PANISH FORK, Utah (AP) -- A raging Utah wildfire driven by high winds in dry terrain has the potential to decimate hundreds of homes if firefighters cannot get a handle on it in the next couple of days, the governor said Friday.　 　Gov. Gary Herbert, who spoke at the fairgrounds in Spanish Fork after getting a briefing from fire officials, said the terrain, visibility and wind are making things difficult.　 　“Boy, if you‘ve got any sway with the man upstairs, let’s see what we can do to help with

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears headed for a third three-year term as ruling party leader, extending his hold on power and giving him time to pursue a long-cherished goal - revising his country's post-World War II constitution.Abe reportedly has the support of a large majority of party representatives ahead of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Sept. 20 leadership vote."I will take on the task of revising the constitution, a postwar challenge that has never been achieved, in order

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) -- The big slosh has begun, and the consequences could be disastrous.Hurricane Florence’s leading edge battered the Carolina coast Thursday, bending trees and shooting frothy sea water over streets on the Outer Banks, as the hulking storm closed in with 100 mph (155 kph) winds for a drenching siege that could last all weekend. Tens of thousands were without power.Winds and rain were arriving later in South Carolina, and a few people were still walking on the sand at Myrtle

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) -- Time is running short to get out of the way of Hurricane Florence, a monster of a storm that has a region of more than 10 million people in its potentially devastating sights as it zeroes in on the Southeastern coast.Forecasters said wind speeds have dropped from a high of 140 mph (225 kph) to 110 mph (175 kph), reducing it from a Category 4 storm to a Category 2, and additional fluctuations and weakening were likely as it swirled toward land. But authorities warned Fl

MELBOURNE — A cartoon of Serena Williams that has been widely condemned as a racist depiction of the tennis great has been partially reprinted on the front page of the Melbourne-based newspaper that initially published it.The Herald Sun newspaper printed an edited portion of the cartoon — featuring 23-time Grand Slam winner Williams jumping on a broken racket during her dispute with a chair umpire in the US Open final — among caricatures of other famous people Wednesday under the headline “Welco

BRUSSELS  — European Union lawmakers have voted in favor of new copyright rules that could shake up the way internet companies use media, books, music and other content posted online. European Parliament President Antonio Tajani listens to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker delivering his State of Union speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Wednesday, Sept.12, 2018. (AP)In Strasbourg, France on Wednesday, lawmakers voted by 438 to 226 to back a report ai

MOSCOW _ When Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet this week, they will have plenty to talk about thanks to US President Donald Trump. Xi is traveling to Vladivostok, in the Russian Far East, on Tuesday and Wednesday for an economic conference where he's expected to meet with Putin, while China joins vast Russian war games for the first time. US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump (AP)Neither side has said what they'll discuss, but Trump's polici

Rapidly intensifying Hurricane Florence could strike a direct and dangerous blow anywhere from the Carolinas to the Mid-Atlantic region later this week, possibly as a fearsome category 4.A hurricane hunter plane found Florence strengthening quickly, reaching top winds of 85 mph (140 kph) Sunday evening after crossing the 74 mph threshold from tropical storm to a hurricane earlier in the day.Forecasters said Florence was expected to become an extremely dangerous major hurricane sometime Monday, a

TOKYO (AP) --  The death toll has hit 39 from a powerful earthquake that struck the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido last week, authorities said Sunday. One person remained missing in the hard-hit town of Atsuma, where multiple landslides triggered by the quake slammed into houses at the foot of steep hills.　 　Rescue workers used backhoes and shovels to search for the missing in a tangle of dirt, fallen trees and the rubble of homes left by the landslides. All but four of the victims were fr

TEHRAN -- The presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey met Friday to discuss the future of Syria as a bloody military operation looms in the last rebel-held area of the war-ravaged nation, urging militants to lay down their weapons. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a cease-fire and an end to airstrikes in the northwestern province of Idlib, something that wasn’t immediately accepted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.  (EPA-Yonhap)Instead, Puti

NEW DELHI -- India's Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a colonial-era law that made gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a landmark victory for gay rights that one judge said would "pave the way for a better future.'' The 1861 law, a relic of Victorian England that hung on long after the end of British colonialism, was a weapon used to discriminate against India's gay community, the judges ruled in a unanimous decision. "Constitutional morality cannot be martyred at the altar of s

WASHINGTON — Facebook and Twitter executives plan to defend their companies in two congressional hearings, arguing they are aggressively trying to root out foreign actors who want to do the United States harm just weeks before the midterm elections.Twitter’s CEO will also face angry Republicans who claim the companies have shown evidence of bias against conservatives. In prepared testimony released ahead of a House hearing Wednesday afternoon, Jack Dorsey says his company does not use political

TOKYO — People stranded at a flooded offshore airport overnight returned by boat and bus to the Japanese mainland Wednesday after a typhoon swept across part of Japan’s main island.Japanese broadcaster NHK showed aerial footage of the boat and a caravan of buses transporting about 3,000 people from Kansai International Airport across a partially damaged bridge under sunny skies. The airport that serves Osaka, one of Japan’s largest cities, remains closed.Typhoon Jebi peeled roofs off buildings,

PARIS — French children who are going back to school Monday after summer vacation will have to do so without their mobile phones.The government passed a law banning phone use in all primary and middle schools for the entire day, including during breaks —with exceptions in cases of emergency and for disabled children. (AP)Pupils are requested to shut down their mobiles or put them in a locker.High schools can also voluntarily implement the measure. Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said it

LONDON — Don’t judge by appearances. It’s an age-old piece of advice that is being roundly ignored by corporations, governments and law-enforcement agencies around the globe.British police use facial-recognition technology to scan crowds for suspects. Owners of the latest iPhones can unlock their phones with face ID. Whole Foods and other retailers are testing facial recognition as a way of eliminating check-out tills in stores.Modern technology means your face is both your identity and a commod