AP National News

By NG HAN GUAN Associated Press ALXA LEAGUE, China (AP) — Rescuers with backhoes and bulldozers dug through tons of earth and rubble Thursday for 48 people missing after a landslide buried an open-pit mine in northern China. State broadcaster CCTV reported that the confirmed death toll in the disaster rose to five. Conditions in

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has cancelled an audience with an Italian YMCA group and skipped speeches due to a bad cold. The Vatican says Francis did meet with young Orthodox priests and monks on Thursday and members of German research organization the Max Planck Society. But the Vatican says he merely handed out printed

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The death toll from the massive earthquake that hit parts of Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6 continues to rise as more bodies are retrieved from the rubble of demolished buildings. A magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck the already battered province of Hatay this week damaged or demolished more buildings, compounding

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The new president of Cyprus has met informally with the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots to test the waters on reviving stalemated talks to end the island’s ethnic division. It has been a source of instability in the east Mediterranean for decades. Thursday’s meeting was

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Voters in Nigeria are electing a new leader Saturday, with 18 candidates vying to lead a country facing a series of struggles — the newest and most pressing being a shortage of cash. Three front-runners have emerged to replace President Muhammadu Buhari after his final term

By SIBI ARASU Associated Press BENGALURU, India (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the U.S. will push for tougher, better enforced sanctions against Russia and is hoping for a “fully funded” package of financial support for Ukraine. Yellen spoke in Bengaluru, India, where she is attending meetings of financial leaders of the Group of

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — As Nigeria prepares for its presidential election this weekend, younger voters are mobilizing in record numbers to take part. The high interest in Saturday’s ballot comes as Africa’s most populous nation faces high rates of unemployment and growing insecurity. Officials say there’s been a surge in

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s royal household says Queen Margrethe II, whose half-century reign makes her Europe’s longest-serving monarch, has undergone “extensive back surgery” and the condition of the monarch “is good and stable under the circumstances.” The 82-year-old queen will remain in the hospital “for some time to come,” and that will be followed

VIENNA (AP) — A meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s parliamentary assembly has gotten underway without Ukraine’s delegation, which is boycotting the event. The Ukrianians described the presence of Russian lawmakers at the event as “an affront.” The two-day meeting of the normally low-profile assembly coincides with the anniversary of Russia’s

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran is directly acknowledging an accusation attributed to international inspectors that it enriched uranium to 84% purity for the first time, which would put the Islamic Republic closer than ever to weapons-grade material. The acknowledgement by a news outlet linked to Iran’s theocracy renews

By The Associated Press For Russia, it’s been a year of bold charges and bombardments, humiliating retreats and grinding sieges. Ukraine has countered with fierce resistance, surprising counteroffensives and unexpected hit-and-run strikes. Now, on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion that has killed tens of thousands and reduced cities to ruins, both sides are preparing for

By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — An 11-year-old girl in Cambodia has died from bird flu in the country’s first known human H5N1 infection since 2014. Bird flu normally spreads in poultry and most of the 870 human cases worldwide in the past few decades have involved direct contact with infected

By DENG MACHOL Associated Press JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan’s president has urged the country’s more than 2 million refugees to return home in his first meeting with displaced people since civil war erupted almost a decade ago. The appeal comes as the country prepares to hold its first elections since gaining independence

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group has carried out its deadliest attacks in more than a year, killing dozens of civilians and security officers in the deserts of central Syria, even as people of northern Syria have been digging out of the wreckage from the region’s devastating earthquake. The

By MICHAEL TARM and CLAIRE SAVAGE Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — R. Kelly is set to learn whether he will spend the rest of his life in prison when a federal judge sentences him Thursday on convictions of child pornography and enticement of minors for sex. Prosecutors have asked the judge overseeing the sentencing hearing

By AMANCAI BIRABEN and JIM SALTER Associated Press PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A brutal winter storm that trapped drivers on icy roads, blacked out hundreds of thousands of homes, grounded airplanes and closed schools across much of the country was poised to slam California Thursday. “We are in for a VERY busy week!” the National

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Emperor Naruhito has expressed deep sorrow for the suffering of people in conflicts around the world and stressed the importance of dialogue and cooperation in remarks released for his 63rd birthday Thursday. Naruhito did not name other countries in his carefully nuanced remarks days before the

By DENNIS PASSA AP Sports Writer BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Vivienne Gray doesn’t fit the same profile as former or current professional athletes forced to live with the ongoing effects of concussions. The 33-year-old cardiac care nurse has been fighting the side effects of a concussion following a collision with an opposing player during an

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets rose Thursday following Wall Street’s biggest one-day decline in two months after notes from a Federal Reserve meeting showed officials expect to keep U.S. interest rates high to fight stubborn inflation. Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul advanced. Japanese markets were closed for a