From news services

BEIJING — China said Saturday it had agreed with the U.S. to take up climate change and a handful of other issues, a sign of small but possible progress at recently concluded talks that were otherwise marked by acrimonious public exchanges over the divisions between the world’s two largest economies.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency said in a dispatch from Alaska, where the two-day meeting wrapped up Friday, that China and the U.S. had decided to set up a working group on climate change and hold talks “to facilitate activities of ... diplomatic and consular missions” and on issues related to each other’s journalists.

However, in a sign that differences will be difficult to overcome, U.S. officials said no formal agreements had been reached on resuming any dialogs or starting new initiatives.

Senior Biden administration officials held their first face-to-face meeting with their Chinese counterparts in Anchorage, Alaska, since taking office this year. The talks opened with tense and extended exchanges over human rights before television cameras, before the officials retreated behind closed doors.

The countries are at odds over a range of issues from trade to human rights in Tibet, Hong Kong and China’s western Xinjiang region, as well as Taiwan, China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea and the coronavirus pandemic.

The Biden administration has yet to signal whether it will back away from the hard-line stances taken under President Donald Trump. A senior U.S. official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the private talks and spoke on condition of anonymity, said there were a few areas “in the normal course of our diplomatic engagements where we may be able to explore” but added that there had been no formal agreements on any new discussions.

Quake strikes Japan: A strong earthquake struck Saturday evening off northern Japan, shaking buildings even in Tokyo and triggering a tsunami advisory for a part of the northern coast. No major damage was reported, but several people had minor injuries.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the strength of the quake at magnitude 7.0 and depth at 33.5 miles.

The quake was centered off the coast of Miyagi prefecture, in the country’s rugged northeast, which was heavily damaged during the huge earthquake and tsunami of 2011 that left more than 18,000 people dead.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued an advisory for a tsunami up to 1 yard in height for Miyagi prefecture immediately after the quake, but lifted it about 90 minutes later. Officials said there were no immediate reports of damage.

The temblor caused a temporary blackout in some areas and suspended bullet train services in the area, according to the East Japan Railway Co.

Turkey exits treaty: Turkey withdrew early Saturday from a landmark European treaty protecting women from violence that it was the first country to sign 10 years ago and which bears the name of its largest city.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s overnight decree annulling Turkey’s ratification of the Istanbul Convention is a blow to women’s rights advocates, who say the agreement is crucial to combating domestic violence. Hundreds of women gathered at demonstrations across Turkey on Saturday to protest the move.

The Council of Europe’s Secretary General, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, called the decision “devastating.”

The Istanbul Convention states that men and women have equal rights and obliges state authorities to take steps to prevent gender-based violence against women, protect victims and prosecute perpetrators.

Some officials from Erdogan’s Islam-oriented party had advocated for a review of the agreement, arguing it is inconsistent with Turkey’s conservative values by encouraging divorce and undermining the traditional family unit.

Afghan Cabinet changes: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has made two key Cabinet changes, a move condemned Saturday as “unacceptable” by his powerful governing partner, Abdullah Abdullah, at a time when the U.S. is ratcheting up the pressure to reach a peace agreement with the Taliban.

In May 2020, Ghani and political rival Abdullah signed a power-sharing agreement, two months after both declared themselves the winner of the September 2019 presidential election.

On Friday, Ghani dismissed Interior Minister Masoud Andarabi, appointing Hayatullah Hayat as caretaker minister. In recent years, Hayat had served as governor of southern Kandahar province.

There was little explanation from the government for the changes, but the moves angered Abdullah. “This decision is against the interests of the country in the current situation and is unacceptable,” he said in a statement.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Yasin Zia was appointed acting defense minister. He replaced Asadullah Khalid, according to an official. He said Khalid will be returning to Afghanistan sometime soon.

NJ man says he killed 16: A man charged with beating to death a New Jersey resident he says sexually abused him as a child now claims he has killed a total of 16 people, including his ex-wife and three others in New Mexico, officials said. Authorities have not corroborated that claim.

Sean Lannon, 47, said he killed the four whose remains were found in a vehicle at an airport and “11 other individuals” in New Mexico, Alec Gutierrez, an assistant prosecutor in Gloucester County, New Jersey, said during a detention hearing Friday, NJ.com reported.

Authorities said in court documents that Lannon made the admission in a phone call to a relative, who told investigators he expressed remorse. Lannon had been sought after the discovery of the four bodies but has been charged only with the death in New Jersey. His lawyer says Lannon was provoked.

Yemen rebels break silence on fatal fire: Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Saturday broke their silence on the cause of a fire that tore through a detention center for migrants earlier this month, killing at least 45 people, mostly Ethiopian migrants.

The rebels acknowledged that guards fired three tear gas canisters into a crowded hangar in the capital, Sanaa, trying to end a protest by the migrants.

A statement by the rebel-run Interior Minister said at least 11 men from the security forces were detained over the incident, along with a number of senior officials who would be tried before court.