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SKorea says NKorea fires 3 short-range missiles

North Korea fired three short-range guided missiles into its eastern waters on Saturday, a South Korean official said. It routinely tests such missiles, but the latest launches came during a period of tentative diplomacy... More>>

Afghan lawmakers block law on women's rights

Conservative religious lawmakers in Afghanistan blocked legislation on Saturday aimed at strengthening provisions for women's freedoms, arguing that parts of it violate Islamic principles and encourage disobedience. More>>

Nigeria military declares 24-hour curfew in city

Nigeria's military declared a 24-hour curfew Saturday on neighborhoods in a northeastern city that's the spiritual home of an Islamic extremist network as soldiers continued the government's emergency campaign... More>>

Gunmen seize elderly father of Syria's deputy FM

Gunmen on Saturday abducted the elderly father of Syria's deputy foreign minister, the official's office said, in the latest kidnapping targeting family members of figures in President Bashar Assad's regime. More>>

Gunmen kill 9 in Iraq, 8 police kidnapped

Gunmen killed an anti-terrorism policeman and his family in Baghdad on Saturday, while kidnappers abducted eight policemen guarding a post on Iraq's main highway to Jordan and Syria, the latest in a wave of violence to... More>>

Politics, bribery charges swirl around Ugandan oil

Even before the first drops flow, Uganda's oil sector is beset by bribery allegations against officials, tax-related cases abroad that cost the government millions in legal fees, and the alleged interference of a... More>>

Sea turtle comeback in a corner of the Caribbean

Giant leatherback turtles, some weighing half as much as a small car, drag themselves out of the ocean and up the sloping shore on the northeastern coast of Trinidad while villagers await wearing dimmed headlamps in the... More>>

A Native American tale with international pedigree

It took an international production starring a Puerto Rican and a Frenchman to bring the Native American tale "Jimmy P.: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian" to the big screen. More>>

Merkel and Pope talk about a 'strong' Europe

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, mindful of the weight of Christian voters in September elections, made a quick trip to Rome Saturday for a private meeting with Pope Francis, focusing on how Europe's struggling economy... More>>

Egypt Muslim-Christian clashes leave 1 dead

Egyptian security officials say clashes between Muslims and Christians in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria left one man dead of a heart attack. More>>

French president signs gay marriage into law

French President Francois Hollande has signed a law authorizing gay marriage and adoption by same-sex couples, after months of nationwide protests and wrenching debate. More>>

Blinking skirts, fake tans: It must be Eurovision

Flashy skirts, fake tans, fur and feathers: It's the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest. More>>

Afghan police chief shot dead outside home

Motorcycle-riding gunmen assassinated a police chief in front of his house after he led an anti-Taliban campaign in western Afghanistan, an official said Saturday. More>>

Egyptians targeted with blasphemy charges

The pale, young Christian woman sat handcuffed in the courtroom, accused of insulting Islam while teaching history of religions to fourth-graders. A team of Islamist lawyers with long beards sang in unison, "All except the... More>>

OAS drug study eyes marijuana legalization

An Organization of American States study released Friday is calling for a serious discussion on legalizing marijuana. More>>

Caribbean talks conservation on Branson's island

Surrounded by a turquoise sea and a menagerie of exotic animals on a billionaire's private island, political and business leaders gathered Friday to back an initiative aimed at expanding protection for the... More>>

Bombs kill 9 inside elite Afghan housing complex

Two bombs hidden in a motorcycle and a car exploded inside an elite gated community linked to the family of Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday evening, killing at least nine people and wounding more than 70 near the... More>>

Weinstein showcases Grace Kelly, Mandela flicks

The Weinstein Company's fall slate of awards contenders will feature a glamorous Grace Kelly, a brawny Nelson Mandela and a mysterious J.D. Salinger. More>>

Egypt security forces clash with Cairo protesters

Egyptian security forces have fired tear gas at protesters hurling firebombs at them in central Cairo, hours after hundreds of opponents of Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi rallied peacefully in the streets denouncing... More>>

AP PHOTOS: Cuba's LGBT community celebrates

A week of drag shows, colorful marches and social and cultural events in Havana culminates Friday with celebrations of the International Day Against Homophobia. More>>

Bombs targeting Sunnis kill at least 76 in Iraq

Bombs ripped through Sunni areas in Baghdad and surrounding areas Friday, killing at least 76 people in the deadliest day in Iraq in more than eight months. The major spike in sectarian bloodshed heightened fears the country... More>>

Canada abuzz over purported crack video of mayor

A video purportedly of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack has caused an uproar in Canada. Ford on Friday called the allegations "ridiculous." More>>

Argentine dictator Videla dies in prison at age 87

Former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, who took power over Argentina in a 1976 coup and led a military junta that killed thousands of his fellow citizens in a dirty war to eliminate so-called "subversives," died quietly in his... More>>

Official: Nigeria military attacks camps, kills 21

Soldiers in Nigeria launched their first raid against suspected Islamic extremists in a campaign to take back control of the nation's northeast, killing at least 21 people, a security official said Friday. More>>

Iran's Farhadi and China's Jia make Cannes splash

Two directors from countries with tough film censorship brought bold and probing movies to the Cannes Film Festival on Friday - one exploring China's social problems, the other delving into the mysteries of the human... More>>

Venezuela's military enters high-crime slums

Stern-looking soldiers clutching assault rifles wave down the beat-up Chevy Caprice entering this sprawling slum on the outskirts of Caracas. More>>

Egypt police close Gaza border to protest kidnap

Dozens of disgruntled border policemen forced the closure of Egypt's main crossing point into the Gaza Strip on Friday to protest the abduction of their colleagues by suspected militants, underscoring the lawlessness and... More>>

UK police announce new leads in missing girl case

British police say they are investigating new leads in the case of Madeleine McCann, the Briton who disappeared six years ago in Portugal at the age of three. More>>

Correction: Honduras-Death Squads story

In a story May 13 about suspects disappearing or dying after being in the custody of the Honduran National Police, The Associated Press misquoted U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Brownfield as suggesting that the... More>>

Hagel names general to lead US troops in SKorea

An Army general who served as a top official on U.S. joint military staffs in Afghanistan and at the Pentagon is the choice to command U.S. troops in South Korea. More>>

Woman describes Berlusconi's 'bunga bunga' parties

Silvio Berlusconi's private disco featured not only aspiring showgirls performing striptease acts as sexy nuns and nurses, but one woman dressed up as President Barack Obama and a prominent Milan prosecutor whom the... More>>

Report: Torture evidence found in Syrian prisons

Rights activists visiting abandoned government prisons in the first Syrian city to come under rebel control have found torture devices and other evidence that detainees were abused there, Human Rights Watch said in a report... More>>

$1 million in jewelry stolen near Cannes film fest

Thieves ripped a safe from the wall of a hotel room near the Cannes Film Festival and made off with around $1 million worth of jewelry, in a brazen late-night burglary just hours after the screening of a film about break-ins... More>>

Retirement tests if Beckham built lasting brand

David Beckham's pecs are at least as much a part of his brand as his kick; his brand of shoes ultimately more lucrative than the game he's giving up. Listed as the world's highest-earning athlete for 2013,... More>>

Bieber will have to pay for German monkey business

Justin Bieber will face a bill for thousands of euros (dollars) for his pet monkey's two-month stay at an animal shelter since it was seized by German customs, officials said Friday as a deadline expired for him to... More>>

Zimbabwe PM confident he'll oust Mugabe in vote

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Friday he is poised to sweep to victory in upcoming presidential elections and return the nation to the world community after years of isolation. More>>

Bombs at mosques in northwest Pakistan kill 15

Bombs that exploded outside two mosques in a village in northwestern Pakistan killed at least 15 people Friday, underlining the challenge of militant violence facing a new government set to take power under the leadership of... More>>

French gay marriage law ruled constitutional

France's constitutional council has rejected a challenge by conservative lawmakers to the country's new gay marriage law, saying the law was constitutional. More>>

Official: 10 killed in explosion in Turkey

Officials say a container of fuel being smuggled into Turkey from Syria has exploded, killing 10 people. More>>

23 dead in initiation rites in South Africa

Twenty-three youths have died in the past nine days at initiation ceremonies that include circumcisions and survival tests, South African police said Friday. More>>

Rights groups: Syria holds thousands incommunicado

About 30 security agents showed up just after midnight, breaking down the door to an apartment in the town of Daraya near the Syrian capital of Damascus. They grabbed a 24-year-old university student and drove off. More>>

A look at 'enforced disappearances' worldwide

By The Associated Press The U.N. Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances is pressing governments to provide information about open cases. Over the past two decades, it received nearly... More>>

George Michael injured in another car crash

George Michael was being treated at a hospital Friday for what his publicist called minor injuries after being a passenger in a car crash near London. More>>

Hints of political change on horizon in Algeria

The Arab Spring may finally be en route to Algeria. More>>

IMF says Cyprus at risk of even deeper recession

The International Monetary Fund said Friday that substantial risks still loom for the Cypriot economy even after a multi-billion dollar international bailout aimed at averting a debt default. More>>

Czech, US cooperate in developing new reactors

The United States says it has completed a transfer of 75 kilograms (165 pounds) of salt coolant material to the Czech Republic as part of cooperation between the two countries in developing new nuclear reactors. More>>

EU survey reveals many gays live in fear

Across Europe, gay couples are scared of publicly engaging in even the most basic expression of their affection: Holding hands. More>>

Bulgarian parliament convenes Tuesday

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev said Friday that he will convene the nation's newly elected Parliament next week to begin trying to form a government, a task complicated by the refusal of three parties to enter a... More>>

UK: Undercover officers used IDs of dead children

A senior U.K. policeman says that British undercover officers often used the identities of dead children as aliases, confirming a recent newspaper report which first exposed the ghoulish practice. More>>

Cultural attitudes impede organ donations in China

China is phasing out its reliance on executed prisoners for donated organs, but an architect of the country's transplant system said Friday that ingrained cultural attitudes are impeding the rise of donations among the... More>>

Hot off the press: Seen and heard in Cannes

Associated Press journalists open their notebooks at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival: More>>

Gay pride rally in Georgia derailed

Thousands of anti-gay protesters, including Orthodox priests, occupied a central street in Georgia's capital Friday, with some threatening to lash with stinging nettles any participant in a gay pride parade which was to... More>>

Iran may ban candidates who seek ties with US

The head of Iran's constitutional watchdog says it may disqualify candidates in June presidential elections who seek full relations with the United States. More>>

S. Sudan: Doctors Without Borders hospital ruined

The medical aid group Doctors Without Borders says one of its medical facilities located in a rural but violent region of South Sudan has been ransacked and destroyed. More>>

Report: Bahrain police search home of top cleric

A main opposition group in Bahrain says police have searched the home of the Gulf nation's most senior Shiite cleric, who has strongly sided with anti-government protesters. More>>

CIA chief makes unannounced Israel visit

An Israeli defense official says the head of the American CIA spy agency has made an unannounced visit to Israel. More>>

Indian circuses struggle to adapt after court bans

In the early morning heat and dust, daily practice at the Rambo Circus is in full swing. A trapeze creaks as two performers perfect their throws. A Colombian daredevil shouts to his colleagues scrambling atop a giant set of... More>>

Coptic cleric says he will sue Israeli police

An Egyptian Coptic cleric who was mistreated during Orthodox Easter services is threatening to sue. More>>

Syria ex-minister leads rebuilding plan

A six-member U.N. team led by a former Syrian planning minister is drawing up a comprehensive postwar reconstruction plan even as the country's civil war rages on with no apparent end in sight. More>>

Bangladesh, Myanmar relieved as cyclone fizzles

A once-fearsome cyclone that was threatening Bangladesh and Myanmar dissipated quickly, causing some deaths but largely relieving authorities who had told more than 1 million people to leave vulnerable coastal areas in... More>>

Syrian troops flush out rebels from prison

Syrian government troops on Thursday flushed out rebels who had stormed a prison compound in the northern city of Aleppo in a bid to free hundreds of political prisoners inside. More>>

US, Turkey project united front on Syria

President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan projected a united front Thursday on Syria, keeping stark differences about how much the U.S. should intervene behind closed doors as they looked to... More>>

UN: 14 Iranian exiles moved from Iraq to Albania

The first exiles from an Iranian opposition group have moved to Albania from a camp near Baghdad as part of a relocation process, the United Nations said Thursday, a step toward defusing an explosive dispute left over from... More>>

Venezuelans scrambling to find scarce toilet paper

Venezuelans scrambled to stock up on toilet paper Thursday as fears of a bathroom emergency spread despite the socialist government's promise to import 50 million rolls. More>>

Afghanistan: Bomb kills 15, including 6 Americans

A suicide car bombing tore through a U.S. convoy in Kabul on Thursday, killing at least 15 people including six Americans in a blast so powerful it rattled the other side of the Afghan capital. U.S. soldiers rushed to help,... More>>

7 Egyptian security personnel abducted in Sinai

Suspected militants in Egypt's Sinai abducted seven security personnel as they headed to Cairo for holidays early Thursday, security officials said. It was the first such kidnapping of security forces in the lawless... More>>

Puerto Rico faces lowest coffee production ever

Coffee production in Puerto Rico has hit the lowest level ever in the island's history, leaving farmers and government officials worried about how to revive a once burgeoning industry amid a deep economic crisis. More>>

Puerto Rico faces lowest coffee production ever

Coffee production in Puerto Rico has hit the lowest level ever in the island's history, leaving farmers and government officials worried about how to revive a once burgeoning industry. More>>

Watchdog: Israel trying to legalize settlements

An Israeli watchdog group on Thursday accused the government of taking steps to legalize four unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank, days before the U.S. secretary of state is set to arrive on a new peace mission. More>>

Afghans tell of US soldier's killing rampage

Sitting on a dirty straw mat on the parched ground of southern Afghanistan, Masooma sank deeper inside a giant black shawl. Hidden from view, her words burst forth as she told her side of what happened to her family sometime... More>>

Warplanes, troops in NE Nigeria; mobile phones cut

Mobile phone service was cut off Thursday in areas of northeast Nigeria as jet fighters streaked through the sky and more soldiers were deployed to fight Islamic extremists waging a brutal insurgency. More>>

Merkel, Hollande at odds over Europe's way forward

Germany and France recognize that their cooperation is key to overcoming Europe's persistent economic crisis, but comments Thursday by the leaders of the continent's No. 1 and 2 economies suggested they still have... More>>

Car bombs, shooting in Iraq leave 21 dead

Car bombs hit Shiite neighborhoods of the Iraqi capital for the second day in a row on Thursday, part of a series of attacks across the country that left 21 people dead and raised concerns over a return to sectarian... More>>

Coetzee tells Spain: Drop pro-bullfighting law

Nobel Literature laureate J.M. Coetzee has called on Spain to abandon plans to protect bullfighting, making a rare public appeal against what he called "an archaic form of entertainment." More>>

At Cannes, Watson revels in post-'Potter' freedom

Emma Watson is reveling in her post-"Potter" freedom at the Cannes Film Festival, relishing a Valley Girl role far from her wise-beyond-her-years Hermione. More>>

Danish teenager makes rare Viking find

Danish museum officials say that an archaeological dig last year has revealed 365 items from the Viking era, including 60 rare coins. More>>

Pope blasts "cult of money" that tyrannizes poor

Pope Francis has denounced the global financial system, blasting the "cult of money" that he says is tyrannizing the poor and turning humans into expendable consumer goods. More>>

10 Things to See: A week of top AP photos

By The Associated Press Associated Press Here's your look at highlights from the weekly AP photo report, a gallery featuring a mix of front-page photography, the odd image you might have missed and... More>>

Mystical branch of Islam has resurgence in Somalia

Hundreds of sweating Sufis chant and sway as the lead sheik moves into the middle of a circle of worshippers and bursts into a chant louder than anyone else's More>>

Syrian troops repel rebel attack on Aleppo prison

Syrian rebels withdrew from a prison in the northern city of Aleppo Thursday after heavy fighting with government troops, an activist group said, as it more than doubled its tally of deaths from sectarian killings in a... More>>

Julianne Moore: 'bad Mom' role is her antithesis

Julianne Moore sometimes identifies with the characters she plays but when it came to playing a bad mother in "What Maisie Knew," she couldn't relate. More>>

Saudi officials expand labs to track deadly virus

Saudi Arabia says it has dedicated nine additional laboratories to help investigators track a deadly new respiratory virus related to SARS that appears to be centered in the kingdom. More>>

Iranian cleric says women can't be president

A member of Iran's constitutional watchdog group insists that women cannot be presidential candidates, a report said Thursday, effectively killing the largely symbolic bids by about 30 women seeking to run in the June 14... More>>

UK officials: BP not seeking gov't help with spill

British government officials said Thursday that BP has not sought Prime Minister David Cameron's help in reducing compensation claims for its role in the disastrous 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. More>>

Argentina brokers 24 pct wage hikes for millions

Two million Argentines will get wage hikes of 24 percent under a deal President Cristina Fernandez brokered with six allied labor unions. More>>

Tale of Mexican drug violence rattles Cannes

The Cannes Film Festival has had its first shock to the system, in the shape of Mexican director Amat Escalante's unsparingly violent drug war drama "Heli." More>>

Man shoots himself in head at Paris school

A dozen students and a teacher saw a man kill himself with a shot in the head at a private Catholic school on Thursday, Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe said. More>>

South African army prepares for Congo

South African soldiers who are training for a United Nations military mission in Congo will be adequately prepared even though the South African army as a whole is overstretched and underfunded, the army chief said Thursday. More>>

Cambodian shoe factory collapse kills 2, injures 7

The ceiling of a Cambodian factory that makes Asics sneakers collapsed on workers early Thursday, killing two people and injuring seven, in the latest accident spotlighting the often lethal safety conditions faced by those... More>>

Jordan jet crashes near Syrian border, 2 killed

Jordan's military says a trainer jet has crashed near the Syrian border, killing its two Jordanian pilots. More>>

Iran, world powers to resume nuclear talks

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator says Tehran and the six world powers will resume talks on its nuclear program "in the near future." More>>

Residents shout 'Protest!' over refinery in China

More than 2,000 people in southern China unfurled banners and shouted "Protest! Protest!" on Thursday to oppose plans for a petroleum refinery, in a large environmental rally that local authorities allowed to go forward in... More>>

Claims of Pakistan vote rigging affect 8 seats

Pakistan says it will conduct a recount or re-do the vote for eight national assembly seats following allegations of vote rigging in the recent election. More>>

Bulgaria's center-right party wants vote canceled

Bulgaria's ex-prime minister says the results of last weekend's parliamentary election should be canceled due to "gross violations" of voting law. More>>

Yemen: 3 Red Cross workers, 2 Egyptians released

Three Red Cross workers and two Egyptian technicians who were abducted by armed men in Yemen's southern province of Abyan have all been released, Yemeni security officials said Thursday. More>>

Bahrain demonstrator jailed for flag 'insult'

A Bahrain demonstrator was sentenced to three months in prison Thursday for hanging a Bahrain flag from his truck during a 2011 rally, a defense lawyer said, in one of the first cases based on tougher codes for alleged... More>>

Nepal plane crash injures 21, including 8 Japanese

A plane crashed while trying to land at a mountain airstrip in northern Nepal early Thursday, and all 21 people on board, including eight Japanese tourists, survived with injuries, police said. More>>

Polish exports of meat for Jews, Muslims in limbo

For some, it was a barbaric way to treat animals. For others, it was great business. More>>

As rain from cyclone falls, Myanmar minority stay

A cyclone only a day away carries wind and rain that could become deadly. But in dozens of refugee camps that spatter Myanmar's western coast, the order to evacuate ahead of the storm was met with widespread refusal. More>>

Arctic states open council to China, India, SKorea

Arctic states agreed Wednesday to let nations that are located nowhere near the Earth's north to become observers to their diplomatic council, boosting rising economic powers China, India and South Korea, which are... More>>

DiCaprio, Spielberg open a stormy Cannes

The Cannes Film Festival got off to a blockbuster, if stormy start, as Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby" opened on a soggy French Riviera. More>>

Woman: China police ask to ax White House petition

Upset about plans for a petrochemical plant near her hometown in China, a woman turned to a new method that Chinese are using to air their complaints: she posted a petition on the White House's website. Then, Chinese... More>>

UN General Assembly approves Syria resolution

The U.N. General Assembly approved an Arab-backed resolution Wednesday calling for a political transition in Syria, but more than 70 countries refused to vote "yes" because of its support for the main opposition group and... More>>

Syria rebels, regime troops fight in Aleppo prison

Rebel fighters battled regime troops inside the walls of the sprawling central prison compound in Syria's largest city Wednesday, hours after blowing open the gate with twin car bombs in an attempted jailbreak, activists... More>>

Protesters close Libyan oil terminal, halt exports

Protesters and disgruntled job seekers forced the closure of an eastern Libyan oil terminal on Wednesday for the second time in six months, disrupting exports, said an oil ministry official. More>>

Scottish cardinal to atone for sexual misconduct

The Vatican on Wednesday ordered a disgraced Scottish cardinal to leave Scotland for several months to pray and atone for sexual misconduct, issuing a rare public sanction against a "prince of the church" and the first such... More>>

Geneva auction sells huge diamond for $26.7M

A huge diamond unearthed in Botswana commanded an unearthly price of $26.7 million from Christie's auction house Wednesday amid the spring ritual of well-heeled bidders flocking or phoning in to Geneva's luxury sales. More>>

El Salvador court hears arguments in abortion case

El Salvador's Supreme Court heard opening arguments Wednesday in a landmark abortion case in which a woman suffering from kidney failure and lupus has not been allowed to terminate a pregnancy in which the fetus is given... More>>

Egyptian judges suspend talks with president

In the judiciary's latest face-off with Egypt's Islamist rulers, the country's top council of judges decided Wednesday to suspend its participation in a government-backed judicial reform conference following a... More>>

Students in Ghana launch mini-satellite

Their project might not sound like much: The college students on Wednesday launched a tiny model of a satellite the size of a soda can on a big yellow balloon. More>>

Twin bombs strike Afghan checkpoint, killing 1

Two bombs exploded at a checkpoint outside a provincial governor's compound in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing at least one police officer, an official said. More>>

Russia says alleged spying case was 2nd this year Video included

A Russian security services operative - his features bathed in shadows - went on state television Wednesday to claim that the U.S. diplomat who was ordered out of the country was the second American expelled this year over... More>>

Bahrain convicts 6 of Twitter insults

A lawyer says Bahraini courts have sentenced six people to a year in prison on charges of making Twitter posts deemed offensive to the Gulf nation's king. More>>

Wave of bombings kills at least 33 in Iraq

A car bomb exploded near a bus station in Baghdad's main Shiite district Wednesday, the deadliest in a series of explosions that killed at least 33 people nationwide, officials said. More>>

Buenos Aires launches tours for Argentine pope

You can see the streets where he grew up and played soccer, the church where Jorge Bergoglio prayed as a teenager and the cathedral where the man who would become Pope Francis said Mass. You can even visit the stand where he... More>>

Eurozone recession is now longest in currency bloc

The eurozone is now in its longest ever recession - a stubborn slump that has surpassed even the calamity that hit the region in the financial crisis of 2008-2009. More>>

Nations pledge billions to rebuild Mali

A plan to turn Mali into a stable democracy rather than a terrorist haven drew massive support Wednesday as various nations and international organizations pledged 3.25 billion euros ($4.22 billion) to help reconstruct the... More>>

Amnesty for undeclared dollars divides Argentina

A plan to get Argentines to pull their undeclared U.S. dollars from under their mattresses and out of illegal tax havens, and deposit them in the banking system is eliciting warnings that it will turn the country into a... More>>

Nigeria deploys army to northeast to fight rebels

Nigeria rumbled to a war footing Wednesday as soldiers and equipment moved into its northeastern states as part of an emergency military campaign against Islamic extremists waging a bloody insurgency. More>>

Eurozone's struggling economies mired in recession

By The Associated Press The eurozone is stuck in recession - its longest since the euro was founded in 1999. The latest figures from the European Union's statistics office show that the economy of the... More>>

UK casino accuses US poker star Ivey of cheating

A major casino operator is accusing Phil Ivey, an American who is one of the world's top professional poker players, of amassing millions of dollars in winnings by cheating at baccarat. More>>

Education woes seen as Achilles' heel of Brazil

There's a storage room just off a university lab that gives students more experience than many can handle: Skinned pigs and cats, disembodied cow livers, intestines, brains and the other unidentifiable detritus of... More>>

Sharif's win sparks hope for Pakistan-India ties

Over a decade ago, the man now set to become Pakistan's next prime minister stood at this border crossing with archenemy India to inaugurate a "friendship" bus service connecting the two countries as cheering supporters... More>>

Cyprus may get its moon rock after 40 years

Cyprus may finally get its piece of the moon. More>>

Palestinians mark their 1948 displacement

Tens of thousands of Palestinians marked the 65th anniversary of their mass displacement during the war over Israel's 1948 creation, marching in the streets and in some parts of the West Bank clashing with Israeli... More>>

Wigs? A map? Strange stuff in alleged US spy kit

A couple of wigs, sunglasses and a compass? Really? More>>

Congo: 32 die in clash between army and militia

The Congolese army says that 32 were killed in fighting between soldiers and Mai Mai militiamen. More>>

Russians attempt to topple Google in Vietnam

Vietnam's booming Internet scene is littered with failed startups that tried to take on Google and other entrenched U.S web companies. That's not deterring a newly launched Russian-Vietnamese outfit which believes it... More>>

South Africa: Winnie Mandela's items to be sold

Dozens of paintings, a silver tea set and other items belonging to Nelson Mandela's ex-wife Winnie will be auctioned next week to pay off debts she owes to a South African school. More>>

Teams dig for miners trapped in Indonesia cave-in

Mining activities at a giant U.S.-owned gold and copper mine in Indonesia were halted Wednesday as rescuers using jacks, saws and wheelbarrows dug through a caved-in mine tunnel looking for about 25 trapped workers, the mine... More>>

Iran hard-liners urge election ban on top rivals

Hard-line Iranian lawmakers have petitioned authorities to bar two prominent presidential contenders - a moderate former president and a protege of current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - from running in next month's... More>>

US explores new ways to press Iran on nuke program

The Obama administration is looking at new ways to pressure Iran over its nuclear program. More>>

Russian boy stabbed while on vacation in Crete

A 12-year-old Russian boy was stabbed nearly two dozen times while on vacation on the island of Crete, allegedly by a Dutchman working as an entertainer at the child's hotel, Greek authorities said. More>>

Dutch sociologist given Spain's Asturias prize

A Dutch sociologist has been awarded Spain's Prince of Asturias social sciences prize for her work in the field of globalization and urban sociology. More>>

Battles in Pakistan tribal area displace thousands

A new offensive by the Pakistani military against militants in a northwestern tribal area has displaced thousands of people in the past week, an official said Wednesday. More>>

PHOTO ESSAY: Czech taxidermist success

At just 13, Radomir Franz already knew he wanted to be a taxidermist. More>>

Pope frees doves from cage in St. Peter's Square

Two doves celebrated their freedom with a soaring flight over St. Peter's Square on Wednesday, all thanks to Pope Francis. More>>

Rwanda building collapse kills 6, injures 30

Six people were killed and dozens more injured when a four-story building under construction collapsed in eastern Rwanda, police said Wednesday as the rescue effort ended. More>>

Swiss to crack down on business, sports bribery

The Swiss government wants to broaden its anti-corruption laws to make bribery a criminal offense in almost all cases. More>>

China questions Japan rule over Okinawa

China is trying to strengthen its claim on tiny, uninhabited, Japanese-controlled islands by raising questions about the much larger Okinawa chain that is home to more than a million Japanese along with major U.S. military... More>>

Confrontation looms as Tunisia moves on salafis

Tunisia is taking a harder line on preaching by ultraconservative Muslim groups, a crackdown that has sparked demonstrations by rock-throwing protesters and ominous warnings of terrorist attacks to come. More>>

Romanian artist takes his art on the street

Romanian artist Vasile Muresan, known as Murivale, thinks art belongs on the street. The white-bearded painter can often be seen sitting on the colorful canvases that he displays in the street, while he is followed by the... More>>

Prez's fired aide highlights SKorean gender divide

A South Korean presidential spokesman who was fired after inappropriately touching a woman during a U.S. trip blames a "cultural difference" with America. Other South Koreans say the fault for such incidents truly lies with... More>>

German economy returns to modest growth

The German economy managed to avoid sinking into recession during an unusually cold first quarter, but only just, official figures showed Wednesday. More>>

UN assembly expected to approve Syria resolution

Diplomats say the U.N. General Assembly is expected to approve an Arab-backed resolution calling for a political transition in Syria and strongly condemning President Bashar Assad's regime for escalating the use of heavy... More>>

NKorea: American starts life at 'special prison'

An American citizen sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for what Pyongyang has described as hostile acts against the state has started life at a "special prison," state media said Wednesday. More>>

Israel: Mortar shells from Syria hit Mt. Hermon

Israel's military says stray mortar shells from the fighting in Syria have struck a popular tourist site, Mt. Hermon in the Golan Heights. More>>

Critics assail Israeli silence on Arab peace plan

On the surface, the Arab League's improved peace initiative offers Israel everything it ever dreamed of - normal relations with an entire region that has long objected to the very existence of the Jewish state, and even... More>>

Boats carrying fleeing Rohingya minority capsize

An overcrowded boat capsized while trying to escape a cyclone bearing down on Myanmar, tossing dozens of members of the displaced Rohingya minority group into the sea. Eight bodies were found and more than 50 people were... More>>

US diplomat ordered to leave Russia in spy case Video included

A U.S. diplomat was ordered Tuesday to leave the country after the Kremlin's security services said he tried to recruit a Russian agent, and they displayed tradecraft tools that seemed straight from a cheap spy thriller:... More>>

Chains grapple with how to improve safety

While several more global clothing chains on Tuesday were announcing that they agreed to a historic pact to improve factory conditions in Bangladesh, U.S. retailers were scrambling to come up with their own safety plans. More>>

War crimes prosecutor receives Israel complaint

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court - the permanent war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands - says she has received a complaint about Israel's 2010 raid on a humanitarian aid flotilla bound for Gaza,... More>>

A look at how Russia, US still spy on each other Video included

By SARAH DiLORENZO Associated Press The Cold War is long over, but espionage is forever. Russian spies still operate in the U.S. and American ones in Russia. On Tuesday, Russia's security services said... More>>

Senate panel approves US ambassador to Libya

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday approved President Barack Obama's nominee for U.S. ambassador to Libya, a post that has been vacant since insurgents attacked the diplomatic mission in Benghazi last... More>>

US, Russia and Iran work to save Olympic wrestling

In Iran, Olympic wrestling champion Jordan Burroughs felt like Justin Bieber, LeBron James and Tom Brady all rolled into one. More>>

Nigeria president declares state of emergency

Admitting Islamic extremists now control some of his nation's villages and towns, Nigeria's president declared a state of emergency Tuesday across the country's troubled northeast, promising to send more troops... More>>

Attacks against Lebanese Alawites deepen fears

Lebanese members of the Syrian leader's Alawite sect fear their tiny community will be a casualty of the civil war raging in the neighboring country. More>>

Pakistan vote count shows big Sharif win

The vote count from last weekend's nationwide elections in Pakistan on Tuesday indicates a big win for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's party. More>>

Israeli leader under fire for costly lifestyle

For years, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been saddled with an image of a cigar-smoking, cognac-drinking socialite. Now a new disclosure about his soaring spending on housekeeping, furniture, clothing and... More>>

Gunmen open fire on liquor stores in Iraq, 11 dead

A convoy of gunmen opened fire on a row of liquor stores in eastern Baghdad immediately after sunset on Tuesday, killing 11 people and wounding five others, officials said. More>>

Brazilian must register gay unions as marriages

Brazilian notary publics must register same-sex civil unions as marriages if the couple requests it, the country's National Council of Justice said Tuesday. More>>

UK: 7 men convicted of sex crimes against girls

Seven men were convicted in London on Tuesday for sexually abusing underage girls, including one who was just 11, by plying them with alcohol and drugs before forcing them to commit sex acts. More>>

13 detained in Turkish bombings, death toll to 51

Four more people have been detained in connection with two car bomb attacks that killed dozens in a Turkish town near the Syrian border, bringing the number of suspects in custody to 13, Turkey's prime minister said... More>>

For Baz Luhrmann, Cannes is a birthplace

Baz Luhrmann might never have gone on to direct "The Great Gatsby" - or anything else, for that matter - if not for the Cannes Film Festival. More>>

Palestinian rivals promise unity government

A leading Palestinian official says rival groups Fatah and Hamas have agreed to form a national unity government in three months. More>>

UK: Another editor at The Sun charged over bribery

Britain's prosecutors say that a politics and government editor with The Sun tabloid has been charged over a conspiracy to pay thousands of pounds (dollars) worth of bribes to a press officer working in the British... More>>

EU court finds Swiss assisted-suicide laws vague

An elderly Swiss woman who would rather end her life now than decline further in health found sympathy Tuesday from the European Court of Human Rights, which called on the Swiss to clarify their laws on so-called passive... More>>

Correction: Kenya-Sandal Animals story Video included

In a story May 8 about artisans in Kenya who turn old sandals into art objects, The Associated Press included two paragraphs that closely paralleled the wording of an earlier story on the subject by the Voice of America.... More>>

EU pledges $675 million toward Mali reconstruction

On the eve of a major international donors' conference, the European Union announced Tuesday it was pledging 520 million euros ($674.8 million) over the next two years to help rebuild the west African country of Mali as... More>>

Vatican re-enters art world with Venice Biennale

The Vatican is getting back into its centuries-old tradition of arts patronage with its first-ever exhibit at the Venice Biennale, commissioning a biblically inspired show about creation, destruction and renewal for one of... More>>

SAfrica: Thieves stage heist after Bieber concert

South African police say thieves stole several hundred thousand dollars from a safe at a Johannesburg stadium where Justin Bieber and Jon Bon Jovi performed over the weekend. More>>

Correction: Somaliland-Rapes story

In a story May 12 about rapes in a region of Somalia known as Somaliland, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Somaliland declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1960. Somaliland declared independence in... More>>

Jerusalem family tattoos pilgrims for centuries

Orthodox Christians visiting the Holy Land often return home with more than just spiritual memories. Many drop by a centuries-old tattoo parlor in Jerusalem's Old City, inking themselves with a permanent reminder not... More>>

No plea bargain for captain in Italian shipwreck

Italian prosecutors on Tuesday rejected a plea bargain bid by the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off Italy last year, killing 32 people, defense lawyers said. More>>

Bangladesh honors the dead from building collapse

Thousands of mourners gathered Tuesday at the wreckage of a Bangladeshi garment factory building to offer prayers for the souls of the 1,127 people who died in the structure's collapse last month, the worst tragedy in... More>>

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