Updated: Tue, May 21, 2013

CANNES, France (AP) — Associated Press journalists open their notebooks at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival: KEANU REEVES STEPS BEHIND THE LENS The transition from actor to director was not an easy one for Keanu Reeves. Reeves, who showed clips from his upcoming film "Man of Tai Chi" to a...

Updated: Tue, May 21, 2013

BRUSSELS (AP) — Lightning fast pigeon Bolt, with a name and pedigree to match, has become the world's most expensive racing bird with his Belgian breeder selling it for 310,000 euros ($400,000) to a Chinese businessman. Belgian-bred pigeons have a worldwide reputation for being the fastest...

Updated: Tue, May 21, 2013

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Is Pope Francis an exorcist? The question has been swirling ever since Francis laid his hands Sunday on the head of a young man after celebrating Mass in St. Peter's Square. The young man heaved deeply a half-dozen times, convulsed and shook, and then slumped in his...

Updated: Tue, May 21, 2013

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Three members of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group died of wounds sustained while fighting for control of strategic Syrian town near the Lebanese border, activists said Tuesday, as the battle in the area raged for the third straight day. The Britain-based Syrian...

Updated: Tue, May 21, 2013

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An international rights group says the number of Afghan women and girls jailed for "moral crimes" has risen dramatically in the past 18 months. Human Rights Watch says the increase may mean that authorities feel they no longer need to uphold gains in Afghan women's...

Published: Tue, May 21, 2013

MADRID (AP) — Syrian opposition groups meeting in Spain say they oppose all negotiation with President Bashar Assad's government unless it is aimed at his giving up of power. Some 80 opposition representatives from inside and outside the country concluded a two-day meeting Tuesday, saying...

Published: Tue, May 21, 2013

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria's newly seated parliament has elected Socialist Mihail Mikov as its speaker during what is proving to be a turbulent stretch in the economically struggling country's politics. Mikov, 52 and a former interior minister, earned 118 votes in the 240-seat National...

Published: Tue, May 21, 2013

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — An auction to pay off a debt of Nelson Mandela's ex-wife failed to take place because no one would open her home to the sheriff. Officials and reporters gathered Tuesday outside the gated home of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. No one responded to the doorbell although a black...

Updated: Tue, May 21, 2013

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria said Tuesday it destroyed an Israeli vehicle that crossed the ceasefire line in the Golan Heights overnight, while the Israeli military said gunfire from Syria had hit an Israeli patrol, damaging a vehicle and prompting its troops to fire back. The two sides...

Updated: Tue, May 21, 2013

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Officials say another Brazilian tourist has died of injuries sustained after a hot air balloon crashed to the ground, raising the number of tourists killed to 3. The balloon collided with another balloon mid-air and crashed during a sightseeing tour of volcanic rock...