Abe reelected as PM after election victory

TOKYO - Leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party Shinzo Abe was reelected as the country's prime minister on Wednesday following the ruling party's sweeping victory in the Oct 22 lower house election.

Spanish court summons axed Catalan leader

BRUSSELS - Spain's top criminal court summoned Catalonia's axed separatist leader for questioning, hours after he appeared in Brussels insisting he remained the "legitimate president" of a region now under direct rule from Madrid.

UK minister named as 'sex pest' scandal hits Westminster

LONDON - British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon was the latest British politician on Wednesday to be named in a sexual harassment scandal that has erupted in the Houses of Parliament.

IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Key link in modern Silk Road

ANKARA - A newly built railway line connecting Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia was inaugurated on Monday in Azerbaijan's capital city of Baku.

Initiative will 'enormously benefit ASEAN'

PHNOM PENH - China's Belt and Road Initiative will greatly benefit the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, especially in infrastructure development, officials and academics said at a symposium.

Inconsistencies cast doubt on survival tale

HONOLULU - Two women who said they were lost at sea never activated their emergency beacon, the US Coast Guard said, adding to a growing list of inconsistencies that cast doubt on their harrowing tale of survival.

NZ moves to ban foreigners from buying homes

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday a ban on foreigners buying existing homes would begin in early 2018, but the restrictions would not apply to Australians.

Yomiuri: Japan to launch crackdown on asylum-seekers

TOKYO - Japan will curb asylum-seekers' rights to work and detain any not deemed refugees or who have made multiple applications, the Yomiuri daily reported on Tuesday, in a move to further tighten one of the developed world's toughest refugee systems.

Mueller investigation enters new phase

WASHINGTON - Three of US President Donald Trump's former campaign aides were con Monday, and two of them pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Catalan ex-leader denies seeking asylum in Belgium

BRUSSELS - Catalonia's deposed separatist leader Carles Puigdemont said he has no plans to seek asylum in Belgium as prosecutors in Spain demanded he face criminal charges over the region's failed independence bid.

Kenya's Kenyatta wins repeat election

NAIROBI - Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was formally declared winner of the country's repeat presidential election on Monday, promised to abide by the Constitution if his victory in the rerun is challenged in court.