World News

KABUL — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday announced that his government has released three prominent Taliban figures in an effort to get the insurgents to free an American and an Australian professor they abducted in 2016.

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Two speeding trains collided in eastern Bangladesh, killing at least 15 people and injuring scores on Tuesday, officials said.

GAZA, Palestinian Territory — Israel killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza early Tuesday in a rare targeted killing that threatened to unleash a fierce round of cross-border violence with Palestinian militants.

WASHINGTON — Former Massachusetts Gov.

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Fairbanks has been well represented in pageants this year as the newly crowned Miss Alaska USA 2020 and Miss Alaska Teen USA 2020 both hail from the city, officials said.

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah death-row inmate who killed his brother's wife and her toddler because of his strong polygamist beliefs in a case made famous by the book "Under the Banner of Heaven" has died of natural causes, prison officials said Monday.

DALLAS — Southwest Airlines says it will speed up inspections of dozens of used planes it bought from foreign airlines after federal regulators threatened to ground the jets because they might not meet all safety standards.

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey on Monday deported citizens of the United States and Denmark who fought for the Islamic State and made plans to expel other foreign nationals as the government began a new push to send back captured foreign fighters to their h

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.

HONG KONG — Following a day of violence in which one person was shot by police and another set on fire, Hong Kong's leader pledged Monday to "spare no effort" to halt anti-government protests that have wracked the city for more than five months.