Paul McCartney writes in support of Pussy Riot
MOSCOW (AP) -- Beatles frontman Paul McCartney has asked a Russian judge to release members of the Pussy Riot punk group from prison.... 5/23/2013 7:39 AM

Bulgaria: Ex-PM fails to form new government
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) -- A former prime minister whose party won Bulgaria's May 12 election says his party doesn't have enough seats in parliament to form a stable government.... 5/23/2013 7:38 AM

Gunmen kill 4 Iraqi soldiers north of Baghdad
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraqi officials say gunmen have shot dead four soldiers at an army checkpoint north of Baghdad.... 5/23/2013 7:38 AM

Japanese climber, 80, becomes oldest atop Everest
KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) -- An 80-year-old Japanese man who has had four heart operations in recent years became the oldest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest on Thursday - although his record may last only a few days. An 81-year-old Nepalese man, who held the previous record, plans his own ascent next week.... 5/23/2013 7:36 AM

Czech police seek US man suspected of 4 murders
PRAGUE (AP) -- An American man suspected of killing four people is on the run in the Czech Republic and likely armed, officials said Thursday.... 5/23/2013 7:27 AM

5 dead in Lebanon clash of Assad foes, backers
BEIRUT (AP) -- Opponents and supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad traded heavy machine gun fire and mortar shells in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli, leaving five people dead in what was described as some of the heaviest fighting there in years, officials said Thursday.... 5/23/2013 7:25 AM

Japan gyrations underline economy's vulnerability
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's financial markets gyrated wildly Thursday, underscoring the vulnerability of its economy to a loss of investor confidence as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attempts shock monetary easing to end two decades of stagnation.... 5/23/2013 7:25 AM

Brave woman tried to reason with London attackers
LONDON (AP) -- A brave scout leader who may have prevented further violence has emerged as an unlikely hero in the apparent terror attack that left one man dead on the streets of London.... 5/23/2013 7:20 AM

US family leaves Singapore frustrated with inquest
SINGAPORE (AP) -- The parents of an American software engineer found dead in his Singapore apartment last year left the city-state Thursday before the end of a coroner's inquest, saying they had lost faith in the process. Their lawyer said they would push for a U.S. congressional investigation.... 5/23/2013 7:05 AM

US, Israel raise hopes for Mideast peace restart
JERUSALEM (AP) -- The United States and Israel raised hopes Thursday for a restart of the Middle East peace process, despite little tangible progress so far from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's two-month-old effort to get Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table.... 5/23/2013 7:02 AM

Simultaneous car bomb attacks in Niger
NIAMEY, Niger (AP) -- Attackers in Niger detonated two car bombs at dawn on Thursday, one in the city of Agadez where a military barracks was targeted and one in Arlit where a French company operates a uranium mine, injuring more than a dozen people.... 5/23/2013 7:02 AM

UN chief arrives in Goma, Congo
GOMA, Congo (AP) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived on Thursday in Goma, eastern Congo, hours after a rebel group fighting government forces nearby said they would impose a cease-fire to allow the visit to proceed.... 5/23/2013 6:54 AM

Markets roiled by Nikkei's 7.3 percent slide
LONDON (AP) -- Financial markets around the world were roiled Thursday after Japanese stocks suffered their biggest slide since the country was hit by a devastating tsunami more than two years ago.... 5/23/2013 6:43 AM

Pakistan arrested American who was killed by drone
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistani authorities once arrested an American citizen now known to have been killed in a U.S. drone strike in the country, but he escaped after being released on bail.... 5/23/2013 6:29 AM

UK emergency committee meets after attack
LONDON (AP) -- The British government's emergency committee met Thursday after two attackers butchered a British soldier in a daylight attack in London that raised fears terrorism had returned to the capital.... 5/23/2013 6:16 AM

Stricken Japan nuke plant struggles to keep staff
TOKYO (AP) -- Keeping the meltdown-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in northeastern Japan in stable condition requires a cast of thousands. Increasingly the plant's operator is struggling to find enough workers, a trend that many expect to worsen and hamper progress in the decades-long effort to safely decommission it.... 5/23/2013 5:49 AM

Report: Rafsanjani blasts Iran's rulers
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- An Iranian pro-reform website is reporting that former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has strongly criticized the policies of the country's ruling clerical establishment, days after a constitutional watchdog disqualified him from running in the June 14 elections.... 5/23/2013 5:46 AM

North Korea envoy awaits chat with China's leader
BEIJING (AP) -- While a North Korean envoy waits for an expected meeting with China's Communist Party chief, his Chinese hosts are taking him touring in Beijing.... 5/23/2013 5:45 AM

Father of Afghanistan cricket captain abducted
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Gunmen kidnapped the father of Afghanistan's national cricket team captain near his home in an eastern city, officials said Thursday.... 5/23/2013 5:17 AM

Heat wave causes power outages, anger in India
LUCKNOW, India (AP) -- A blistering heat wave has swept across most parts of north and western India, causing massive electricity cuts and leading angry residents to protest and even attack power company officials and property.... 5/23/2013 5:13 AM