WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will meet with top executives from Google, Microsoft, Oracle and Qualcomm next week during a White House roundtable that could touch upon some the sticking points in the increasingly prickly relationship between his administration and the technology industry.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — It’s a sign that every vote does count.

A single mystery ballot found on a precinct table on Election Day but not counted then could decide a tied Alaska state House race and thwart Republican efforts to control the chamber and all of state government.

The ballot arrived in Juneau last Friday in a secrecy sleeve in a bin with other ballot materials. Officials were investigating its origins and handling before deciding whether to tally it.

30 Nov 2018; DW: Thousands of Australian children have walked out of school calling for government action on climate change. Australia is one of the biggest per capita carbon polluters in the world.

Thousands of children across Australia skipped lessons on Friday to take part in mass protests to demand that the government take action on climate change.

The protests took place in defiance of pro-coal Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who earlier said children should remain in school and learn rather than demonstrate.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Fifty-one pilot whales died Friday in another mass stranding in New Zealand, less than a week after 145 pilot whales and nine pygmy killer whales perished in two other, unrelated strandings.

In the latest stranding, up to 90 pilot whales beached themselves late Thursday at Hanson Bay on the remote Chatham Islands, said the Department of Conservation.

30 Nov 2018; AFP: Latin America and the Caribbean is the most violent region on the planet, accounting for 39 percent of the world's murders, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said in a study published on Thursday.

That amounts to more than 2.5 million murders in less than two decades, 75 percent of which were committed using firearms.

Robbery is also three times higher than the world average (321.7 against 108 per 100,000 inhabitants) and 41 of the 50 most dangerous cities in the world are found in the region.

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Stepping out of a helicopter last week, South Sudan armed opposition commander Ashab Khamis came face-to-face with his rival in a crushing five-year civil war, army Gen. Keer Kiir Keer.

The meeting, witnessed by The Associated Press, was their first attempt at reconciliation since the conflict began and a crucial test of a new peace agreement ending a war that has killed nearly 400,000 people.

Washington, Nov 30 (PTI) The United States said on Friday that it welcomes efforts by India and Pakistan to increase people-to-people contact, days after the two neighbouring countries laid foundation stones for a corridor linking two revered gurdwaras on both sides of the border.

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Reasserting himself as a leading voice in Democratic politics, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday called on the political party to work harder to convince people of all races, regions and income levels that liberal policies will help them.

“Our job is to do exactly the opposite of what Trump is trying to do. He is trying to divide us,” Sanders told scores of high-profile supporters at an intimate gathering in Vermont’s largest city. He continued: “Our job is to bring people together around a strong progressive agenda.”

Chatra (Jharkhand), Nov 29 (PTI) The main accused in the killing of a journalist of a Hindi daily last month was arrested from Palamau district, police said Thursday.

The accused was identified as Prasant Ji, the Area Commander of an ultra outfit Trutiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), police said.

The arrest was made in a joint raid conducted by the Chatra and Palamau district police on Wednesday, Superintendent of Police, Akhilesh B Beriar said.

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 29 (PTI) Kerala, which suffered a loss of Rs 31,000 crore during the floods in August, Thursday wanted the Centre to expedite the promised assistance to enable it to rebuild the state.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state had received only Rs 2,683.18 Crore in its Distress Relief Fund and was finding it difficult to cobble resources for the 're-build Kerala initiative.'

He said the state has to pay Rs 290 crore to the Centre towards the rations received and rescue assistance provided during the floods.

30 Nov 2018; DW: Archeologists in Algeria have found stone tools and butchered animal bones from as far back as 2.4 million years ago. Such implements appear to have spread from East Africa earlier than scientists first thought.

Humans may have started using stone tools to butcher animals far earlier — and in a different part of the world — than first thought, a team of paleoanthropologists claims.

Bhopal, Nov 29 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh Thursday claimed his party will win more than 132 seats out of the total 230 in the state Assembly.

A record 75 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the state elections held Wednesday, an increase of around two per cent against the last polls held in 2013.

"We are going to win more than 132 seats and wrest power from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state after 15 years," Singh told reporters here.