Police detain 13 more in raids in Turkey
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey's state-run agency says police have detained 13 more demonstrators suspected of involvement in violence during protests that have swept the country.... 6/20/2013 5:19 AM

China sex tape official: I'm a lecher but no crook
BEIJING (AP) -- Call me a lecher but don't call me a crook, an ex-city official at the heart of a sex tape scandal has said in his unusually spirited courtroom defense against corruption charges.... 6/20/2013 5:19 AM

Regulators order lenders to raise more capital
LONDON (AP) -- British regulators are ordering some of the country's biggest banks to bolster their balance sheets by 27. 1 billion pounds ($42.1 billion) to prevent a repeat of the 2008 banking crisis.... 6/20/2013 5:18 AM

Stampede over Beckham injures 5 in Shanghai
BEIJING (AP) -- At least five people have been injured in a stampede after fans stormed a stadium gate upon the arrival of superstar David Beckham at a Chinese university Thursday afternoon.... 6/20/2013 5:10 AM

China, Vietnam talk amid South China Sea tensions
BEIJING (AP) -- Vietnam's president was being feted by China's leaders on a visit through Friday as Beijing continues to shun another rival for South China Sea territory that has challenged its claims on legal grounds, the Philippines.... 6/20/2013 5:08 AM

Russia to fulfill Syria missile system contract
MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia says it will honor its controversial contract to deliver S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria.... 6/20/2013 5:07 AM

Tropical Storm Barry headsforms off Mexican coast
VERACRUZ, Mexico (AP) -- The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Barry is bearing down on Mexico's Gulf Coast, poised to make landfall within hours.... 6/20/2013 4:56 AM

12 Indonesian soldiers on trial over prison attack
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Soldiers from Indonesia's elite special forces have gone before a military court charged with storming a prison and killing four detainees on the main Java island.... 6/20/2013 4:53 AM

Asian stocks down as Fed sees slower bond buys
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- World stock markets fell sharply Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it could start scaling back its huge economic stimulus program later this year and a survey showed a slowdown in manufacturing in China.... 6/20/2013 4:48 AM

Fire blazes at Dutch firelighting block factory
AMSTERDAM (AP) -- Authorities in the Dutch city of Oisterwijk say a fire has broken out at a factory that makes firelighting blocks for barbecues and campfires.... 6/20/2013 4:46 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 4:40 AM

Italy film fest dedicates homage to Gandolfini
ROME (AP) -- Organizers of the Taormina, Sicily, Film Festival are scrambling to put together a tribute to U.S. actor James Gandolfini, who had been expected to attend the festival's closing ceremony this weekend.... 6/20/2013 4:32 AM

AP EXCLUSIVE: Taliban offer to free US soldier
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- The Afghan Taliban are ready to free a U.S. army soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay as a conciliatory gesture, a senior spokesman for the group said Thursday.... 6/20/2013 4:32 AM

France threatens Google with privacy fines
PARIS (AP) -- France is giving Google three months to abide by the country's data privacy laws or be fined.... 6/20/2013 4:29 AM

SKorean nuclear operator raided in cable probe
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea's sole nuclear power plant operator said Thursday that investigators raided its offices, a sign that a probe into faulty nuclear plant cables is widening.... 6/20/2013 3:51 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

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

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