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 4:33 AM

All 28 bodies recovered from Indonesian mine room
TIMIKA, Indonesia (AP) -- Rescuers on Wednesday recovered the last of 28 miners killed last week when an underground room of a giant Indonesian gold and copper mine collapsed, the operator of the U.S.-owned facility said.... 5/22/2013 4:20 AM

Iran's Ahmadinejad denounces election decision
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says a decision by election overseers to disqualify his top aide from an upcoming presidential race is an act of "oppression" and he will take the case to the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.... 5/22/2013 4:18 AM

Chinese premier begins 2-day visit to Pakistan
ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Pakistan says it shares "identical views" on foreign policy with China, whose premier is beginning a two-day visit to Islamabad in the latest sign of the tight relationship between the two Asian powers.... 5/22/2013 4:14 AM

Japan watchdog: Nuke plant sits atop active fault
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's nuclear watchdog has endorsed a panel's conclusion that a seismic fault running underneath an atomic plant in western Japan is active, making the plant's restart virtually impossible.... 5/22/2013 4:07 AM

6 kids among 7 injured in south China knife attack
BEIJING (AP) -- Authorities in southern China say a mentally ill man stabbed six primary school students and an adult in the latest of several attacks on Chinese schoolchildren.... 5/22/2013 3:58 AM

Ai Weiwei uses music to mock state power in China
BEIJING (AP) -- Two emotionless prison guards watch Ai Weiwei as he eats, sleeps, paces, showers - and even sits on the toilet - in the Chinese artist's new obscenity-filled, metaphor-rich music video mocking state power.... 5/22/2013 3:47 AM

Japan approves joining int'l child abduction pact
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's parliament has approved joining an international child custody treaty amid foreign concerns that Japanese mothers can take children away from foreign fathers without recourse.... 5/22/2013 3:46 AM

Kerry praises $2.1 billion Raytheon deal in Oman
MUSCAT, Oman (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Wednesday with officials in Oman to discuss their plans to buy a $2.1 billion air defense system from American manufacturer Raytheon.... 5/22/2013 3:43 AM

Weak yen a help for Japan, but headache elsewhere
TOKYO (AP) -- A steady decline in the yen is proving a godsend for exporters such as Toyota and has won solid support from Japan's main trading partners, who are betting the impact on their own currencies will be offset by gains from a recovery in the world's third-largest economy. It's not such good news for entrepreneurs like Thamonwan Thawornthaweewong, whose Angry Bird fish balls, squid rings and other products now cost more to sell in Japan.... 5/22/2013 3:38 AM

Afghan students protest women's rights decree
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Hard-line Islamist students are protesting in the Afghan capital demanding the repeal of a presidential decree for women's rights that they say is un-Islamic.... 5/22/2013 3:38 AM

Germany celebrates composer Wagner's 200th
BERLIN (AP) -- Germany is celebrating the 200th anniversary of Richard Wagner with the unveiling Wednesday of a monument in the composer's birthplace of Leipzig.... 5/22/2013 3:37 AM

Octogenarians race to be oldest Everest climber
KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) -- An 80-year-old Japanese extreme skier who just missed becoming the oldest man to reach the summit of Mount Everest five years ago is back on the mountain to make another attempt at the title.... 5/22/2013 3:35 AM

Fishermen pay price in Asia's volatile sea rifts
MASINLOC, Philippines (AP) -- Along the northwestern Philippine coast, poor children with claw hammers clamber aboard an abandoned fishing vessel to pry loose and steal rusty nails from its deck. It's become a familiar sight in villages where some fishermen have been forced to give up their livelihoods since China took control of their fishing haven last year.... 5/22/2013 3:18 AM

Young objector challenges Israeli army
JERUSALEM (AP) -- The Israeli military has jailed a young man for six months for refusing to serve because of his opposition to Israel's occupation of the West Bank, focusing attention on the longstanding conflict between the country's universal military service and divided political beliefs.... 5/22/2013 2:48 AM

Pakistani cricket star politician leaves hospital
ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Pakistani cricket star-turned politician Imran Khan left the hospital Wednesday, more than two weeks after he suffered serious back injuries in a fall from a forklift at a campaign event, a spokesman said.... 5/22/2013 2:10 AM

Japan's central bank says economy picking up
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's central bank says the world's third-biggest economy is "picking up" as demand recovers in other countries and remains resilient at home, though the trade deficit widened in April, for the tenth straight month.... 5/22/2013 2:08 AM

Oil falls below $96 before Fed chief speaks
BANGKOK (AP) -- The price of oil fell Wednesday as investors waited for a report on U.S. crude stocks and the Federal Reserve's latest views on the U.S. economy.... 5/22/2013 2:03 AM

US parents quit Singapore inquest into son's death
SINGAPORE (AP) -- The parents of an American software engineer who believe their son was murdered last year in Singapore withdrew from the inquest Wednesday, saying they have no confidence in the city-state's legal process.... 5/22/2013 2:01 AM

Asia stocks rise as Fed official backs easy policy
BANGKOK (AP) -- Asian stock markets were mostly higher Wednesday after investor confidence was boosted by a Federal Reserve official's comments that the U.S. central bank should stick with its super-easy monetary policy.... 5/22/2013 1:59 AM