"The Huntsman: Winter's War" is one of the more bizarre sequels in recent memory. If modern movies are going to strip every side story out of every superhero universe and beyond, fairy tales should be fair game too. But, it's more than a little odd that the filmmakers here decided to follow up their feminist reimagining of the Snow White story with one focused on Eric the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) and the jilted, hysterical woman (Emily Blunt's Freya) who is trying to keep him apart from his true love (Jessica Chastain's Sara). If this is progress, count me out.

Lebanon ranked 98th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index that was released by advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Wednesday.

World press freedom deteriorated in 2015, said RSF after it released the index which ranks the countries on indicators such as media independence, self-censorship, the rule of law, transparency and abuses.

The Lebanese father of two children at the heart of a high-profile custody dispute has said he will not drop attempted kidnapping charges against his estranged Australian wife, who tried to take the children from him two weeks ago.

Sally Faulkner has been jailed in Lebanon along with prominent Australian TV journalist Tara Brown and Brown's three-person camera crew on charges relating to a botched attempt to seize Faulkner's two children on their way to school in Beirut. Another four suspects, two Britons and two Lebanese, have also been detained and charged.

Eight-time champion Rafael Nadal beat Andy Murray 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Monte Carlo Masters final for the first time since 2013.

Murray had dominated on his serve — and pressured Nadal's — throughout the first set, using his drop shot effectively. But Nadal broke Murray to start the second set, regaining momentum to defeat Murray for the third time in a semifinal here.

Thousands of South Koreans participated in memorial events Saturday for the more than 300 people who died in a ferry disaster two years ago that deeply rattled the country.

Hundreds of people, carrying umbrellas in light evening rain, created long lines at a square in the capital, Seoul, waiting to place flowers on a makeshift altar near where relatives of the victims had camped out for months in protest.

Yemeni military officials say troops trained by the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Shiite rebels have routed al-Qaida militants from a city in the country's south.

The officials say that the city of Houta, the capital of the province of Lahj, is now under government control.

President Vladimir Putin says Russian and Egyptian officials have so far failed to agree on security procedures needed to restore direct flights between the two countries.

Moscow halted the flights after the downing last October of a Russian passenger jet over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula that killed all 224 people on board. Russia says the plane was brought down by an explosive device, and a local branch of the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for planting it.

Protesters calling for pay of $15 an hour and a union will be at McDonald's stores around the U.S. Thursday as part of an ongoing push targeting the world's biggest hamburger chain.

The "Fight for $15" campaign says low-wage workers plan to turn out to show their solidarity with fast-food workers.

Inky the octopus waited until it was dark and the staff had gone home from the National Aquarium of New Zealand before making his move.

He squeezed and pushed his way through a tiny gap in the mesh at the top of his tank and slithered 2 meters (6.6 feet) to the floor. Then he made a beeline across the room to a drain hole.

A judge on Wednesday voided the sale of a former Catholic convent to a Los Angeles businesswoman, clearing the way for Katy Perry to purchase the hilltop property.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Bowick ruled that attempts to sell the property to the businesswoman by members of an order of elderly nuns were improper.