China and Myanmar have pledged to forge closer ties as "blood brothers" following Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to Beijing, her first diplomatic trip since taking power in March.

The neighboring countries said in a joint statement they would strengthen trade and cooperation on issues along the border, where fighting between Myanmar government forces and rebels have occasionally spilled over. There was no mention of progress, however, on a stalled $3.6 billion dam project in northern Myanmar primarily funded by Chinese energy interests, which was a key concern during the visit.

The Taliban seized a district on Saturday in the northeastern Kunduz province, where the insurgents briefly overran the provincial capital last year before being driven out by a counteroffensive, an official said.

Mohammadullah Bahej, spokesman for the provincial police chief, said the insurgents launched attacks from different directions on the district headquarters in Khan Abad. He says security forces are planning an operation to retake the area.

When news spread in early July that Indian troops had killed a charismatic commander of Indian-controlled Kashmir's biggest rebel group, the public response was spontaneous and immense. Tens of thousands of angry youths poured out of their homes in towns and villages across the Himalayan region, hurling rocks and bricks and clashing with Indian troops.

A strict curfew and a series of communications blackouts since then have failed to stop the protesters, who are seeking an end to Indian rule in Kashmir, even as residents have struggled to cope with shortages of food, medicine and other necessities. The clashes, with protesters mostly throwing rocks and government forces responding with bullets and shotgun pellets, has left more than 60 civilians and two policemen dead. Thousands of civilians have been injured and hundreds of members of various government security forces.

Democratic White House candidate Hillary Clinton has said that her "heart breaks" for the family of a man from Lebanon living in Oklahoma who police say was fatally shot by his neighbor.

Residents of the northeastern Syrian city of Hassakeh are taking advantage of relative calm to flee the city to safer areas nearby.

The fighting between Kurdish fighters and government forces in the city intensified as government warplanes bombed Kurdish-controlled positions in Hassakeh on Thursday, a move that could worsen the country's deadly war.

London's mayor says the city has meticulously planned the introduction of limited overnight services on the subway — services that the city hopes will offer a boost to the local economy.

The British capital is unveiling the weekend service Friday — three years after it was first proposed. Troubles with the city's powerful transport unions over questions of pay and quality of life issues stalled the introduction until now.

For as long as anyone can remember, Tony Bennett has been giving to the city where he first sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" at the Fairmont Hotel in 1961.

And now, the city is set to pay him back.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration tests found hepatitis A in scallops from the Philippines, which have been identified as the likely source of an outbreak of the virus in Hawaii.

The Hawaii Department of Health announced Thursday the FDA laboratory test results of frozen Sea Port Bay Scallops. They're produced by De Oro Resources Inc. Messages left with the company's main office in the Philippines weren't immediately returned.

Government forces sealed roads with barbed wire and steel barricades in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Friday to prevent a separatist protest march to a village where Indian troops killed four civilians and injured 15 others earlier this week.

Fearing anti-India protests after people in the mostly Muslim region attend afternoon prayers, tens of thousands of government forces patrolled the region. A strict curfew and a series of communication blackouts have failed to stop six weeks of protests, even as residents have struggled to cope with shortages of food, medicine and other necessities.

Lawmakers in Denmark have voted to send a Danish container vessel, a support ship and 200 staff members to an international operation to rid lawless Libya of its chemical weapons arsenal.

In a 99-0 vote with 80 absentees, Denmark's Folketing legislature decided Friday to send the contribution to the UN-backed Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).