MANAMA, Bahrain – The fight for Arabic news viewers is heating up. A new pan-Arab channel known as Alarab took to the airwaves Sunday from its headquarters in the tiny island nation of Bahrain, promising an “objective, fresh and unbiased view of world events.” It is backed by Saudi billionaire …

DHAKA, Bangladesh – Police have accused Bangladesh’s former prime minister and an opposition alliance leader of instigating a bus firebombing that killed seven people and injured 16 others. Attackers threw the crude fire bombs at the packed bus as it traveled from the coastal city of Cox’s Bazar to the …

BERLIN – That’s one costly order. Germany’s Rocket Internet AG says it is spending 496 million euros ($561 million) to buy a 30 percent stake in Berlin-based online takeaway company Delivery Hero. The internet company said in a statement Friday that it will also buy Italy’s La Nevera Roja and …

CARACAS, Venezuela – A long-sought drug kingpin who was extradited by Colombia back to Venezuela over the objections of the U.S. has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for trafficking and money laundering. Venezuela state prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz said Tuesday that she will appeal for a longer sentence. …

BEIJING – A Chinese man rammed a car into a barrier in front of the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai and injured an armed police officer, officials said Friday. Shanghai police said the man, identified as 35-year-old Liu Daojie, was placed in custody and told officials that he felt he was …

TOKYO – Japan’s central bank ended a board meeting with no change to its ultra-loose monetary policy while pointing to signs of improvement in the economy. The Bank of Japan noted that lower energy costs due to the plunge in crude prices will slow progress toward its inflation target of …

Mary Poppins Directs | Stanley Tucci, Edie Falco | Album Charts Seesaw Mary Poppins Takes the Director’s Chair Call it a reunion of the Broadway version of Victor/Victoria. Tony Roberts, the quintessential Woody Allen leading man, is going to star in Julie Andrews‘ first production as a director this summer. …

KINSHASA, Congo – A United Nations-backed radio station says that the Congo army has launched an offensive against rebels in South Kivu in eastern Congo. Radio Okapi reported Tuesday that soldiers were deploying to the area where they found members of the Rwandan Hutu rebel group, known by its French …

PARIS – An Al-Jazeera journalist will face court for illegally flying a drone in Paris, amid a spate of drone flyovers that have confounded French authorities amid heightened security concerns. The Paris prosecutor’s office says three journalists for Doha-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera were released Thursday, a day after they were detained. …

DONETSK, Ukraine – Russia-backed rebel authorities in eastern Ukraine have started paying pensions in Russian rubles. Yekaterina Matyushchenko, the finance minister in the Donetsk region’s separatist government, said Wednesday that pension payments for March will total 1.9 billion rubles (over $30 million). She claimed that the money came from taxes …