LONDON – British police say a mother and her four young children from London who were believed to be on their way to Syria have been detained in Turkey. British counter-terrorism officials appealed for information after the 33-year-old woman and the four children, aged 4 to 12, went missing from …

PARIS – Hundreds of tractors are descending on Paris in a boisterous protest by farmers blocking highways in anger over falling French food prices and high taxes. They are protesting increasingly slim margins they blame on cheap imports and high social charges, and seeking more support from the French government …

Editor’s note: The following column originally appeared in The Hill newspaper and online. The king of all political wedge issues — abortion — is once again at the front of Republican politics. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), running for the GOP presidential nomination, announced last week he wants to force a …

Labor Day is a holiday to honor hard working Americans, and small business owners are among the hardest workers around. They are often the first ones in and the last ones out. They toil and sweat beside their employees on the same job site, under the same tough conditions, behind …

UNITED NATIONS – The Palestinians are urging the United Nations to pressure Israel to allow Palestinian refugees caught in the Syrian conflict to travel to the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour said Israel’s “intransigence can neither be accepted nor justified” and should not be allowed “to …

BEIJING – Beijing prosecutors have decided not to indict a Chinese journalist detained more than two years ago during an aggressive government campaign to crack down on online rumors and rein in China’s social media. Liu Hu was detained in August 2013 for his whistleblowing posts on senior government officials. …

KAMPALA, Uganda – Kenya has announced a new security operation aimed at ousting Islamic extremists from a forest along the Somalia border. Interior Secretary Joseph Nkaisserry said Friday that al-Shabab fighters have been using Kenya’s vast Boni forest as cover to launch attacks on Kenyan territory. Nkaisserry says al-Shabab is …

BROOKLYN, Mich. – The executive vice president of Stewart-Haas Racing says Tony Stewart is grieving — and it will be up to the star driver to decide when he’s ready to get back in the car. Jeff Burton will drive the No. 14 car in Stewart’s place in Sunday’s NASCAR …

NEW ORLEANS – Tim Duncan stood under New Orleans’ basket for several seconds, a bemused expression on his face, seemingly pondering how he could have fouled out with half a quarter still left in a surprisingly tight contest between the Western Conference-leading Spurs the reeling New Orleans Pelicans. As Duncan …

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After going through a full week of practice, Titans quarterback Jake Locker is on track to return to the starting lineup for Tennessee against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. Locker was listed Friday as probable on the final injury report. He sat out last week’s 41-17 loss …