WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. economy expanded at a solid and unexpected 2.1% annual pace from January through March, the Commerce Department reported Thursday in its final estimate of first-quarter growth.

WASHINGTON (AP) – “Would you really like to know?” Sen. Bill Cassidy asked President Donald Trump. Just hours after refusing to sign a bipartisan housing bill that Republicans hoped would boost their election-year prospects, the president was attending a private lunch Wednesday with the Senate GOP.

BEIJING (AP) – China on Thursday defended its recent patrols in waters east of Taiwan, one day after Britain, France and Germany expressed alarm about what they described as “novel Chinese activity.”

WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Republicans who were berated by President Donald Trump over opposition to his war in Iran held a late-night vote Wednesday to try to appease him, rejecting a war powers resolution a day after a similar measure passed.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – A cargo ship moving through the Strait of Hormuz on a route backed by the United Nations was hit by a projectile Thursday, the British military said, as several tankers made their way out of the channel using the same path.

TOKYO (AP) – A powerful earthquake struck off the northern coast of Japan during rush hour on Thursday morning, but the country’s meteorological agency said there was no danger of a tsunami and no serious injuries were reported.

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WARSAW, Poland (AP) – The European Union has disbursed the first 3 billion-euro ($3.4 billion) tranche of a 90 billion-euro ($101 billion) loan to Ukraine, the country’s prime minister announced Thursday at the opening of a conference on Ukraine’s post-war recovery in Poland.