Mechanic due to enter plea in airliner sabotage case

MIAMI (AP) — A former American Airlines mechanic who prosecutors say may have some links to terrorists is due to enter a plea to charges that he sabotaged an aircraft with 150 people aboard. An arraignment hearing is scheduled Friday for 60-year-old Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani in Miami federal court....

Pence praises police officers in twist on White House visit

NEW YORK (AP) — In a twist on White House sports team visits that have become increasingly rare as athletes protest the Trump administration, Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday visited New York City police headquarters and heralded its football team for winning a recent national championship among...

NJ man charged with terrorism offenses targeting landmarks

NEW YORK (AP) — A New Jersey man who allegedly photographed or recorded video of landmarks including the Statue of Liberty, the White House and Boston's Fenway Park as potential terrorism targets in the early to mid-2000s has been charged with terror offenses by authorities who say he was working on behalf...

Governor: Suicide bomb in southern Afghanistan kills 20

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A powerful suicide truck bomb devastated a hospital in southern Afghanistan early Thursday morning, killing 20 people and wounding 97 others, according to the province's governor, while a deadly drone strike in the country's east was blamed on U.S. forces. The Taliban, who claimed...

Rival UN resolutions on Syria cease-fire go down to defeat

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Rival humanitarian resolutions calling for a cease-fire in Syria's last rebel stronghold in Idlib were defeated in the Security Council Thursday, reflecting the deep divisions that have prevented the U.N.'s most powerful body from taking action to end the eight-year Syrian conflict....

NGO: Forest fires in Bolivia burn Switzerland-sized area

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Fires have consumed more than 3.1 million hectares (12,000 square miles) of forests and grasslands in just over a month in Bolivia, according to an environmental group, with the blazes affecting the South American country's Amazon region. The Friends of Nature Foundation said the...

Melania Trump cuts ribbon on reopened Washington Monument

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Melania Trump cut the ribbon Thursday as the Washington Monument reopened to the public for the first time in three years. The 555-foot stone obelisk closed in September 2016 in order to replace the aging elevator and upgrade security systems. Accompanied by a group of local...

Toppled Tunisian ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali dies at 83

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, an autocrat who led his small North African country for 23 years before being toppled by nationwide protests that unleashed revolt across the Arab world, died Thursday. He was 83. Ben Ali, who had lived in Saudi Arabia since fleeing...

UN faces rival cease-fire resolutions in Syrian rebel area

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council is facing rival resolutions calling for a cease-fire in Syria's last rebel stronghold in Idlib, "to avoid a further deterioration of the already catastrophic humanitarian situation." Germany, Belgium and Kuwait finalized their text Wednesday afternoon and...

Taliban claim powerful suicide truck bomb in southern Afghanistan; official says at least 20 killed