BEIJING – A torrent of water rushed down a mountain in northeast China on Friday and hit a primary school, killing 29 people, most of them students, and leaving another four people missing, the government said. Twenty-seven of the victims in Shalan, a town in Heilongjiang province (search), were students, …

KABUL, Afghanistan – A bomb exploded next to a U.S. military convoy in eastern Afghanistan (search), killing two American soldiers and wounding a third, the military said Saturday. An Afghan interpreter was also wounded in the attack on Friday in Urgun district in Paktika province, the military said. The wounded …

SHIRAT HAYAM, Gaza Strip – Jewish settlers enraged by a clash with Israel troops near this settlement turned on Palestinians, touching off a violent melee that left at least three people wounded, including one Palestinian in critical condition. Palestinians responded by hurling rocks at the settlers, and soldiers fired in …

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration, turning up the heat on Syria (search), moved Thursday to block the financial assets of the country’s interior minister and its chief of military intelligence for Lebanon. The Treasury Department believes the two Syrian men have played lead roles in directing Syria’s military presence in …

Ben Affleck’s (search) publicist has quashed rumors that he and girlfriend Jennifer Garner (search) tied the knot over the weekend. Ken Sunshine told “Access Hollywood” that it was not true that Affleck and the 33-year-old star of the she-spy TV series “Alias” said “I do” at a hush-hush wedding out …

WASHINGTON – In “frank, open and clear discussions” with President Bush on Monday, European Union leaders reiterated their support for a strategic partnership with the United States and emphasized their decision to work together on stability and reconstruction in Iraq. The U.S. and EU are hosting a conference in Brussels …

WASHINGTON – Hundreds of thousands of Americans have been sickened or even killed by diseases related to asbestos (search) while dozens of companies that manufactured the material have gone bankrupt paying damages. Other companies fear a similar fate. The court system, groaning under still more related cases, has prompted Congress …

CRAWFORD, Texas – President Bush is returning $4,000 in campaign contributions from an Ohio coin dealer (search) who is the subject of state and federal investigations, the White House said Friday. Tom Noe (search), who is from suburban Toledo, is under investigation for his handling of $55 million the Ohio …

A new report about deep brain stimulation failures shows complications from the procedure may be avoidable. The report in the Archives of Neurology does not dismiss deep brain stimulation, an FDA-approved treatment for Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, and uncontrolled muscle movement (dystonia). In fact, the doctors who wrote the report …

JERUSALEM – Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (search) underwent heart angioplasty in a Jordanian hospital on Wednesday, a senior Palestinian official said. He was taken to a hospital in Amman (search) earlier after complaining of fatigue, said Tayeb Abdel Rahim, a top Abbas aide. He underwent angioplasty, a procedure to clear …