused to name his first-choice penalty taker on Thursday in the wake of Neymar and Edinson Cavani's apparent falling-out against Lyon last week.

Zidane appeals for calm amid Madrid's travails

MADRID - In the space of just five games Real Madrid has gone from red-hot La Liga title favorite to trailing rival Barcelona by seven points ahead of Saturday's trip to Alaves.