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 …