International

HONG KONG — A Hong Kong court on Friday rejected a British banker's appeal of his conviction in the gruesome murders of two Indonesian women.

NAYAPARA REFUGEE CAMP, Bangladesh — Abdul Goni says the Myanmar government was starving his family one stage at a time.

UNITED NATIONS — Al-Qaida's global network remains "remarkably resilient" and poses a greater threat than the Islamic State extremist group in several regions, including Yemen and Somalia, U.N. experts say.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister, an increasingly prominent figure in the country's leadership, will be part of the North's delegation to the South Korean Winter Olympics, officials said Wednesday.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — SpaceX's big new rocket blasted off Tuesday on its first test flight, carrying a red electric sports car aiming for an endless road trip past Mars.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Rescuers Wednesday morning were working to reach five people trapped and more than 170 people unaccounted for in several buildings damaged by a strong earthquake near Taiwan's eastern coast.

HONG KONG — Hong Kong's highest court has overturned prison sentences for three young pro-democracy activists convicted for their roles in kicking off 2014's "Umbrella Movement" protests in the semiautonomous Chinese city.

WASHINGTON — Top intelligence and law enforcement officials warn that last week's release of a congressional memo alleging FBI surveillance abuse could have wide-ranging repercussions: Spy agencies could start sharing less information with Congress, weakening oversight. Lawmakers will try to declassify more intelligence for political gain. Confidential informants will worry about being outed on Capitol Hill.

NAIROBI, Kenya — Esmond Bradley Martin, a Kenya-based American conservationist whose dogged investigations of the elephant ivory and rhino horn trades over decades were seen as critical in efforts to protect the threatened species, was found stabbed to death in his Nairobi home, Kenyan authorities said Monday.

CHICAGO — Far more U.S. teens than previously thought are transgender or identify themselves using other nontraditional gender terms, with many rejecting the idea that girl and boy are the only options, new research suggests.