Iraqis vote in 2 Sunni-dominated provinces
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraqis in two Sunni-dominated provinces where provincial elections had been delayed over security concerns were casting ballots Thursday amid tight security measures aimed at thwarting insurgent attacks.... 6/20/2013 3:38 AM

AP EXCLUSIVE: Taliban offer to free US soldier
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- The Afghan Taliban say they are ready to hand over a U.S. soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison.... 6/20/2013 3:29 AM

Medical care lags behind Afghan military growth
FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHINWAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- The young Afghan soldier lay in great pain on a cot at an army base, his uniform pants cut up to his thigh so medics could clean the wound in his right knee where he was shot fighting insurgents.... 6/20/2013 3:41 AM

India floods strand thousands; more than 100 dead
LUCKNOW, India (AP) -- Days after floods killed more than 100 people - possibly many more - rescuers used helicopters and climbed through mountain paths to reach nearly 4,000 people trapped by landslides in a narrow valley near a Hindu shrine in the northern Himalayas, officials said Thursday.... 6/20/2013 3:19 AM

AP NewsAlert
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Taliban say they're ready to hand over captive US soldier in exchange for Guantanamo prisoners.... 6/20/2013 3:11 AM

Jewish educator who survived Soviet Gulag dies
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Rabbi Moshe Greenberg, a religious educator who survived a brutal Gulag in Siberia and secretly taught Judaism under an oppressive Soviet regime, has died in Israel. He was 84.... 6/20/2013 3:02 AM

China astronauts float water blob in kids' lecture
BEIJING (AP) -- Astronauts struck floating martial arts poses, twirled gyroscopes and manipulated wobbling globes of water during a lecture Thursday from China's orbiting space station that's part of efforts to popularize the space program among young people.... 6/20/2013 2:55 AM

SKorean nuclear operator raided in cable probe
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea's sole nuclear operator says investigators raided its offices as part of a probe into nuclear plant cables.... 6/20/2013 2:50 AM

AP PHOTOS: Bangladesh collapse left many amputees
SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) -- It was the worst disaster in the history of the garment industry. When the Rana Plaza factory building crashed down in April, 1,129 people were killed. But many others had to sacrifice their limbs to survive.... 6/20/2013 2:47 AM

Singapore haze at worst yet, Malaysia schools shut
SINGAPORE (AP) -- Singapore urged people to remain indoors amid unprecedented levels of air pollution Thursday as a smoky haze wrought by forest fires in neighboring Indonesia worsened dramatically. Nearby Malaysia closed 200 schools and banned open burning in some areas.... 6/20/2013 2:29 AM

In northern Iraqi city, al-Qaida gathers strength
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Al-Qaida's Iraq arm is gathering strength in the restive northern city of Mosul, ramping up its fundraising through gangland-style shakedowns and feeding off anti-government anger as it increasingly carries out attacks with impunity, according to residents and officials.... 6/20/2013 2:23 AM

SKorea adopts tougher penalties for sex offenders
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea says it's taking tougher action against sex offenders by allowing plaintiffs other than the direct targets of sexual violence to press charges of rape or sexual harassment.... 6/20/2013 2:16 AM

Asian stocks down as Fed sees slower bond buys
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Asian stock markets plummeted Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it could start scaling back its huge economic stimulus program later this year.... 6/20/2013 1:27 AM

China jails 11 for extremist crimes in Muslim west
BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese courts have sentenced 11 people for inciting religious extremism and related crimes in the northwestern Muslim region of Xinjiang, just weeks ahead of the anniversary of bloody ethnic rioting that spread through the region four years ago.... 6/20/2013 12:02 AM

Children taken from Canadian Mennonite community
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) -- Children have been removed from an orthodox Mennonite community in Canada where adults have been charged with assaulting youngsters using items such as cattle prods and leather straps.... 6/19/2013 11:24 PM

Tropical Storm Barry forms off Mexican coast
VERACRUZ, Mexico (AP) -- Tropical Storm Barry formed off Mexico's Gulf Coast on Wednesday, prompting Mexican authorities to ready hundreds of shelters.... 6/19/2013 11:24 PM

Brazil officials reverse subway, bus fare hike
SAO PAULO (AP) -- Leaders in Brazil's two biggest cities said Wednesday that they reversed an increase in bus and subway fares that ignited anti-government protests that have spread across the nation in the past week.... 6/19/2013 10:53 PM

China's Xi harks back to Mao in party 'cleanup'
BEIJING (AP) -- China's new leader Xi Jinping is commanding wayward Communist Party cadres to purify themselves of corruption, and he's summed it up in a pithy slogan as Mao Zedong might have done: Look in the mirror, take a bath.... 6/19/2013 10:12 PM

Dotcom 'in tears' after Megaupload files deleted
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom said Thursday he was "in tears" after a European company deleted all the data it was hosting from his shuttered file-sharing site.... 6/19/2013 9:32 PM

Social network gaffes plague Japanese politicians
TOKYO (AP) -- On the Internet, no one can save you from yourself. That is a lesson many Japanese politicians have learned recently in painful, awkward and at times costly fashion.... 6/19/2013 9:26 PM