In brief: Senior cleric killed in Yemen, al-Qaida says

SANAA, Yemen – Al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen announced on Thursday that one of its top clerics was killed in a U.S. drone strike last month in the country’s south.

The slain cleric was identified as Sheikh Harith al-Nadhari, said to be in his 30s. Often seen in a white turban, he was among the group’s few public faces frequently featured in online religious lectures. He also recently appeared in an al-Qaida video praising last month’s deadly attack at the offices of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, as the Yemeni affiliate is known, claimed responsibility for the Paris attack in which two gunmen killed 12 people.

Al-Nadhari was killed along with three others on Jan. 31, when a drone-fired missile blew up a vehicle in which the four were traveling in the southern province of Shabwa, according to the AQAP statement, posted on one of its official Twitter accounts.

Japan: No giving in to terrorism

UNITED NATIONS – Japan told the world’s nations Thursday it will never give in to terrorism and will continue providing nonmilitary assistance for the fight against the Islamic State and other extremist groups – but not military troops or equipment “at this point.”

Japan sent Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Yasuhisa Kawamura to the United Nations to deliver the message that following the “outrageous and inhumane” beheading of two Japanese hostages by Islamic State fighters “we will stand resolutely as a member of the international community combating terrorism.”

China releases Canadian woman

BEIJING – A Canadian woman detained in China along with her husband on suspicion of stealing state secrets has been released on bail, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Thursday that Julia Garratt was set free in China while the case remains under investigation. She and her husband, Kevin, were detained Aug. 4 by the state security bureau in China’s northeastern city of Dandong, which borders North Korea.

Their detentions came amid a crackdown on Christian groups aiding North Korean refugees along the border.

Hong said both have been charged with stealing secrets and spying and Kevin Garratt has been moved from residential surveillance to the more serious status of criminal detention.

Iraqi premier ends Baghdad curfew

BAGHDAD – Iraq’s prime minister on Thursday lifted a decade-old, midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew in Baghdad, ordered that long-blocked streets in the capital be opened, and declared some neighborhoods of the city weapons-free zones.

The measure by Haider al-Abadi appeared to be aimed at restoring a sense of normalcy in Baghdad, where residents enjoyed a vibrant night life before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. The curfew was imposed in 2004 as security deteriorated across the city and beyond.

The prime minister’s order also banned the carrying of weapons in four major neighborhoods. There was no indication how the last measure would be implemented.