U.S.-backed Syrian fighters have carried out a rare attack in eastern Syria, striking at three posts manned by pro-government gunmen and claiming that they killed 18 of them in a major escalation near the border with Iraq.

The renewed clashes in Syria's eastern oil-rich province of Deir el-Zour came amid high tensions in the region following last month's killings of a top commander of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group in Beirut and the political leader of the Palestinian Hamas group in Iran. Israel was blamed for both attacks, and Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate.

The FBI is investigating allegations that sensitive documents from Donald Trump's presidential campaign were stolen in a cyber intrusion, as well as attempts to gain access to Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign, days after the Trump campaign declared it had been hacked by Iran.

The FBI released a brief statement on the Trump matter reading, "We can confirm the FBI is investigating this matter."

A ship in the Red Sea was targeted in a third attack suspected to have been carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels Tuesday in their campaign of assaults over the Israel-Hamas war, officials said.

The attacks come as the rebels' main sponsor, Iran, weighs possible retaliation against Israel over the assassination of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh in July, which has renewed fears of a wider regional war in the Middle East.

Lebanon's crisis-battered health care system is now preparing for the possibility of a devastating wider conflict with Israel, the country's health minister told The Associated Press in an interview.

Israel's military and Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah have traded strikes since the current war in Gaza began, but tensions have escalated since an Israeli strike in a Beirut suburb killed a top Hezbollah commander last month. Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate.

A 5.5 earthquake hit central Syria late Monday, with the shock felt in neighboring Lebanon, official media in both countries said.

A man has been arrested after an 11-year-old girl and a 34-year-old woman were stabbed in central London, London's Metropolitan Police said Monday.

The attack occurred in Leicester Square, a magnet for tourists with its shops, theaters and cinemas. The square and surrounding area have an estimated 2.5 million visitors every week.

Frequent beatings, overcrowding, withholding of basic rations. Released Palestinians have described to The Associated Press worsening abuses in Israeli prisons crammed with thousands detained since the war in Gaza began 10 months ago.

Israeli officials have acknowledged that they have made conditions harsher for Palestinians in prisons, with hard-line National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir boasting that prisons will no longer be "summer camps" under his watch.

In the Ryan Reynolds-Blake Lively box-office showdown, both husband and wife came out winners.

Reynolds' Marvel Studios smash "Deadpool & Wolverine" remained the top movie in North American theaters for the third straight week with $54.2 million in ticket sales according to studio estimates Sunday. Worldwide, it's now surpassed $1 billion. "Deadpool & Wolverine," though, was closely followed by "It Ends With Us," the romance drama starring Lively, which surpassed expectations with a stellar $50 million debut.

The great inflation spike of the past three years is nearly spent — and economists credit American consumers for helping slay it.

Some of America's largest companies, from Amazon to Disney to Yum Brands, say their customers are increasingly seeking cheaper alternative products and services, searching for bargains or just avoiding items they deem too expensive. Consumers aren't cutting back enough to cause an economic downturn. Rather, economists say, they appear to be returning to pre-pandemic norms, when most companies felt they couldn't raise prices very much without losing business.

An official in the Kursk border region of Russia on Monday urged more residents to evacuate due to the "very tense situation" in the area, where Russian forces are still scrambling to respond to a surprise Ukrainian attack after almost a week of fierce fighting.

Russia's emergency authorities say more than 76,000 people have fled their homes in areas of Kursk, where Ukrainian troops and armor poured across the border on Aug. 6, reportedly driving as deep as 30 kilometers (19 miles) into Russia and sowing alarm.