World

WASHINGTON—The government is readying rules largely favorable to companies that want to use small drones for commercial purposes, according to a federal analysis, potentially leading to widespread flights by unmanned aircraft performing aerial photography, crop monitoring, inspections of cell towers and bridges and other work.

RICHMOND, Virginia—Some schools are getting tougher on e-cigarets, even punishing possession of the devices more harshly than regular cigarets.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Saudi Arabia’s new monarch isn’t wasting time. Since assuming the throne Jan. 23, King Salman has elevated some of his closest relatives and sidelined previous power-brokers, tightened decision-making and promised lavish payouts designed to win early goodwill.

PUEBLO, Colorado—The United States is about to begin destroying its largest remaining stockpile of chemical-laden artillery shells, marking a milestone in the global campaign to eradicate a debilitating weapon that still creeps into modern wars.

Alexandra Olson / The Associated Press NEW YORK—Global freedom has suffered a disturbing decline with 60 percent of the world’s population, or 2.6 billion people, living in countries that are not completely free, according to a report released Wednesday.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria—Nigerian troops Sunday repelled Islamic extremists who attacked from four fronts on Maiduguri, the biggest city in northeast Nigeria, with several civilians killed by aerial bombs and grenades and mortar shells on the ground.

TOKYO—The Japanese, who inhabit one of the safest countries in the world, have been reminded in brutal fashion that the world is a dangerous place.

Activists blame police for the death of Shaimaa el-Sabagh, a 32-year-old mother of one from the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. The government says it is investigating.

Tokyo—From prime minister to ordinary people, Japanese responded with shock Sunday at a video purportedly showing one of two Japanese hostages of the extremist Islamic State group had been killed.

New Delhi—President Barack Obama was greeted in India Sunday with an elaborate welcome at the country’s sprawling presidential palace, then he solemnly laid a wreath at a memorial honoring the father of India’s independence movement, Mahatma Gandhi.