MANILA, Philippines (AP) – In a military buildup certain to inflame tensions with China, the United States said Thursday it will be conducting joint South China Sea patrols – and eventually air patrols – with the Philippines, while dispatching U.S. troops and combat aircraft there on more frequent rotations. The …

BRUSSELS (AP) – Belgian prosecutors say a judge has ordered Mohamed Abrini and five others arrested in connection with the attacks in Paris and Brussels to be held for another month. Abrini has admitted being the “man in the hat” seen leaving Brussels Airport the morning two suicide bombers detonated …

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) – A schoolmate cries with joy at the sight of a Boko Haram video appearing to show some of Nigeria’s kidnapped Chibok girls – friends she hasn’t seen since they were abducted by the Islamic extremists two years ago. CNN broadcast the video, as well as the …

SANAA, Yemen (AP) – Yemeni officials say heavy rainfall in several parts of the country has caused widespread flooding and the collapse of small dams, including one in Hajja province northeast of the capital, Sanaa. The officials said at least one person was killed Thursday in the flooding. Damage to …

BEIJING (AP) – China’s live-streaming sites have become a burgeoning cottage industry, offering money-making opportunities and even stardom to their mostly female hosts and an entertaining new alternative for millions of viewers to online dramas and stodgy state-controlled TV. Zhang Qige, a 23-year-old woman who plays computer games and chats …

BEIRUT (AP) – Back in Syria, the young women were told they would get well-paid jobs at restaurants and hotels in Lebanon. But when they arrived, their belongings and mobile phones were taken away, and the women were locked up in two hotels north of Beirut and forced into prostitution. …

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) – Syrians in government-controlled areas headed to polling stations Wednesday to elect a new 250-member parliament that is expected to serve as a rubber stamp for President Bashar Assad. Voters began turning up shortly after the stations opened at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT). Around 3,500 government-approved candidates …

NEW DELHI (AP) – The tiny bone fragments formally turned over to the U.S. Wednesday carry a world of significance and perhaps closure for possibly a few American families who lost a loved one over the mountains of India in World War II. During a solemn ceremony Wednesday, U.S. military …

CHANGSHA, China (AP) – For years, Chen Tiantian could only read about the gay rights movement in faraway places. She knew that there were activists in Beijing and a vibrant community in Shanghai, and that in San Francisco, a distant mecca, gay pride parades took up entire streets. But on …

IDOMENI, Greece (AP) – More than 100 migrants engaged in running battles Wednesday with Macedonian police on the other side of a fence on Greece’s border with the country, in clashes that sent clouds of tear gas wafting over a crowded tent city of stranded refugees and other migrants. The …