The city of Ferguson, Mo., is now burned into our consciousness in a way that few other places are. In my youth, the race riots in Newark, Detroit and Los Angeles marked turning points in my own and in the public’s awareness of the problems of a black underclass that …

IRBIL, Iraq – U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter says a U.S. airstrike has killed a senior Al-Qaida operational commander in eastern Afghanistan. He said in a statement Friday that the airstrike killed Abu Khalil Al-Sudani on July 11. Carter called Al-Sudani a senior shura member and head of Al-Qaida suicide …

MADRID – A wildfire racing through forested hills in northeastern Spain has forced the evacuation of several hundred people. The blaze broke out Sunday afternoon in dry woodland and was being fanned by steady winds. Within hours the fire had charred around 450 hectares (1,100 acres). Firefighters said some 400 …

ATHENS, Greece – Emissaries from Greece’s international creditors are holding a second day of preparatory talks with Greek officials, ahead of higher-level negotiations later this week on the country’s new multi-billion euro lifeline. The aim is to thrash out the terms of the deal — worth about 85 billion euros …

BAGHDAD – Iraq’s Council of Ministers has declared a four-day mandatory holiday beginning Thursday as temperatures are set to soar above 50 degrees Celsius (123 degrees Fahrenheit). The statement, delivered on state-run Iraqiyya TV, is the second heat advisory issued by the Iraqi government this month. High summer temperatures are …

BELGRADE, Serbia – The head of Serbia’s state lottery has resigned following allegations of a fraud during a live ticket draw this week. Police said Thursday they have questioned six people during an investigation into whether the latest winning lottery combination had been set up in advance. The affair erupted …

The moderators of the GOP debate Thursday night at the Quicken Loans arena gave Donald Trump plenty of rope – and sure enough he hanged himself. Right out of the box, the candidates were asked to pledge their support to whomever ultimately wins the GOP nomination; the only hold-out was …

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The 11th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against Native American inmates fighting for the right to wear their hair long in Alabama prisons. The court on Wednesday upheld an Alabama prison policy which states that male inmates must keep their hair cut short. Inmates had …

MEXICO CITY – Hours after walking out of a federal prison following the dropping of drug trafficking charges against him, a Mexican college student on Friday called on the government to presume the innocence of arrested people rather than require them to prove it. Oscar Alvaro Montes de Oca was …

MOSCOW – Two Russian crewmembers at the International Space Station have begun a spacewalk to install new equipment and inspect the orbiting outpost’s exterior. Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko are to mount devices that will ease the movement of crew on future spacewalks. They are also to replace an antenna, …