RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – The first few times American landscape architect Sara Zewde visited Rio de Janeiro’s Valongo Wharf, she struggled to comprehend the recently unearthed remnants of what was once among the biggest slave ports in the world. Excavated starting in 2011, the site is largely inscrutable, even …

SHANGHAI (AP) – The latest Star Wars movie broke the $1 billion mark before fans in China could see it, but producers anticipate “The Force Awakens” will play “very very well” in the world’s second-biggest film market. The film opens in China on Jan. 9. Director J.J. Abrams watched the …

ISTANBUL (AP) – Tens of thousands of civilians in southeast Turkey have been caught in the middle as government forces and Kurdish militants battle it out in urban areas – violence that has shattered hopes of reviving peace talks. Turkish security forces launched a large-scale operation last week hoping to …

BEIJING (AP) – China said Saturday that it will not renew press credentials for a French journalist, effectively expelling her following a harsh media campaign against her for questioning the official line equating ethnic violence in China’s western Muslim region with global terrorism. Expecting the move, Ursula Gauthier, a longtime …

ISLAMABAD (AP) – India’s Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to Pakistan on Friday, his first such trip as prime minister to this Islamic nation that has been India’s long-standing archrival in the region. The previously unannounced visit is a potential sign of thawing relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. …

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – At least 12 people were injured in eastern Nangarhar province after an earthquake jolted Afghanistan just before midnight Friday, officials said on Saturday. A number of Nangarhar University students in the provincial capital, Jalalabad, were injured during a stampede while trying to run out of a …

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – A tornado touched down in north-central Alabama, including part of Birmingham, in the latest wave of severe weather that’s hammered the South during Christmas week. The funnel was spotted by witnesses outside the city about 5 p.m. Friday. An hour later the National Weather service confirmed …

VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis has issued a Christmas Day indulgence for Catholics around the globe in hopes they spread the church’s message of mercy in a world torn by “murderous evil,” war and poverty. Speaking Friday from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis said he hoped …

BEIRUT (AP) – A U.S.-backed coalition of rebels in Syria – including Syrian Kurdish, Arab and Christian groups – captured several areas in the country’s north from the Islamic State extremists as government air raids on a rebel-held Damascus suburb killed at least 20 people on Thursday. Government warplanes and …

MOSCOW (AP) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Russia and Qatar have agreed on what they could do to encourage the Syrian opposition to sit down for talks with the Syrian government. Lavrov said Friday he would not disclose further details about the agreement. Russia is a staunch supporter …