China arrests man over fake plane bomb threats
BEIJING (AP) -- A man has been arrested for allegedly making fake bomb threats against several domestic flights bound for Shanghai, Chinese officials said Saturday.... 5/18/2013 2:11 AM

Canada abuzz over purported crack video of mayor
TORONTO (AP) -- A video purportedly of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack has caused an uproar in Canada. Ford on Friday called the allegations "ridiculous."... 5/18/2013 1:38 AM

Myanmar leader frees prisoners ahead of US visit
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar's president has pardoned at least 20 political prisoners just ahead of a historic visit to the United States that will highlight the two sides' improved relations brought about by the former pariah nation's democratic reforms.... 5/18/2013 12:55 AM

Southern China rains kill 55, leave 14 missing
BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese authorities say rainstorms that battered southern China this week have killed 55 people and left 14 others missing.... 5/17/2013 11:27 PM

UN panel: Sanctions delaying NKorea nuke program
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- North Korea is still trying to import and export nuclear and ballistic missile-related items but financial and trade sanctions are slowing progress on development of their prohibited weapons, U.N. experts say in a new report.... 5/17/2013 10:17 PM

Caribbean talks conservation on Branson's island
NECKER ISLAND, British Virgin Islands (AP) -- Surrounded by a turquoise sea and a menagerie of exotic animals on a billionaire's private island, political and business leaders gathered Friday to back an initiative aimed at expanding protection for the Caribbean's imperiled coasts and waters.... 5/17/2013 9:13 PM

Mexico to create police unit to search for missing
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico's government says it will create a special investigative unit to search for the missing, heeding a request by relatives of the disappeared who have been on a hunger strike for nine days.... 5/17/2013 8:00 PM

OAS drug study eyes marijuana legalization
LIMA, Peru (AP) -- An Organization of American States study released Friday is calling for a serious discussion on legalizing marijuana.... 5/17/2013 7:57 PM

AP PHOTOS: Cuba's LGBT community celebrates
HAVANA (AP) -- A week of drag shows, colorful marches and social and cultural events in Havana culminates Friday with celebrations of the International Day Against Homophobia.... 5/17/2013 6:47 PM

Brief panic as blanks fired during Cannes TV show
CANNES, France (AP) -- A live outdoor television broadcast from the Cannes Film Festival was briefly interrupted Friday when what sounded like gunshots sent crew and spectators scurrying for cover.... 5/17/2013 5:39 PM

Bombs kill 9 inside elite Afghan housing complex
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Two bombs hidden in a motorcycle and a car exploded inside an elite gated community linked to the family of Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday evening, killing at least nine people and wounding more than 70 near the southern city of Kandahar, an official said.... 5/17/2013 5:37 PM

Weinstein showcases Grace Kelly, Mandela flicks
CANNES, France (AP) -- The Weinstein Company's fall slate of awards contenders will feature a glamorous Grace Kelly, a brawny Nelson Mandela and a mysterious J.D. Salinger.... 5/17/2013 4:55 PM

Egypt security forces clash with Cairo protesters
CAIRO (AP) -- Egyptian security forces have fired tear gas at protesters hurling firebombs at them in central Cairo, hours after hundreds of opponents of Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi rallied peacefully in the streets denouncing his rule and demanding early presidential elections.... 5/17/2013 4:45 PM

Argentine dictator Videla dies in prison at age 87
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, who took power over Argentina in a 1976 coup and led a military junta that killed thousands of his fellow citizens in a dirty war to eliminate so-called "subversives," died quietly in his sleep Friday while serving life in prison for crimes against humanity. He was 87.... 5/17/2013 4:36 PM

Bombs targeting Sunnis kill at least 76 in Iraq
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Bombs ripped through Sunni areas in Baghdad and surrounding areas Friday, killing at least 76 people in the deadliest day in Iraq in more than eight months. The major spike in sectarian bloodshed heightened fears the country could again be veering toward civil war.... 5/17/2013 4:36 PM

Official: Nigeria military attacks camps, kills 21
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) -- Soldiers in Nigeria launched their first raid against suspected Islamic extremists in a campaign to take back control of the nation's northeast, killing at least 21 people, a security official said Friday.... 5/17/2013 4:26 PM

Crucial evidence to be secret in Litvinenko probe
LONDON (AP) -- A coroner overseeing a British inquest into the 2006 poisoning death of Alexander Litvinenko ruled Friday he has to exclude evidence on whether the Russian state was involved in the killing, drawing bitter criticism from the former Russian security agent's widow and adding further doubts to an already much-delayed probe.... 5/17/2013 4:17 PM

Iran's Farhadi and China's Jia make Cannes splash
CANNES, France (AP) -- Two directors from countries with tough film censorship brought bold and probing movies to the Cannes Film Festival on Friday - one exploring China's social problems, the other delving into the mysteries of the human heart.... 5/17/2013 4:10 PM

Venezuela's military enters high-crime slums
PETARE, Venezuela (AP) -- Stern-looking soldiers clutching assault rifles wave down the beat-up Chevy Caprice entering this sprawling slum on the outskirts of Caracas.... 5/17/2013 4:09 PM

Ex-warlord Johnson in Liberia quits his own party
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) -- Prince Johnson, a former warlord-turned-politician who is best known for having videotaped himself overseeing the torture of Liberia's ex-president, announced Friday he is quitting the political party he founded.... 5/17/2013 3:55 PM