An investment company owned by Dubai's ruler says it will repay $500 million in bonds next week, distancing itself from other debt-laden firms in the Gulf emirate.

Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group confirmed Wednesday it will repay the bonds on Feb. 1, using funds from its internal cash flow.

On day two of Paris's frantic three days of haute couture collections, Chanel took the fashion crowd to the skies and highlights included super-sexy, celebrity-filled Armani Prive.

Tuesday's haute couture shows felt more flashy than in previous seasons — perhaps owing to confidence after some fashion houses revealed rising sales figures during last year.

The state developer of an ambitious cultural district in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday outlined a new timetable for the stalled project, with its first attraction — a branch of the Louvre — slated now to open in 2015.

A division of the Guggenheim will follow in 2017, which like the outpost of the French art institution will make its debut in the Emirati capital years later than originally planned.

Hundreds of photographs by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo that were sealed away when she died will be publicly displayed for the first time in the United States next month at the Artisphere arts center in Arlington, Virginia.

Artisphere is announcing plans Wednesday for an exhibition titled "Frida Kahlo: Her Photos," which includes more than 250 images from her personal collection. They were packed away in 1954 when Kahlo died, along with items from her husband, artist Diego Rivera, and were unsealed in 2007.

Former and reigning Wimbledon winners Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova will meet in the Australian Open semifinals after both won in straight sets on Wednesday.

Sharapova won 6-2, 6-3 against fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova, who knocked out five-time champion Serena Williams in the previous round.

Andy Murray overcame an inconsistent serve to beat Kei Nishikori on Wednesday and reach the semifinals of the Australian Open for the third straight year.

The No. 4-ranked Murray won 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 to join No. 2 Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Roger Federer in the semifinals. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic had a chance to complete a powerful final four later with a win over David Ferrer of Spain.

California did not suffer a single death from whooping cough in 2011, the first year since 1991 that there have been no fatalities in the state from the highly contagious illness, health officials said Tuesday.

The news comes after the state experienced a whooping cough epidemic in 2010 when 9,000 were infected. Most vulnerable to the disease are infants too young to be fully immunized. Ten babies died after exposure from adults or older children.

Foot and leg amputations were once a fairly common fate for diabetics, but new government research shows a dramatic decline in limbs lost to the disease, probably due to better treatments.

The rate has fallen by more than half since the mid-1990s, according to what is being called the most comprehensive study of the trend.

An on-duty bus driver went on a rampage on the crowded streets of a central Indian city Wednesday, killing nine people and injuring more than two dozen as he mowed down pedestrians and rammed other vehicles.

Police chased the bus for an hour through the streets of Pune, with traffic officers firing on it in an attempt to stop it, before they managed to arrest the 30-year-old driver. He is being held on murder charges.

U.S. Special Forces troops flew into Somalia on a nighttime helicopter raid early Wednesday, freed an American and a Danish hostage and killed nine pirates in a mission that President Barack Obama said he personally authorized.

The Danish Refugee Council confirmed that the two aid workers, American Jessica Buchanan and Dane Poul Hagen Thisted, were freed and "are on their way to be reunited with their families."