World News

ST. LOUIS — Experts at the St. Louis Zoo are trying to figure out how a 62-year-old ball python laid seven eggs despite not being near a male python for at least two decades.

MADISON, Wis.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The police chief of Connecticut's largest city resigned Thursday hours after being arrested on federal charges that he teamed with Bridgeport's personnel director to rig the hiring process to ensure he got the job two years ago.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats scuttled a scaled-back GOP coronavirus rescue package on Thursday as the parties argued to a standstill over the size and scope of the aid, likely ending hopes for coronavirus relief before the November election.

WASHINGTON — The Defence Department is rescinding its order to shut down the military’s independent newspaper, Stars and Stripes, in the wake of a tweet late last week by President Donald Trump vowing to continue funding the paper.

MERRIMACK, N.H. — A 40-pound (18-kilogram) serval cat named Spartacus that was adopted from a zoo four years ago is missing after running away from his New Hampshire home.

ISLAMABAD — The long-awaited peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government's negotiating team are to begin on Saturday in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, the Taliban and Qatar's foreign ministry said Thursday.

BEIRUT — A huge fire broke out at Beirut’s port Thursday, raising new panic among residents still struggling with the traumatic effects of the catastrophic explosion at the same site last month.

LONDON — Diana Rigg, a commanding British actress whose career stretched from iconic 1960s spy series “The Avengers” to fantasy juggernaut “Game of Thrones,” has died. She was 82.

FRANKFURT — European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde said the bank would “likely” use all of the 1.35 trillion euros ($1.