Kerry makes sub-Saharan Africa visit
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Nigeria must respect human rights as it cracks down on the Islamist extremists. He's also pledging to work hard in the coming months to ease tensions between Sudan and South Sudan.... 5/25/2013 2:59 AM

7 Filipino marines, 4 militants killed in clash
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- At least seven Filipino marines and four Abu Sayyaf militants were killed in a clash Saturday as the military launched an offensive against al-Qaida-linked gunmen who have been blamed for recent kidnappings and of trying to sabotage a road project in the southern Philippines.... 5/25/2013 2:32 AM

Syria regime unleashes artillery barrage on Qusair
BEIRUT (AP) -- Activists say forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad have unleashed their heaviest artillery barrage in a week to dislodge rebels from a strategic western town.... 5/25/2013 2:22 AM

Toronto mayor denies he smokes crack cocaine
TORONTO (AP) -- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford denied that he smokes crack cocaine and said he is not an addict, breaking a week of silence over reports of a video purportedly showing him using the drug. Critics were not appeased, with one city councilor questioning whether the mayor told "the whole truth" and another calling on him to resign.... 5/25/2013 1:06 AM

Gas cylinder blast on Pakistan school bus kills 17
ISLAMABAD (AP) -- At least 17 children were burned to death in eastern Pakistan on Saturday when a faulty gas cylinder exploded on the bus taking them to school, police said.... 5/25/2013 12:48 AM

NKorean envoy delivers letter to China's president
BEIJING (AP) -- A top North Korean envoy has delivered a letter from leader Kim Jong Un to Chinese President Xi Jinping and told him Pyongyang would take steps to rejoin stalled nuclear disarmament talks, in an apparent victory for Beijing's efforts to coax its unruly ally into lowering tensions.... 5/24/2013 10:15 PM

Ex-Guatemala president extradited to US
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) -- Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo was extradited on Friday to the United States to face charges of laundering $70 million in Guatemalan funds through U.S. bank accounts.... 5/24/2013 9:49 PM

Soldier's slaying prompts UK security review
LONDON (AP) -- Both of the suspects accused of butchering a British soldier during broad daylight on a London street had long been on the radar of Britain's domestic spy agency, though investigators say it would have been nearly impossible to predict that the men were on the verge of a brutal killing.... 5/24/2013 8:59 PM

Honduran gangs to announce truce to cut violence
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) -- Honduras' two largest and most-violent gangs will sign a truce next week and ask for a dialogue with the government and police to help them start leaving their gang lifestyle, a Roman Catholic bishop said Friday.... 5/24/2013 8:19 PM

Steely Cotillard shines in 'The Immigrant'
CANNES, France (AP) -- Academy award-winner Marion Cotillard gave her all and even learned another language to play a Polish woman struggling with the realities of 1920s New York in James Gray's terse offering, "The Immigrant."... 5/24/2013 7:17 PM

Mexico: far fewer people disappeared than feared
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico's top security official said Friday that far fewer people disappeared during Mexico's drug war than were feared when the government released a list of about 26,000 cases.... 5/24/2013 7:08 PM

Canada: Qatar gives up bid to relocate UN agency
TORONTO (AP) -- Qatar has abandoned its bid to relocate the United Nations civil aviation agency from Canada to the tiny emirate, ending a bitter fight between the two nations, both countries said Friday.... 5/24/2013 6:54 PM

Third term begins for Ecuador's President Correa
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) -- Ecuador's Rafael Correa began his third term as president on Friday under seemingly ideal conditions: extremely high popularity, a more than two-thirds majority in Congress, a stable economy and a badly splintered opposition.... 5/24/2013 6:53 PM

Barrick fined $16m for Pascua-Lama violations
VALLENAR, Chile (AP) -- Chile's environmental regulator blocked Barrick Gold Corp.'s $8.5 billion Pascua-Lama project on Friday and imposed its maximum fine on the world's largest gold miner, citing "very serious" violations of its environmental permit as well as a failure by the company to accurately describe what it had done wrong.... 5/24/2013 6:34 PM

IMF chief named key witness in French payoff case
PARIS (AP) -- After two days of intense questioning from French magistrates, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said Friday a court named her as a key witness in an investigation into a controversial payoff to an outspoken businessman that was arranged while she was France's finance minister - stopping short of charging her outright.... 5/24/2013 5:38 PM

Puerto Rico approves anti-discrimination bill
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Legislators in Puerto Rico on Friday approved a heavily debated bill that outlaws employment discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation.... 5/24/2013 5:31 PM

UK court: Lawmaker's wife's tweet was libelous
LONDON (AP) -- A tweet posted by the wife of Britain's parliamentary speaker about a politician wrongly linked to child sex abuse was libelous, the High Court ruled Friday.... 5/24/2013 5:17 PM

Interpol rejects Russia bid to locate UK investor
PARIS (AP) -- The international police agency Interpol has rejected a Russian push to locate and arrest a Britain-based investor who is a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin's regime.... 5/24/2013 4:42 PM

Afghan Taliban attack aid group, 2 guards killed
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- In the latest militant strike on the Afghan capital, Taliban gunmen backed by a suicide car bomber attacked an international aid group's compound on Friday, killing two guards and setting off an hours-long street battle with police in the heart of Kabul .... 5/24/2013 4:29 PM

Cannes: Dern a leading man again in 'Nebraska'
CANNES, France (AP) -- For the aging, gruff patriarch of his father-son road trip "Nebraska," Alexander Payne tried to lure Gene Hackman out of retirement and considered the likes of Robert Duvall and Jack Nicholson. Bruce Dern calls them "the obvious guys."... 5/24/2013 3:51 PM