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 …