UN chief warns of new peacekeeping threats
BEIJING (AP) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday the world body's peacekeeping efforts face growing dangers from non-traditional threats such as suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices.... 6/19/2013 6:56 AM

Markets steady as investors ready for Fed
LONDON (AP) -- Markets were fairly flat-footed ahead of a keenly awaited policy statement from the U.S. Federal Reserve.... 6/19/2013 6:55 AM

Bribery trial of former Finmeccanica CEO opens
MILAN (AP) -- The former head of Italian aerospace and defense giant Finmeccanica , accused by prosecutors of making bribery part of the company culture, went on trial Wednesday for his alleged role in the payment of bribes to secure a crucial 560 million euro ($670 million) helicopter contract in India.... 6/19/2013 6:41 AM

Karzai suspends talks with US over Taliban move
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- The Afghan president on Wednesday suspended talks with the United States on a new security deal to protest the way his government was being left out of initial peace negotiations with the Taliban meant to find a way to end the nearly 12-year war.... 6/19/2013 6:35 AM

Bomb blasts, gunmen attack UN office in Mogadishu
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Al-Qaida-linked militants detonated multiple bomb blasts and engaged in ongoing battles with security forces in an attempt to breach the main U.N. compound in Mogadishu, officials said Wednesday.... 6/19/2013 6:30 AM

UN says 45.2 million refugees and displaced people
GENEVA (AP) -- The Syrian civil war contributed to pushing the numbers of refugees and those displaced by conflict within their own nation to an 18-year high of 45.2 million worldwide by the end of 2012, the U.N. refugee agency said Wednesday.... 6/19/2013 6:28 AM

Malaysia budget airport launch pushed to May 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- The opening of a new airport to accommodate budget carriers has been delayed until next year because of design changes and other construction setbacks, Malaysia's airport operator says.... 6/19/2013 6:26 AM

UN, US ask Filipinos not to leave Golan Heights
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- The United Nations and Washington have separately asked the Philippines not to withdraw its more than 300 Filipino peacekeepers from the Golan Heights, warning of "maximum volatility" in the region after a number of countries decided to pull out their peacekeeping forces amid escalating violence, the Philippines' top diplomat said Wednesday.... 6/19/2013 6:22 AM

UK Girl Guides drop reference to God in pledge
LONDON (AP) -- Britain's Girl Guides have dropped a reference to God in their pledge.... 6/19/2013 6:20 AM

UK soldiers' families can sue over Iraq deaths
LONDON (AP) -- Britain's highest court says the families of several soldiers killed or injured in Iraq can sue the government for failing to protect them.... 6/19/2013 6:16 AM

Obama to renew calls for nuclear reductions
BERLIN (AP) -- President Barack Obama will renew his call Wednesday to reduce the world's nuclear stockpiles, including a proposed one-third reduction in U.S. and Russian arsenals, the White House said.... 6/19/2013 6:10 AM

Group decries Sri Lanka's proposed media code
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) -- Rights groups are criticizing a code of media ethics proposed by Sri Lanka's government, saying Wednesday that the code could have a chilling effect on free speech in the Indian Ocean island nation.... 6/19/2013 5:58 AM

China, North Korea hold strategic talks in Beijing
BEIJING (AP) -- Negotiators from North Korea and China held strategic talks in Beijing on Wednesday as they work to repair strained relations, but offered little indication they will lead to a resumption of nuclear disarmament talks any time soon.... 6/19/2013 5:53 AM

Air France-KLM orders 25 of Airbus wide-body A350
LE BOURGET, France (AP) -- Air France-KLM is ordering 25 Airbus A350 jets, saying the wide-body plane that flew for the first time last week is key to plans to expand long-haul flights.... 6/19/2013 5:44 AM

IMF calls for urgent steps on Spain unemployment
MADRID (AP) -- The International Monetary Fund says recession-wracked Spain is making progress but is urging policymakers both within the country and in Europe to take "urgent action" to slash the country's crippling 27 percent unemployment rate.... 6/19/2013 5:33 AM

Monsoon floods kill 86 in India, strand pilgrims
LUCKNOW, India (AP) -- A joint army and air force operation has evacuated nearly 12,000 Hindu pilgrims stranded in a mountainous area by torrential monsoon rains and landslides in northern India, but nearly 63,000 people remain cut off, a senior official said Wednesday.... 6/19/2013 5:28 AM

Syria state TV says explosion hits military depot
BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian state television says an accidental explosion at a military depot outside the northwestern coastal city of Latakia has left six people lightly injured.... 6/19/2013 5:14 AM

Floods close Lourdes pilgrimage site in Pyrenees
PARIS (AP) -- Heavy floods in southwest France have forced the closure of the Catholic pilgrimage site in Lourdes and the evacuation of pilgrims from nearby hotels.... 6/19/2013 4:59 AM

AP NewsAlert
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Philippines says UN, US worry of `maximum volatility' in Golan Heights if peacekeepers leave.... 6/19/2013 4:58 AM

Turkish official approves 'standing man' protest
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- The new form of resistance that is spreading through Turkey has received a nod of approval from the country's deputy prime minister.... 6/19/2013 4:55 AM