COLU @ CONCEPTS

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — An Iraqi government order that international airlines halt all flights in and out of the cities of Irbil and Sulaimaniyah in Kurdish territory was set to kick in Friday. The decision to shut down the flights comes amid tensions over an overwhelming “yes” vote in an independence referendum held this week in Iraq’s Kurdish region and disputed territories. Iraq’s Transport Ministry ordered international airlines to halt service to Irbil, the Kurdish regional capital, and Sulaimaniyah, its second city. Regional airlines have said they will honor the flight ban. The nonbinding referendum — in which the Kurds voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Iraq — was billed by Kurdish leaders as an exercise in self-determination. The idea of an independent state has been central to Kurdish politics for decades. Also on Friday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the launch of the “second phase” of the operation to retake the Islamic State-held ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is making his second trip to China since taking office in February, and relations between the two world powers have rarely mattered so much. The standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons has entered a new, dangerous phase as its leader, Kim Jong Un, and President Donald Trump exchange personal insults and threats of war with no sign of a diplomatic solution. Even as Washington and Beijing grapple with that security crisis, Trump wants action from China for more balanced trade with America — a dispute with ramifications for the global economy. Tillerson, facing criticism at home for his muted impact as the top U.S. diplomat, will be laying the groundwork for Trump’s planned visit to China in November. He meets Saturday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other Chinese leaders. What will be on the agenda: ___ NORTH KOREA Tillerson will be pushing China to fully implement the latest U.N. Security Council ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fighting to keep his job, health secretary Tom Price says he’ll write a personal check to reimburse taxpayers for his travel on charter flights taken on government business and pledged to fly commercial — “no exceptions.” The repayment — $51,887.31, according to Price’s office — covered only the secretary’s seat. Price did not address the overall cost of the flights, which could amount to several hundred thousand dollars and is under investigation. “I regret the concerns this has raised regarding the use of taxpayer dollars,” Price said in a statement. “I was not sensitive enough to my concern for the taxpayer.” His mea culpa came a day after a public rebuke from President Donald Trump. A former congressman from Georgia regarded as a conservative policy expert, Price said he hopes to keep his Cabinet seat. At the White House, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders wouldn’t go that far. “We’re going to conduct a full review and we’ll see what happens,” S...

BALI, Indonesia (AP) — Experts say a suddenly active volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali is more likely to erupt than not. But because every volcano has its own unique characteristics, scientists can’t predict when that will be with total certainty. It could erupt suddenly or continue for weeks at its current menacing level of seismic activity. ___ WHAT’S LED TO ERUPTION WARNINGS? The slow movement of the tectonic plates that make up the planet’s surface carries massive quantities of rock deep into the earth, where they melt. As this molten magma rises, pressure increases inside a sealed chamber beneath the mountain until it explodes. The type of magma that feeds Mount Agung traps more gas, which tends to produce larger eruptions. It’s the rising volume of magma that is causing hundreds of tremors being recorded daily around the mountain. “The volcano is bulging, causing a large number of small cracks to form and the earth to vibrate,” said David Bouteli...

MUMBAI, India (AP) — A stampede broke out on a crowded pedestrian bridge connecting two railway stations in Mumbai during the Friday morning rush, killing at least 22 people and injuring 32 others, Indian officials said. Police were investigating what caused the stampede on the bridge, which led some commuters to leap over the railing. Others were crushed or fell underfoot and were trampled. “There were too many people on the bridge, and the people were in hurry and wanted to move out,” said Brijesh Upadhyay, one of the many caught in the crowd. “There was nobody helping, it was very suffocating, and we just wanted to get out of there — and fell on each other.” One rescuer told Indian broadcaster NDTV that the stampede trapped dozens in the narrow passage, forcing rescuers to break the railing to pull people out. Mumbai police official Gansham Patel said some falling concrete had hit part of the bridge railing, leading people to surge forward out of panic at the thought th...

For 21 years Hector Alejandro Santiago spread joy throughout Puerto Rico with the poinsettias, orchids and other ornamental plants he raised and sold to major retailers including Costco, Walmart and Home Depot. In a matter of hours Hurricane Maria wiped it away. The greenhouses and other buildings on the 40 acres where he grew the plants and prepared them for customers lie in tatters, ripped to shreds by 155 mph (244 kph) winds and driving rain. Trees are flattened. “I will need to begin from zero,” said Santiago, 43, whose Cali Nurseries is located in Barranquitas, a small mountain city 34 miles (55 kilometers) southwest of San Juan. He’s determined to rebuild and get back into business despite the losses he estimates at $1.5 million. Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico on Sept. 20 as a Category 4 storm, the strongest to hit the island in a century. At least 16 people died and nearly all 3.4 million people on the island were left without power and most without water. The...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Two days of cracking, thundering falling rock at Yosemite National Park have left one man dead, two people injured, and even experienced climbers stunned by the spectacle. A massive new hunk of granite broke off Thursday at the park’s mountaineering mecca of El Capitan, injuring an elderly man and sending huge plumes of white dust. “There was so much smoke and debris,” said climber Ryan Sheridan, who had just reached the top of El Capitan when the rock let loose below him. “It filled the entire valley with smoke.” Climber Ryan Sheridan had just reached the top of El Capitan when a rock slide let loose below him Thursday. (Peter Zabrok via AP) The slide came a day after a giant slab of granite plunged from the same formation, killing a British man on a hiking and climbing visit and injuring his wife. “It was in the same location of the previous rock fall,” Sheridan told The Associated Press by cellphone from the mountain. “A larger rock fall let...