BEIJING (AP) – China’s year of man-made disasters began on New Year’s Eve when 36 revelers were killed in a stampede in Shanghai. Nearly twelve months later, a mountain of excavated soil and construction waste collapsed into buildings at an industrial park in Shenzhen. Four of the disasters this year …

MADRID (AP) – Spain’s opposition Socialist party Monday said it would vote against having acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy form a new government, thus killing one of Rajoy’s options to stay in power after voters elected a fragmented Parliament. Rajoy’s ruling conservative Popular Party came first in Sunday’s general election, …

JERUSALEM (AP) – With Israel mired in a wave of near-daily Palestinian attacks, hard-line Israeli politicians and activists are stepping up the pressure on dovish groups that are critical of government policies- drawing accusations of a nationalist witch hunt that risks turning violent. In recent weeks, lawmakers have circulated bills …