2 former sex slaves cancel Japan mayor meeting
OSAKA, Japan (AP) -- Two Korean former sex slaves have canceled a meeting with an outspoken Japanese mayor who last week said Japan's wartime practice of using many Asian women as prostitutes was necessary to maintain military discipline.... 5/24/2013 1:29 AM

Brown hounded for calling Manila 'gates of hell'
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Dan Brown's description of Manila as "the gates of hell" in the American novelist's latest book has not gone down well with officials in the Philippine capital.... 5/23/2013 11:14 PM

Asia stock markets edge up after big sell-off
BANGKOK (AP) -- Asian stock markets staged a mild recovery Friday, a day after being routed by unexpectedly weak Chinese manufacturing and fears the Federal Reserve will start withdrawing its monetary stimulus.... 5/23/2013 10:54 PM

Chinese media: North Korea envoy offers talks
BEIJING (AP) -- A North Korean envoy, on the second day of his fence-mending visit to ally China, heeded Beijing's wishes by offering to renew nuclear disarmament talks, Chinese state media said.... 5/23/2013 10:54 PM

Stricken Japan nuke plant struggles to keep staff
TOKYO (AP) -- Keeping the meltdown-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in northeastern Japan in stable condition requires a cast of thousands. Increasingly the plant's operator is struggling to find enough workers, a trend that many expect to worsen and hamper progress in the decades-long effort to safely decommission it.... 5/23/2013 10:40 PM

Extremists claim responsibility for Niger attacks
NIAMEY, Niger (AP) -- Suicide bombers in Niger detonated two car bombs simultaneously, one inside a military camp in the city of Agadez and another in the remote town of Arlit at a French-operated uranium mine, killing 26 people and injuring 30, according to officials in Niger and France. A surviving attacker took a group of soldiers hostage, and authorities were attempting to negotiate their release.... 5/23/2013 10:17 PM

Writer Chinua Achebe honored in Nigeria funeral
OGIDI, Nigeria (AP) -- Writer Chinua Achebe shunned Nigeria's corrupt politicians and twice turned down national honors, never fearing to criticize those he felt ruined his country. On Thursday, however, the lawmakers and the country's elite came to praise him.... 5/23/2013 9:24 PM

Euro Tour CEO apologizes for saying 'colored'
VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) -- The head of the European golf tour apologized for using the term "colored" during a live television interview Thursday in which he was reacting to the spat between Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia.... 5/23/2013 7:52 PM

Canada disapproves new meat labeling rules
TORONTO (AP) -- Canada said Thursday that it is considering retaliatory measures against the United States in a dispute over meat-labeling rules that Ottawa and the World Trade Organization consider discriminatory.... 5/23/2013 7:09 PM

Muslim hard-liners ID suspect in London attack
LONDON (AP) -- A man seen with bloody hands wielding a butcher knife after the killing of a British soldier on the streets of London was described as a convert to Islam who took part in demonstrations with a banned radical group, two Muslim hard-liners said Thursday.... 5/23/2013 5:55 PM

WHO: Scientific red tape mars efforts vs. virus
GENEVA (AP) -- International efforts to combat a new pneumonia-like virus that has now killed 22 people are being slowed by unclear rules and competition for the potentially profitable rights to disease samples, the head of the World Health Organization warned Thursday.... 5/23/2013 5:44 PM

ECB's Draghi: 'Imperative' to set up new bank body
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said it was "imperative" that Europe's leaders create a new agency with powers to restructure busted banks in order to help the region leave its economic and financial crisis behind it once and for all.... 5/23/2013 5:38 PM

Brazil police arrest 9 for abusing Indian girls
SAO PAULO (AP) -- Brazil's Federal Police say nine people have been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing Indians girls in the northern state of Amazonas.... 5/23/2013 4:57 PM

Military calls UK attack victim a model soldier
LONDON (AP) -- The soldier brutally murdered in a suspected terrorist attack in London was a popular 25-year-old ceremonial military drummer and machine gunner, a father and a passionate fan of the Manchester United soccer team, the British military said Thursday.... 5/23/2013 4:42 PM

Embattled Toronto mayor fires chief of staff
TORONTO (AP) -- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, caught up in a scandal over a video purportedly showing him smoking crack cocaine, fired his chief of staff on Thursday.... 5/23/2013 4:32 PM

Jerry Lewis repeats his distaste for female comics
CANNES, France (AP) -- Ladies? Don't make him laugh.... 5/23/2013 4:03 PM

IMF chief Lagarde in court in fraud probe
PARIS (AP) -- International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde faced hours of questioning at a special Paris court Thursday over her role in the 400 million euro ($520 million) pay-off to a controversial businessman when she was France's finance minister.... 5/23/2013 3:46 PM

Israel to discuss military draft reform proposal
JERUSALEM (AP) -- An official Israeli committee on Thursday handed the government its proposal for ending a contentious system that grants Jewish ultra-Orthodox seminary students automatic exemptions from military service, setting the stage for what could become the first major conflict in the new Israeli coalition government.... 5/23/2013 3:38 PM

Sweden's riots raise questions about inequality
HUSBY, Sweden (AP) -- Sweden has long been a bastion of generous social welfare and an egalitarian political culture. So many people were shocked when scores of youths hurled rocks at police and set cars ablaze during rioting in several largely immigrant areas near Stockholm this week.... 5/23/2013 3:32 PM

Appellate court: Berlusconi ran illegal scheme
MILAN (AP) -- Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday called "surreal" the judicial reasoning behind an appellate court's decision to uphold his guilty verdict and four-year jail term in a tax fraud case.... 5/23/2013 3:32 PM