Turkey vote will decide direction of governance

ISTANBUL - As soon as school is over, Burcu and Ece take a bus to Besiktas Square in central Istanbul. The moment they are there, the bosom buddies, both aged 15, pick up "No" flyers from tents set up for a referendum campaign and start passing them out.

Greek prisoners kick their way to rehab

ATHENS - Behind the concrete walls and barbed wire of Greece's largest maximum security prison complex at Korydallos, a suburb of Piraeus port near the capital Athens, a friendly soccer game was hailed by inmates and their rivals from the "outside world" as a step on the road to rehabilitation.

Switzerland an oasis for cannabis converts

LAUSANNE, Switzerland - A gray-haired woman in her early 60s daintily lifts small trays topped with different varieties of marijuana to her nose, sniffing each of them carefully.

Lack of fueling sites hinders hydrogen cars

DETROIT - Hydrogen fuel cell cars could one day challenge electric cars in the race for pollution-free roads - but only if more stations are built to fuel them.

Britain to research soldiers' hip problems

LONDON - A major research project to discover why so many members of Britain's military suffer from hip problems was announced Thursday. Almost one-in-five of the trained armed forces in Britain have a diagnosed Musculoskeletal (MSKI) injury, with soldiers in the army the most likely to be medically downgraded, says the Ministry of Defense (MOD)

China calls for political solution on Syria issue

China has made arduous efforts to push forward consensus on the Syria chemical weapon issue at the United Nations Security Council and regrets that the attempts have not yet paid off, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Steam train up to speed in passenger service railway test

LONDON - A steam train clocked 161 kilometers per hour on Britain's mainline railway network for the first time in almost 50 years on Wednesday.

Bull creator wants 'Fearless Girl 'moved

NEW YORK - The sculptor of Wall Street's "Charging Bull" statue on Wednesday demanded the removal of the "Fearless Girl" statue that's faced off against the bull since last month.

Suspects' lawyers fear miscarriage of justice

SEPANG, Malaysia - Lawyers representing the two female suspects accused of murdering a man from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in a Malaysian airport have made complaints against police investigators which they said could comprise their case and lead to a miscarriage of justice.

United to compensate fliers

CHICAGO - United Airlines sought to quell the uproar over a man being dragged off a plane by announcing on Tuesday that it would no longer ask police to remove passengers from full flights and would compensate customers who were on the flight when the man was removed.

IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Thai teachers get schooled in Mandarin

BANGKOK - Teachers in Thailand's capital are learning Mandarin to help the country cope with an increase in Chinese tourists.