FRANKFURT, Germany – Industrial machinery maker Siemens AG says net profit fell 25 percent in its most recent quarter as revalued financial derivatives and lower earnings at its key power and gas business weighed on the bottom line. Net income fell to 1.095 billion ($2.184 billion) in the October-December quarter, …

HANOI, Vietnam – Vietnam’s military has temporarily grounded Vietnam War-era U.S.-built helicopters after a crash killed four personnel. The UH-1 “Huey” chopper crashed in farmland on Wednesday soon after taking off from Ho Chi Minh City on a training flight. Army Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan …

CAIRO – An Egyptian education official is under investigation for burning library books from a school suspected of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood group, a government-declared terrorist organization. Bothaina Kishk, an Education Ministry official from Cairo’s Giza district, is defending her decision, saying Wednesday that the books incited violence and …

MEXICO CITY – Mexican security officials say they’ve captured the man accused of running the Juarez drug cartel following last year’s arrest of Vicente Carrillo Fuentes. National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido says Jesus Salas Aguayo was caught Friday in the municipality of Villa Ahumada, about 75 miles south of …

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Procter & Gamble Co. says it is closing a manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico and laying off some 230 employees. A company statement Friday says the plant in the southern town of Cayey will close in the next nine to 12 months. Officials said the …

BELFAST, Northern Ireland – A Belfast bakery has been found guilty of discrimination for refusing to bake a cake bearing the slogan “Support Gay Marriage.” In Tuesday’s ruling, Belfast Judge Isobel Brownlie called the bakery’s cancellation of the order “direct discrimination for which there can be no justification.” The judge …

TEMECULA, Calif. – A mountain lion that was tranquilized after it wandered into the parking lot of a Southern California mall has died. The Riverside Press-Enterprise (http://bit.ly/1DT976j ) reports that authorities were called after people saw the animal Friday morning outside a Macy’s department store in Temecula. State Fish and …

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – States across the country are accelerating their drive for new revenue to repair aging road systems, moves that come as the amount of federal funding has been falling. Figures compiled by The Associated Press show the total amount of money available to states from the Federal …

HARTFORD, Conn. – A transportation official says railroad maintenance crews get little or no supervision and fail to document their work on a New York commuter line where six people died in a fiery crash in February. The New York Post reports Monday (http://bit.ly/1GD00x4 ) that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s …

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine: Al Qaeda Connection Senior intelligence officials believe Al Qaeda fighters were deeply involved in the revolt at Pakistan’s Red Mosque we referred to earlier — and last week’s final shootout that ended with the deaths of more than 100 people. The Times …