CHUCK BARTELS

Published: Sun, May 19, 2013

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas Treasurer Martha Shoffner remained in jail Sunday awaiting a federal court appearance to face extortion charges, though authorities wouldn't release details behind the allegations. FBI spokeswoman Kimberly Brunell said Shoffner would have a hearing Monday in...

FRANCES D'EMILIO

Published: Sat, May 18, 2013

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis toured St. Peter's Square to greet tens of thousands of people attending a rally of prayer, music and speeches Saturday, and he embraced the brother of a Pakistani politician who was assassinated in his country after calling for greater religious freedom for...

KARIN LAUB

Published: Sat, May 18, 2013

BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won't step down before elections and that the United States has no right to interfere in his country's politics, raising new doubts about a U.S-Russian effort to get Assad and his opponents to negotiate an end...

HARUNA UMAR JON GAMBRELL

Published: Sat, May 18, 2013

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) -- Nigeria's military declared a 24-hour curfew Saturday on neighborhoods in a northeastern city that's the spiritual home of an Islamic extremist network as soldiers continued the government's emergency campaign in the region, with authorities saying they killed 10...

SAMEER N. YACOUB

Published: Sat, May 18, 2013

BAGHDAD (AP) -- A string of attacks killed at least 16 people in Iraq on Saturday, while gunmen abducted eight policemen guarding a post on the country's main highway to Jordan and Syria, the latest in a wave of violence to grip the country. The shootings and bombings follow three days of...

STAN LEHMAN

Published: Sat, May 18, 2013

SAO PAULO (AP) -- Brazil plans to modernize and expand its overcrowded ports, attract private investments to the sector and make it easier for companies to hire skilled foreign workers, in a bid to spur economic growth, The Brazilian Congress approved legislation late Thursday that allows the...

KAY JOHNSON

Published: Sat, May 18, 2013

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Conservative religious lawmakers in Afghanistan blocked legislation on Saturday aimed at strengthening provisions for women's freedoms, arguing that parts of it violate Islamic principles and encourage disobedience. The fierce opposition highlights how tenuous...

Published: Sat, May 18, 2013

JERUSALEM (AP) -- An Israeli defense official says the head of the American CIA spy agency has made an unannounced visit to Israel. The official says CIA chief John Brennan met Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon. He did not disclose other details. The official spoke Friday on condition of...

Published: Fri, May 17, 2013

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- A U.N. expert panel's report says North Korea is still trying to import and export nuclear and ballistic missile-related material but financial and trade sanctions are slowing progress on their prohibited weapons programs. Key parts of the report, obtained Friday by the...

Published: Fri, May 17, 2013

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....