World

BEIJING – By official data, China is becoming safer from accidents year after year. But the explosions over the Tianjin port last week are a stark reminder that it has far to go in preventing workplace disasters — from blasts on factory floors to leaks of oil pipes and warehouse …

BAMAKO, Mali – Mali’s Tuareg separatist group has said it will suspend its participation in the committee monitoring a peace agreement with the government and other groups until militias that overtook its designated land leave. Mossa Ag Attaher, a spokesman for the main separatist group, the Coordination of Azawad Movements, …

BERLIN – The leaders of France, Germany and Russia have spoken by phone and are exploring the possibility of a summit with Ukraine’s president about the conflict in the country’s east. French President Francois Hollande’s office said he, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Saturday that …

GENEVA – The U.N. special envoy for Libya has met with leaders of the Tripoli-based government and says he hopes a draft agreement aimed at forming a national unity government can be finalized in coming weeks. Bernardino Leon on Wednesday noted “tangible results” in the talks in Istanbul with the …

GENEVA – Envoys from Libya’s rival factions are arriving in Geneva for talks aimed at forming a unity government in the chaotic north African country. The talks come as part of a blitz of diplomatic activity under mediation of the U.N. special envoy for Libya, Bernardino Leon. Libya is currently …

UNITED NATIONS – Russia says the U.N. Security Council’s approval in establishing a new international body to assign blame for chemical attacks in Syria will be finalized and sent to Ban Ki-moon Thursday. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the council president this month, told The Associated Press that “yes, the response …

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso – Officials in Burkina Faso say that 14 candidates will take part in next month’s election, the first since the longtime leader in this West African nation was forced from power. Blaise Compaore served as president for nearly three decades until a popular uprising last year. Next …

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – One by one, the camera panned over the faces of the Kansas City Royals, who had lined up along the first-base line for introductions before Game 3 of their AL Division Series. When it settled on Brandon Finnegan, the crowd roared just a little bit louder. …

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Jerryd Bayless keyed a fourth-quarter rally, scoring all of his 15 points in the period to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 95-88 victory over the Boston Celtics on Monday night. Bayless was 6 of 7 in the quarter to help Memphis erase a six-point Boston lead …

Women’s soccer (football) was once banned from Football League grounds in England because the game was deemed “quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged.” The ban was lifted in 1971, and four decades later the women’s game is getting an unprecedented boost at the London Olympics. The …