Mortar lands in Congo as UN chief arrives
GOMA, Congo (AP) -- A mortar round exploded in Goma, a city in eastern Congo which has been in the crosshairs of this country's latest rebellion, officials said Wednesday, as the United Nations secretary-general arrived in Congo's capital for a two-day visit expected to take him to Goma.... 5/22/2013 8:50 AM

Zimbabwe's president signs new constitution
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Zimbabwe's president signs into law a new constitution and vows to hold peaceful and clean elections later this year.... 5/22/2013 8:48 AM

Ukrainian journalists disrupt government session
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- Ukrainian reporters on Wednesday disrupted a government session chaired by the prime minister, suggesting his family members could be the next victims of official inaction after police in Kiev stood by while pro-government activists attacked two journalists covering an opposition protest.... 5/22/2013 8:46 AM

Ethiopian corruption watchdog arrests 51 suspects
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- Ethiopian authorities have carried out another wave of arrests that brings the number of people detained on suspicions of corruption to more than 50.... 5/22/2013 8:39 AM

South Sudan warns it may shut down oil flow again
JUBA, South Sudan (AP) -- South Sudan is warning that it may stop exporting oil through Sudan's pipelines again.... 5/22/2013 8:38 AM

Iran's Ahmadinejad denounces election decision
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that a decision by election overseers to disqualify his top aide from next month's presidential race is an act of "oppression" and that he will take the case to the country's supreme leader.... 5/22/2013 8:36 AM

Czech president settles dispute over gay rights
PRAGUE (AP) -- The Czech president says he will no longer block a university professorship for a gay rights activist who had been critical of him.... 5/22/2013 8:34 AM

Vatican releases 1st report of financial watchdog
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican took another step Wednesday to show greater financial transparency by publishing the first annual report from its financial watchdog agency and announcing new regulations to fight money laundering and terror financing.... 5/22/2013 8:32 AM

UK eyes giving visas to 600 Afghan interpreters
LONDON (AP) -- Britain is proposing to give around 600 Afghan interpreters who worked alongside its troops the right to settle in the U.K. in recognition of the risks to their personal safety.... 5/22/2013 8:28 AM

Irishman charged with 1982 IRA Hyde Park bombing
DUBLIN (AP) -- A 61-year-old Irishman was charged in Britain Wednesday with the Irish Republican Army bombing of the queen's ceremonial cavalry in Hyde Park in 1982, a strike at a top London tourist attraction that killed four soldiers and seven horses.... 5/22/2013 8:19 AM

Iraqi PM orders army shakeup after deadly attacks
BAGHDAD (AP) -- An Iraqi government spokesman says Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has ordered changes in senior ranks of the military in the wake of bloody attacks that have killed dozens of people in the past few days.... 5/22/2013 8:05 AM

EU bid to label Hezbollah wing terror group
BRUSSELS (AP) -- Two officials say Britain has launched a bid to formally have the European Union declare the Lebanese party Hezbollah's military wing a terrorist organization.... 5/22/2013 8:04 AM

7 Egyptian security men kidnapped in Sinai freed
CAIRO (AP) -- Six Egyptian policemen and a border guard kidnapped by suspected militants in the volatile Sinai Peninsula last week were freed by their captors Wednesday after successful mediation, the country's military spokesman said.... 5/22/2013 8:03 AM

Iceland forms new center-right government
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) -- Progressive Party leader Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson has been chosen as Iceland's new prime minister.... 5/22/2013 8:03 AM

Syrian opposition urges rebels to join key battle
BEIRUT (AP) -- Syria's main opposition alliance on Wednesday urged fighters to come from around the country to reinforce a rebel-held town under attack by President Bashar Assad's troops and their allies from the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group.... 5/22/2013 7:58 AM

Trial for captain in deadly shipwreck in Italy
ROME (AP) -- A judge in Italy has ordered the captain of the Costa Concordia to stand trial in the shipwreck of the cruise liner, which struck a reef off Tuscany last year, killing 32 people.... 5/22/2013 7:53 AM

Japan approves joining int'l child abduction pact
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's parliament on Wednesday approved joining an international child custody treaty amid foreign pressure for Tokyo to address concerns that Japanese mothers can take children away from foreign fathers without recourse.... 5/22/2013 7:36 AM

IMF calls on Britain to do more for growth
LONDON (AP) -- The International Monetary Fund has called on the British government to do more to support the country's recovery now that it has started to ease the pace of its budget austerity measures.... 5/22/2013 7:35 AM

North Korean leader sends special envoy to China
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- After months of ignoring China's warnings to give up its nuclear program, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a high-level confidant to Beijing on Wednesday, in a possible effort to mend strained ties with its most important ally and the latest sign that Pyongyang may be giving diplomacy a chance.... 5/22/2013 7:24 AM

Life-saving face transplant performed in Poland
WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Doctors in Poland say they have performed an urgent total face transplant on a 33-year-old man whose face was torn off in an accident which also crushed his jaws.... 5/22/2013 7:19 AM