Heavy rains drenched Chile's capital and the surrounding region Thursday, triggering mudslides that swept cars through streets, flooded homes, forced residents to evacuate and injured at least six people, authorities said.

President José Antonio Kast declared a state of emergency for Las Condes, a wealthy suburb east of Santiago, giving government agencies more power to respond as torrential rains turned key roads into impassable waterways. The district's mayor, Catalina San Martín, said 14.4 centimeters (5.7 inches) of rain had fallen in recent days — about nine times the average October rainfall — leaving the area "totally saturated."

The Kremlin has long maintained a culture of secrecy when it comes to controlling public information, especially involving accidents -- from industrial disasters to health emergencies.

The suspicious death last week of a worker at a research lab in Siberia that has fueled global concerns about suspected pneumonic plague is just the latest example of how leaders in Moscow manage the official narrative that often covers up the truth for years.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will not order a resumption of military strikes on Iran before the Nov. 3 midterm elections in the United States.

Trump, while stumping for Republicans this week, has hinted that he was confident that an endgame to the war could come in the days before or after the election, while also hinting that he remained open to resuming full-scale military operations against Iran.

The Israeli army said Thursday that one soldier was killed and three others were slightly wounded when their vehicle overturned in south Lebanon, where the military has occupied a band of territory since invading in March in response to Hezbollah attacks.

"Captain Eliav Haim Tzapalamus, aged 21, from Haifa, a combat officer in the 603rd Battalion, 7th Brigade, fell in combat in southern Lebanon," the army said.

The super El Niño has been a nonstop machine cranking out tropical storms that have seemingly rolled through the Pacific region like rush-hour traffic. Now, it's the U.S. Gulf Coast's turn.

One of the strongest El Niño years on record meant a quiet first four months of the Atlantic hurricane season, but that's no longer the case. Tropical Storm Isaias, which formed Wednesday, is expected to gain hurricane strength by Thursday before moving onshore. If that happens, it would tie a 121-year-old record for the latest-forming initial hurricane of the Atlantic season. That mark was set on Oct. 8, 1905, according to the National Weather Service.

When the decades-long civil war that forced Samantha Pushpakumara from his village in north-central Sri Lanka ended, he was finally able to return home to a life of farming that he thought would give his family a stable future. That was until the rains didn't come.

Sri Lanka has been mired in drought for months, leading to severe water shortages that have left reservoirs dry and strained farming communities that depend on seasonal monsoons. Making matters worse, temperatures in many parts of the country have been higher than usual and high humidity has exacerbated the heat stress.

EuroLeague basketball owners have rejected a formal offer from the NBA to merge into a single European operation following a meeting in Italy, Barcelona confirmed Wednesday.

The decision not to accept the NBA's proposal of a single Europe entity was made Tuesday in Cernobbio during a gathering of the EuroLeague's 13 shareholder clubs. They include Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Olympiakos, Milan, Tony Parker -owned ASVEL in France and two Istanbul-based clubs.

Senegal and Morocco played a chaotic Africa Cup of Nations final in January and they contested the title again Thursday — this time at the Court of Arbitration for Sport which expects a verdict within days.

A turbulent match, provoking violent clashes between Senegal fans and Moroccan police, and a hugely controversial fallout is being re-litigated at sport's highest court in Switzerland nearly nine months after the referee's final whistle blew in Rabat.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Thursday that the bloc is preparing a "support mission" to train and advise Lebanon’s army and security forces, though that won't replace U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon whose mandate expires at the end of the year.

Kallas said during a visit to Beirut that Lebanese authorities formally asked the EU for this. She added that she expects the mission to be set up by EU foreign ministers on Monday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former military secretary has accused the Israeli leader of altering official transcripts of phone calls from the morning of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks.

The accusations by Maj. Gen. Avi Gil came in a wide-ranging interview with the right-wing Israel Hayom newspaper.