Venezuela wins seat on UN rights body despite opposition

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Venezuela won a contested election for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday despite a campaign by over 50 organizations and many countries opposed to Nicolas Maduro's government and its rights record. There was scattered applause in the General Assembly chamber when its...

US, Turkey agree on Turkish cease-fire with Syrian Kurds

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The U.S. and Turkey agreed Thursday to a five-day cease-fire in the Turks' attacks on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria to allow the Kurds to withdraw to roughly 20 miles away from the Turkish border. The arrangement appeared to be a significant embrace of Turkey's position in the...

The Latest: Trump credits 'tough love' for cease-fire deal

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local): 9:30 p.m. President Donald Trump is crediting his threat of sanctions on Turkey as "tough love" that led the country to agree to a five-day cease-fire in its battle with Kurds in northern Syria. Talking to reporters in Fort Worth,...

White House official: Kushner to visit Israel this month

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior U.S. official says President Donald Trump's top Mideast adviser, Jared Kushner, will visit Israel at the end of the month. Kushner, who is also Trump's son in law, is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief political rival, Benny Gantz. The official...

Pence says United States and Turkey have agreed to a cease-fire in Syria

Trump announces "great news" out of Pence-Erdogan talks in Turkey, saying "millions of lives will be saved!"

The Latest: Turkey: 71 Turkish-backed Syrian fighters killed

BEIRUT (AP) — The latest on Turkey's invasion of northern Syria (all times local): 8 p.m. Turkey's state-run news agency says a total of 71 Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters have been killed since the start of a Turkish-led incursion into northeast Syria. Anadolu Agency said Thursday that another...

Iraqi blogger outspoken about country's corruption detained

BAGHDAD (AP) — Masked security agents stormed the apartment of a prominent Iraqi blogger in Baghdad early Thursday and detained him, apparently over his coverage of anti-government protests, a member of his family said. For about a week starting Oct. 1, Iraq witnessed protests by young Iraqis demanding...

Libya official: Gunmen kill 2 women, 3 kids near capital

CAIRO (AP) — Gunmen killed two women and three children of the same family while they were driving on a highway near the capital, Tripoli, less than a week after an airstrike slammed into a house killing at least three civilians, a health official said Thursday. The city has been the scene of fighting...

Trump portrays Mideast as a bloody sandbox, maligns Kurds

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is surfacing cultural stereotypes as he depicts the Middle East as a blood-soaked sandbox where people "play" violently because that's "what they do" in that part of the world. "It's unnatural for us, but it's sort of natural for them - to fight," he said. This from...