NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks ticked higher following the latest reversal for oil prices. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% Thursday. The Dow Jones added 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.1%. All three indexes erased early drops and gained strength after the price of a barrel of Brent dropped from $109 in the morning to settle below $103.

NEW YORK (AP) – Promising a commitment to “ambitious journalism and agenda-setting conversations,” media scion James Murdoch has struck a deal with the Vox Media digital company to acquire New York magazine, the Vox Media Podcast Network and the Vox editorial brand.

BEIJING (AP) – On the surface, Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s back-to-back summits with U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin looked pretty similar, with formal handshakes in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, enthusiastic greetings from flower-waving children, and marching columns of soldiers branching gleaming bayonets.

MALE, Maldives (AP) – Divers on Wednesday recovered the last two bodies of four Italians who died deep inside an underwater cave in the Maldives last week.

The Trump administration’s indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro in the 1996 downing of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles is escalating pressure on the island’s socialist government. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are expected to abandon a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and Trump’s ballroom on Thursday.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said Wednesday that if given the chance, he would tell U.S. President Donald Trump that he hoped to continue U.S. arms purchases, which he called essential for peace, while assuring people the island’s future would not be decided by external forces.

Editorials from The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times and others

BEIJING (AP) – Torrential rain and floods hit parts of China this week, killing at least 12 people and forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate, state media reported.