AP National News

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria’s interior minister has said that wildfires raging in the forests in the east of the north African country have killed at least 26 people. Most victims were reported in the region of El Tarf near the northern Algerian-Tunisian border where 24 people have been found dead including eight in a

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets and Wall Street futures mostly declined Thursday after the Federal Reserve said U.S. inflation is too high despite aggressive rate hikes, suggesting support for more increases. London, Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong declined. Frankfurt opened higher. Oil prices edged up. Notes released Wednesday

By SHONAL GANGULY and ALTAF QADRI NEW DELHI (AP) — A Muslim woman who was gang raped while pregnant during India’s devastating 2002 religious riots has appealed to the government to rescind its decision to free the 11 men who had been jailed for life for committing the crime, after they were released on suspended

BEIJING (AP) — A sudden rainstorm in western China triggered a landslide that diverted a river and caused flash flooding in populated areas, killing at least 16 people and leaving 18 others missing, Chinese state media said Thursday. Rescuers, who earlier reported 36 people missing, had found 18 of them by early afternoon, state broadcaster

By RAHIM FAIEZ and EBRAHIM NOROOZI Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Taliban police spokesman in Afghanistan’s capital says the toll from a mosque bombing the previous evening has risen to 21 people killed with 33 others wounded in the attack. Khalid Zadran, the spokesman for Kabul’s police chief, gave the figures on Thursday

JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kimi Raikkonen will take a break from his retirement to return to racing this weekend in the NASCAR race at Watkins Glen International in upstate New York. The 2007 Formula One world champion will drive for TrackHouse Racing and its Project91, which is a program

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Police in New Zealand say a family who bought abandoned goods from a storage unit discovered the bodies of two children hidden in suitcases. An investigator said the children were between 5 and 10 years old, had been dead for a number of years, and

By JOHNSON LAI and JOE McDONALD Associated Press HUALIEN, Taiwan (AP) — The U.S. government will hold talks with Taiwan on a trade agreement in a sign of support for the self-ruled island democracy China claims as its own territory. The announcement comes after Beijing launched military drills that included firing missiles into the seas

By DEREK GATOPOULOS and SUZAN FRASER Associated Press LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — As a potential power broker, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will use his first visit to Ukraine since the war started nearly six months ago to seek ways to expand the export of grain from Europe’s breadbasket to the world’s needy while U.N.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese and Japanese officials have met in northern China amid tensions over China’s military threats against Taiwan. The meeting Wednesday between senior foreign affairs advisor Yang Jiechi and the head of Japan’s National Security Secretariat, Takeo Akiba, followed China’s cancellation of a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries after

By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James has agreed to a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension through the 2024-25 season with the Los Angeles Lakers. The maximum deal includes a player option for the 2024-25 season that would keep the second-leading scorer in NBA history with the Lakers past his

By JALAL HASSAN and FARES AKRAM Associated Press RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israel has raided the offices of several Palestinian advocacy groups it had previously designated as terrorist organizations. The groups said Thursday that troops sealed entrance doors and left notices declaring them closed. Israel’s military said it closed seven institutions and seized their

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese state media say that 16 people have died and 36 others are missing after a flash flood in western China’s Qinghai province. A sudden rainstorm triggered a landslide that diverted a river on Wednesday night, state broadcaster CCTV said Thursday. The flash flood affected an area with more than 6,000 people

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Heavy rain is continuing to pelt New Zealand, causing further disruptions and road closures from a storm that has already forced hundreds to evacuate their homes. Residents in the northern part of the North Island found themselves isolated after landslides, fallen trees and floodwaters blocked

By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A U.S. congressional delegation has met with Kenya’s new president-elect and the opposition figure likely to file a court challenge to his election loss in the latest electoral crisis for East Africa’s most stable democracy. The visiting U.S. politicians met with President-elect William Ruto on Thursday,

By KIANA DOYLE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — One skyscraper stands out from the rest in the Manhattan skyline. It’s not the tallest, but it is the skinniest — the world’s skinniest, in fact. The 84-story residential Steinway Tower, designed by New York architecture firm SHoP Architects, has the title of “most slender skyscraper

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys for many of the nation’s largest media companies will try to persuade a federal magistrate judge on Thursday afternoon to make public the affidavit supporting the warrant that allowed FBI agents to search former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate last week. The Associated

By JAY REEVES Associated Press Rosalynn Carter, the second-oldest U.S. first lady ever, turns 95 Thursday on a birthday that will be marked not just with cards and best wishes, but with butterflies. The wife of former President Jimmy Carter, 97, has a fascination with butterflies dating back to childhood, when she was entranced by

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower Thursday after the Federal Reserve said U.S. inflation is too high, suggesting support for more aggressive interest rate hikes. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney declined. Oil prices edged higher. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.7% on