JAPAN-ISLAMIC STATE
TOKYO - Japan and other nations have condemned with outrage and horror the beheading purportedly by the Islamic State group of Kenji Goto, a journalist who sought through his coverage of Syria to convey the plight of refugees, children and other victims of war. By Elaine Kurtenbach and Yuri Kageyama.
CHINA-MANUFACTURING
BEIJING - A gauge of China's manufacturing activity fell to a 28-month low in January amid economic slowdown, according to official data, although January typically is a month of slower activities as China's factories prepare for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations.
ISLAMIC STATE-KOBANI
BEIRUT - The Islamic State group acknowledges for the first time that its fighters have been defeated in the Syrian town of Kobani and vows to attack the town again. An Associated Press video from inside the town shows widespread destruction, streets littered with debris and abandoned neighborhoods.
ETHIOPIA-AU-TROOPS
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - African leaders have agreed to send 7,500 troops to fight the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria, an African Union official said. The move came after the council urged heads of state to endorse the deployment of troops from five West African countries to fight the terror group, said the head of the African Union's Peace and Security Council, Samil Chergui.
IRAQ-LIBRARIES IN DANGER
BAGHDAD - When Islamic State militants invaded the Central Library of Mosul this month, they loaded about 2,000 books - children's stories, poetry, philosophy and volumes on sports, health, culture and science - into pickup trucks. Only Islamic texts were left behind. The rest? "They will be burned," a militant told residents.
VATICAN-WOMEN
VATICAN CITY - A new Vatican outreach initiative to women hit a sour note before it even got off the ground: The sexy blonde on its Internet promo video came under such ridicule that it was quickly taken down. But the program is going ahead, and an inaugural meeting this week will study women's issues in ways that are utterly new for the Holy See.