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 8:29 AM

UAE charges 30 suspects with plotting coup
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- A state security prosecutor in the United Arab Emirates says 30 Egyptian and UAE suspects have been charged with plotting a coup linked to a network of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, in a case likely to further strain relations with Cairo.... 6/19/2013 8:25 AM

Obama: 'Lives have been saved' by NSA programs
BERLIN (AP) -- Trying to tamp down concerns about government over-reach, President Barack Obama on Wednesday defended U.S. Internet and phone surveillance programs as narrowly targeted efforts that have saved lives and thwarted at least 50 terror threats.... 6/19/2013 8:11 AM

Greek government back in talks to end TV crisis
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greece's governing coalition parties are to meet for a second time in three days to try and end a political crisis triggered by the closure of state broadcaster ERT.... 6/19/2013 8:11 AM

Zimbabwe's president goes back to court on polls
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Zimbabwe's highest court said Wednesday it has received an application from longtime President Robert Mugabe's party to delay crucial elections by at least two weeks following pressure from regional leaders.... 6/19/2013 8:08 AM

5 Somalis, 7 militants die in attack on UN office
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Al-Qaida-linked militants detonated multiple bomb blasts and breached the main U.N. compound in Mogadishu on Wednesday, sparking gun battles with security forces that killed at least 12 people. U.N. personnel who reached the compound's secure bunker all survived, though officials hinted not all reached that bunker.... 6/19/2013 8:06 AM

IMF calls for urgent steps on Spain unemployment
MADRID (AP) -- Spain faces the prospect of of high unemployment and sluggish growth lasting years unless the country and Europe take "urgent action" to slash the nation's crippling 27 unemployment rate and free frozen credit to businesses so they can expand, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday.... 6/19/2013 8:03 AM

Turkish official approves 'standing man' protest
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey's deputy prime minister gave a nod of approval to a new form of peaceful resistance that is spreading through Turkey on Wednesday as police were questioning dozens of people rounded up in police raids.... 6/19/2013 8:01 AM

Armed robbers kill 48 in northwest Nigeria
KANO, Nigeria (AP) -- Police say armed robbers have shot and killed 48 people in a revenge attack on villagers in northwest Nigeria who have formed vigilante groups to try to end a spree of violent thefts.... 6/19/2013 7:57 AM

Karzai sets new conditions for talks with Taliban
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghanistan's president says he will not pursue peace talks with the Taliban unless the United States steps out of the negotiations and the militant group stops its violent attacks on the ground.... 6/19/2013 7:56 AM

UN, US ask Filipinos not to leave Golan Heights
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- The United Nations and the U.S. have separately asked the Philippines not to withdraw its more than 300 peacekeepers from the Golan Heights, warning of "maximum volatility" in the region after several other countries decided to pull out their peacekeeping forces amid escalating violence, the Philippines' top diplomat said Wednesday.... 6/19/2013 7:56 AM

Dutch manure silo fall kills 3 farmworkers
AMSTERDAM (AP) -- Dutch police say three farmworkers have died and a fourth has been critically injured after they fell into a silo filled with manure for use as fertilizer in the northern town of Makkinga.... 6/19/2013 7:52 AM

Obama silent on US arms to Syria, praises G-8 plan
BERLIN (AP) -- President Barack Obama is refusing to describe the type of military support the U.S. will give to Syrian rebels even as he praises a decision by world leaders at a just-completed summit to seek a negotiated peace.... 6/19/2013 7:51 AM

Japan formally OKs new nuke safety requirements
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's nuclear watchdog formally approved a set of new safety requirements for atomic power plants Wednesday, paving the way for the reopening of facilities shut down since the Fukushima disaster.... 6/19/2013 7:48 AM

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghan president: No peace talks with the Taliban unless only Afghans involved, violence stops.... 6/19/2013 7:39 AM

Obama: Friction in Afghan peace talks no surprise
BERLIN (AP) -- President Barack Obama says it's no surprise that there's friction in early efforts to launch peace talks between the Taliban and Afghanistan's government.... 6/19/2013 7:33 AM

UK soldiers' families can sue over Iraq deaths
LONDON (AP) -- The families of several British soldiers killed or injured in Iraq can sue the government for failing to protect them, the country's highest court ruled Wednesday.... 6/19/2013 7:31 AM

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 7:30 AM

Egypt Islamists blame violence on opposition
CAIRO (AP) -- Egypt's most powerful Muslim group has blamed the secular and liberal opposition for a wave of violence over the appointment of new Islamist governors.... 6/19/2013 7:27 AM

Obama: NSA programs have saved lives
BERLIN (AP) -- President Barack Obama says lives have been saved by sweeping surveillance programs run by the National Security Agency.... 6/19/2013 7:13 AM