Netanyahu meets Putin in Moscow
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Moscow on Wednesday to meet with President Vladimir Putin and discuss military coordination amid airstrikes in Syria blamed on Israel.
The pair toured a parade celebrating the anniversary of the World War II victory over the Nazis and then met at the Kremlin, where Mr. Netanyahu said he was eager to discuss ways of “solving crises and removing threats in a thoughtful and responsible manner.”
Mr. Netanyahu said he conveyed Israel’s obligation to defend itself against Iranian aggression.
Malaysia election suprise
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Prime Minister Najib Razak, accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in government funds, lost the Malaysian national elections on Wednesday to a coalition led by his onetime mentor — a former leader who made a political comeback at 92.
With his return to power, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad would become the world’s oldest elected government leader.
The victory of his coalition is the first by the opposition in Malaysia’s history, ending the current governing party’s six decades in power.
Mr. Najib, did not appear in public after the polls closed and was said to be huddling with his top advisers as the votes came in.
As prime minister, Mr. Najib used the power of his office to muzzle critics and thwart investigations into the missing money.
Ambassador irks Germans
An influential German business association says Washington’s call for companies to stop dealing with Iran is contrary to international law.
The Federation of German Industries, or BDI, said Wednesday it rejects “the extraterritorial application of sanctions” and called upon the EU to find a solution to protect European companies from the “unlawful and unilateral” application of U.S. sanctions.
Many in Germany bristled at a tweet Tuesday from U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell after only hours on the job saying “German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.”
BDI says German firms don’t want to jeopardize business with the U.S. so there’s an “urgent need to effectively protect our companies from the effect of U.S. sanctions.”
Jakarta prison riot
JAKARTA, Indonesia — A deadly riot involving terrorism suspects inside a high-security detention center outside Indonesia’s capital stretched into Wednesday evening, officials said, and the media arm of the Islamic State claimed its loyalists were holding hostages there.
The police said that five guards and one detainee had been killed in the riot.
Zoo fined for bear treat
A Canadian zoo has been fined for not letting wildlife authorities know it was taking a 1-year-old bear to a local Dairy Queen so it could get an ice cream cone.
Discovery Wildlife Park in northern Alberta garnered attention earlier this year when it posted a Facebook video of the baby Kodiak bear, Berkley, being hand fed a vanilla ice cream cone at a drive-thru window.
Alberta Fish and Wildlife wasn’t mad the bear went out for the cone — just that authorities weren’t notified he was going. Fish and Wildlife cited the zoo as well as owners Doug Bos and Debbie Rowland for violating the terms of its license.