World News Headlines

North Korea fires short-range missiles for two days in a row

By Jane Chung SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired a short-range missile from its east coast on Sunday, a day after launching three of these missiles, a South Korean news agency said, ignoring calls for restraint from Western powers. Launches by the North of short-range missiles are not uncommon but, after recent warnings from the communist state of impending nuclear war, such actions have raised concerns about the region's security. ...

After crushing Mali Islamists, France pushes deal with Tuaregs

By David Lewis BAMAKO (Reuters) - After winning adulation across Mali for a five month military offensive that crushed al Qaeda fighters, France is now frustrating some of its allies by pushing for a political settlement with a separate group of Tuareg rebels. A standoff over how to restore Malian government authority to Kidal, the last town in the desert north yet to be brought under central control, is sowing resentment with Paris and could delay planned elections to restore democracy after a coup. ...

Upmarket Pakistan district votes again as Imran Khan decries killing

By Katharine Houreld and Syed Raza Hassan ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - An upmarket constituency of Pakistan's violence-plagued city of Karachi voted again under tight security on Sunday, a day after gunmen killed a senior politician from a reformist party in the district and a week after general elections. It was not immediately clear who killed Zara Shahid Hussain, a leading member of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) party of former cricket star Imran Khan. Imran blamed the killing on the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) party, which has a stranglehold on the city. ...

Syrian army, Hezbollah attack rebels in border town: opposition

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian troops supported by Hezbollah militants launched an offensive to retake a major town near Lebanon from rebels on Sunday, the heaviest fighting yet involving Lebanese armed group, opposition activists said. At least 32 people were killed when rebel fighters clashed with mechanized Syrian army units and Hezbollah guerillas in nine points in and around the town of Qusair, 10 km (six miles) from the border with Lebanon's Bekaa valley, they said. ...

With president ailing, Algeria prepares for end of an era

By Lamine Chikhi and Myra MacDonald ALGIERS (Reuters) - Three weeks after being rushed to hospital in Paris, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has disappeared from sight, leaving behind a country preparing for a successor who for the first time will come from a generation too young to have fought in Algeria's war of independence against France. In a country run with Soviet-style secrecy, nobody is sure how sick Bouteflika is. ...

Tunisian police clash with Islamists over banned rally

By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Supporters of a hardline Islamist group clashed with Tunisian police in two cities on Sunday after the government banned its annual rally and the regional arm of al Qaeda urged it to stand firm against the authorities. Violence broke out in the central city of Kairouan, venue of the planned rally, and in a district of Tunis, where a Reuters witness said a number of people were injured. ...

The good news – and the bad news – for Obama in scandal-tinged polls

Given the battering President Obama took this past week on a trio of political scandals, any public opinion survey results that aren’t dreadful probably are viewed with some relief at the White House.

Volcano ash 15,000 feet high: Could Pavlof eruption affect air travel?

For the second time in a month, a volcano in Alaska's remote Aleutian chain has erupted, spotlighting America's most active portion of the Ring of Fire.

Did the Associated Press blow an Al Qaeda informant's cover?

How bad was the Justice Department’s going after the phone records of Associated Press writers and editors?

Collision closes New York area train route as NTSB investigates

A commuter rail collision Friday injured more than 60 people and left behind a scene of damage that has caused a prominent railroad line near New York City to be partially closed.

Syrian army pushes assault on rebel-held town

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Syrian troops backed by tanks and warplanes launched an assault Sunday on a strategic rebel-held town near the Lebanese border, pounding the area with airstrikes and artillery salvos that killed at least 30 people and forced residents to scramble for cover in basements and makeshift bunkers, activists said.

Russian TV: American accused of spying flies out

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian NTV television is reporting that the U.S. Embassy employee accused of spying and ordered to leave the country has flown out of Moscow.

Pakistan repeats vote in Karachi despite killing

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan held a repeat election on Sunday in an upscale area of the southern city of Karachi that was plagued with allegations of vote-rigging, despite the shooting death of a senior member of former cricket star Imran Khan's party.

North Korea fires projectile into eastern waters

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired a projectile into waters off its eastern coast Sunday, a day after launching three short-range missiles in the same area, officials said.

AP CEO calls records seizure unconstitutional

WASHINGTON (AP) — The president and CEO of The Associated Press says the government's seizure of AP journalists' phone records was "unconstitutional" and already has had a chilling effect on newsgathering.

Honeybees trained in Croatia to find land mines

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Mirjana Filipovic is still haunted by the land mine blast that killed her boyfriend and blew off her left leg while on a fishing trip nearly a decade ago. It happened in a field that was supposedly de-mined.

China seeks release of fishing boat seized by North Korea

By Adam Jourdan SHANGHAI (Reuters) - North Korean forces have seized a Chinese fishing boat, Chinese officials told state-run news agency Xinhua late on Sunday, creating a potential new irritant in ties between the two allies. Chinese counselor to North Korea Jiang Yaxian said North Korea had "grabbed" the private vessel from the northern city of Dalian in waters between China and the Korean peninsula, according to the official news portal. Tensions have been mounting between North Korea and China, its most important economic and political backer. ...

Video shows kidnapped Egyptian security officers

CAIRO (AP) — Seven members of Egypt's security forces kidnapped by suspected militants have appeared in a video posted on the Internet, urging the government to secure their release by meeting their captors' demands.

Pope: church should open up but follow teaching

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis is calling for renewal in the Catholic church as he wrapped up two days of mass gatherings in St. Peter's Square aimed at energizing the faithful.

Obama to speak on legality of drone program

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will discuss the legality of his administration's secret drone program and other counterterrorism practices during a speech Thursday, a White House official said.

Cairo airport baggage handlers end strike

CAIRO (AP) — Cairo airport officials say baggage handlers have resumed work after a strike that left passengers on 20 international flights from Europe and Arab countries waiting several hours for luggage.

Mice return from a month in space

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian capsule carrying mice, lizards and other small animals returned to Earth on Sunday after spending a month in space for what scientists said was the longest experiment of its kind.

Netanyahu takes aim at weapons leakage in Syria

By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held out the prospect on Sunday of further Israeli strikes inside Syria, pledging to act to prevent advanced weapons from reaching Hezbollah and other militant groups. Although Israel has not publicly taken sides in the civil war between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebels trying to topple him, Western and Israeli sources say it has launched air strikes in Syria to destroy weapons it believed were destined for Lebanon's Hezbollah. ...

Zimbabwe PM: We will end police, military abuse

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe's prime minister says his party will end years of bias and abuse by the police, military and intelligence services and will make sure the services uphold the country's new constitution which demands impartiality in their duties.

Germans blame euro zone crisis for Eurovision debacle

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans lamented their unexpectedly poor showing at the Eurovision Song Contest, blaming Chancellor Angela Merkel's tough stance in the euro zone crisis for their failure to win any points from 34 of the 39 countries voting. Denmark's Emmelie de Forest won the event, watched by around 125 million people across Europe, with 281 points while German act Cascada was 21st out of 26 countries, getting just 18 points from Austria, Israel, Spain, Albania and Switzerland. ...

Report: Iran hangs 2 men convicted of spying

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's state radio says authorities have executed two men convicted of spying for Israel's Mossad and the American CIA intelligence agency.

Chinese premier visits India to boost ties

NEW DELHI (AP) — Just weeks after a tense border standoff, China's new premier visited India on Sunday on his first foreign trip as the neighboring giants look to speed up efforts to settle a decades-old boundary dispute and boost economic ties.

Karzai seeks Indian military aid amid Pakistan row

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai will seek increased military aid from India during a three-day visit starting Monday and will discuss recent cross-border clashes with Pakistan, India's archrival, an aide said.

South Africa finds collusion, manipulation in Gupta scandal

By Agnieszka Flak JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's justice minister on Sunday accused an Indian High Commission official and some South Africans of colluding to obtain permission for a plane chartered by a rich family close to President Jacob Zuma to use an air force base to land. The affair - dubbed "Guptagate" after the influential Indian-born Gupta family - has transfixed South Africa since the private flight landed at Pretoria's Waterkloof Air Force base last month with nearly 200 guests for a lavish family wedding. ...

Tunisia security blocks salafi conference

KAIROUAN, Tunisia (AP) — Around 11,000 police officers and soldiers blocked an annual conference Sunday at Tunisia's main religious center by a radical Islamist movement that has been implicated in attacks across the country.

Seen and heard at the Cannes Film Festival

CANNES, France (AP) — Associated Press journalists open their notebooks at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival:

Bangladesh court orders action against factory owner in Nov fire

DHAKA (Reuters) - A Bangladesh court on Sunday banned the owner of a garment factory that was destroyed in a fire in November from leaving the country as anger builds up over a string of deadly incidents in which thousands have died. The high court in Dhaka also directed that Delwar Hossain, owner of Tazreen Fashion, appear before it on May 30 to explain the circumstances in which 112 workers, mostly women, died in the fire on the outskirts of the capital last year. ...

'Britain's Obama' urges ties with West Africa

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — A rising star in Britain's Labour Party, described by some as the "British Barack Obama," Chuka Umunna urged the United Kingdom to more aggressively forge ties with West Africa's fast-growing economies.

EU says worried by Russia's human rights record

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union criticized Russia's human rights record on Sunday, saying it was increasingly concerned at a wave of restrictive legislation and prosecutions against activists. The 27-nation bloc cited the cases of protesters arrested at a demonstration on the eve of President Vladimir Putin's inauguration last year who are still awaiting trial, and a new law requiring charities with funding from abroad to register as "foreign agents". ...