37 killed in factional fighting:

BANGUI, Central African Republic — Days of clashes in Central African Republic between sectarian rebel groups has left at least 37 people dead and many displaced in the central region, the local Red Cross said Thursday. Violence flared in Alindao, some 62 miles east of Bambari on Saturday and Sunday as a faction of the mostly Muslim Seleka rebel group fought with the Christian anti-Balaka forces. Central African Republic descended into conflict in 2013 when the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels overthrew the country’s Christian president, ushering in a brutal reign.

New rules for Europe travelers:

European airlines are preparing for the anticipated widening of a U.S. ban on bringing laptops and other large electronic devices on board planes bound for American airports. Air France-KLM and Deutsche Lufthansa are among carriers to say they’re making preparations for the moratorium on devices, including tablets and games consoles, to be expanded to their hubs after initially targeting Mideast and African airports.

Gay abuse protesters detained:

MOSCOW — Several activists were detained in Moscow on Thursday as they prepared to submit signatures they have collected to protest arbitrary detentions and torture of gay men in Chechnya. The anti-gay abuse first was reported in April by the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which said about 100 suspected gay men were rounded up and tortured, and at least three were killed.

Report shows migration perils:

MEXICO CITY — Migrants from Central America’s violence-plagued Northern Triangle region endure harrowing abuses while trying to make their way through Mexico toward the United States, a report from an international medical group said Thursday.

Doctors Without Borders, or MSF for its initials in French, called the situation a “humanitarian crisis” that demands the U.S. and Mexican governments do more to process applications for asylum and humanitarian visas. Nearly 70 percent of those entering Mexico reported suffering violence during transit toward the United States, and nearly a third of women reported being sexually abused. El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala have some of the highest homicide rates in the world.

Ex-Al-Qaida soldier sentenced:

NEW YORK — A federal judge decided to spare an admitted homegrown terrorist known as Bashir the American a long prison term on Thursday, agreeing he should instead receive a sentence of time served — about eight years in mostly solitary confinement — as credit for becoming a prized U.S. government cooperator. Bryant Neal Vinas, 34, had been captured in Pakistan.

Suspect in cop killing caught:

DARDANELLE, Ark. — A man suspected of gunning down Arkansas sheriff's deputy Yell County Sheriff’s Lt. Kevin C. Mainhart early Thursday and of killing two other people surrendered hours later after a standoff with police, authorities said. James Michael Bowden, 32, gave himself up after releasing a woman whom he had apparently been holding hostage inside the home where two females were found dead, State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said during a news conference.

Hepatitis C infections rise:

NEW YORK — The heroin epidemic is driving up hepatitis C infections, with the biggest increase in people in their 20s, U.S. health officials said Thursday. The number of new infections nearly tripled in five years, to about 2,400 in 2015. The virus is spread by sharing needles to inject drugs, and the increase coincided with a surge in heroin use. The CDC estimates that the number of infections in 2015 was 34,000, or twice as many as the estimate for 2010.

ICE aids in gang arrests:

WASHINGTON — Federal immigration agents have helped arrest more than 1,300 accused gang members across the United States in the last six weeks, the Homeland Security Department said Thursday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Thomas Homan said 1,098 suspected gang members were arrested on a variety of federal and state criminal charges, while 280 others face administrative immigration charges. Among them were 384 foreigners who were living in the U.S. illegally.