BANGKOK — Myanmar’s military acknowledged Wednesday that its security forces and Buddhist villagers killed 10 Rohingya Muslims whose bodies were found in a mass grave in a village in troubled Rakhine state.

The admission of wrongdoing is the military’s first since it launched “clearance operations” against ethnic Rohingya in August, prompting more than 650,000 to flee into neighboring Bangladesh in what the United Nations has called “ethnic cleansing.”

A statement on the military commander-in-chief’s Facebook page said the Rohingya found in the mass grave had threatened Buddhist villagers and were killed in retaliation.

The U.N. and other groups accuse the military of widespread atrocities against Rohingya, including killings, rapes and the burning of homes. But the military has insisted that there has been no wrongdoing by any security forces.

The government of Buddhist-majority Myanmar has refused to accept Rohingya Muslims as a minority group, even though they have lived in the country for generations. They are widely called “Bengalis” and are accused of migrating illegally from Bangladesh.

Rohingya were stripped of their citizenship in 1982.

The 10 bodies were found in December in a mass grave near a cemetery in Inn Din village.

“It is true that both the villagers and security forces admitted they killed the 10 Bengali terrorists,” the military statement said. “The army will take charge of those who are responsible for the killings and who broke the rules of engagement.”

Actor James Franco denies sexual misconduct allegations

NEW YORK . — After allegations of sexual misconduct circulated about James Franco, the actor told late-night host Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night’s broadcast that “the things I heard on Twitter are not accurate.”

The allegations were prompted in part by Franco’s best actor win Sunday at the Golden Globes for “The Disaster Artist.”

Actress Violet Paley said on Twitter that Franco pushed her head toward his groin in a car, and Sarah Tither-Kaplan claimed a $100-a-day contract she signed to perform nudity in a film of Franco’s was exploitive.

“I pride myself on taking responsibility for things that I have done,” Franco told Colbert. “I completely support people coming out and being able to have a voice because they didn’t have a voice for so long, so I don’t want to shut them down in any way.”

Calif. Rep. Darrell Issa to retire, adding to wave of GOP exits

WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of California announced Wednesday he will not seek re-election after serving out his ninth term in Congress.

Issa’s decision continues a string of GOP lawmakers who have decided to retire rather than take on what would be a difficult re-election battle.

Democrats had made defeating Issa one of their top priorities in the midterm elections.

Issa dogged then-President Barack Obama with probes into the 2012 killings of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, and IRS mistreatment of conservative groups. He also took the lead in investigating the so-called Fast and Furious operation, in which federal agents allowed criminals to buy guns with the intention of tracking them to criminal organizations.

U.N. aid reaches Syrians via cross-border crane drop

AMMAN, Jordan — U.N. agencies are sending aid to some 50,000 displaced Syrians in a remote desert camp for the first time since June, hoisting supplies by crane across the sealed Jordan-Syria border.

Residents of the Rukban encampment, a majority of them women and children, live in harsh conditions. Food and other staples are in short supply and many can’t afford black market goods.

Jordan sealed the border on security grounds in June 2016, after Islamic State extremists killed seven Jordanian border guards.

The closure severely disrupted aid shipments.

U.N. agencies said Wednesday that the Syrians are in urgent need of aid. Shipments include food, solar lamps, children’s clothes, blankets and bread stoves.

Journalists charged with violating Myanmar law

BANGKOK — Prosecutors in Myanmar formally charged two journalists from Reuters on Wednesday with violating the Official Secrets Act, signaling the case will go forward despite international condemnation.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested Dec. 12 after police accused them of violating the colonial-era law by acquiring “important secret papers” from two policemen. The police officers had worked in Rakhine state, where security forces are blamed for rights abuses against Rohingya Muslims that sparked the exodus of some 650,000 people to Bangladesh.

Dozens of journalists wearing black waited outside the court Wednesday to protest the arrest of their colleagues, who were led into the court smiling and giving the thumbs up sign despite heavy handcuffs on their wrists.

Israel clamps down on West Bank after settler killed

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military set up roadblocks, cordoned off Palestinian villages and deployed reinforcements to the West Bank on Wednesday, a day after an Israeli settler was killed in a drive-by shooting by suspected Palestinian gunmen.

Israeli troops have combed villages around the city of Nablus searching for the suspects in Tuesday’s attack near the Havat Gilad settlement, a military statement said.

In the attack, 35-year-old Raziel Shevah was shot multiple times from a passing vehicle and was hospitalized in critical condition. He later died of his wounds.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement vowing Israel’s security services “would do everything possible in order to apprehend the despicable murderer.”

Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury” was the top-selling book last week, NPD BookScan said. “Fire and Fury” sold 29,000 copies, BookScan announced Wednesday. But Wolff’s explosive tell-all about the Trump administration came out only last Friday, and BookScan’s weekly sales run through Saturday.

Ethiopian lawmakers have approved a ban on foreign adoptions amid concerns about mistreatment of children overseas. The approval came after rare heated debate as some lawmakers worried that the East African nation does not have enough child care centers to handle the effects of the ban.