Egypt TV: 7 security men kidnapped in Sinai freed
CAIRO (AP) -- Egyptian state TV says six policemen and a border guard kidnapped by suspected militants in the Sinai Peninsula last week have been freed....

North Korea sends leader's special envoy to China
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un dispatched a high-profile official and close confidant to China on Wednesday as Beijing faces pressure to rein in its belligerent neighbor....

Soldiers flood western Mexico to protect towns
COALCOMAN, Mexico (AP) -- Mexico's top security officials promised Tuesday that a new federal offensive to rescue towns besieged by the Knights Templar drug cartel in western Michoacan state would stay "until there is security and peace for all state residents."...

Pakistani cricket star politician leaves hospital
ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Pakistani cricket star-turned politician Imran Khan left the hospital Wednesday, more than two weeks after he suffered serious back injuries in a fall from a forklift at a campaign event, a spokesman said....

Toronto mayor avoids questions about crack video
TORONTO (AP) -- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford continued to duck questions Tuesday about a video that purportedly shows him smoking crack cocaine despite calls by allies and rivals for further comment....

Ai Weiwei uses music to mock state power in China
BEIJING (AP) -- Two emotionless prison guards watch Ai Weiwei as he eats, sleeps, paces, showers - and even sits on the toilet - in the Chinese artist's new obscenity-filled, metaphor-rich music video mocking state power....

Ex-Ford execs charged in Argentine torture cases
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Three former Ford Motor Co. executives were charged Tuesday with crimes against humanity for allegedly targeting Argentine union workers for kidnapping and torture after the country's 1976 military coup....

Top figures barred from Iran's June ballot
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's election overseers removed potential wild-card candidates from the presidential race Tuesday, blocking a top aide of outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a former president who revived hopes of reformers....

Syria opposition signals tough line on peace talks
BEIRUT (AP) -- Despite recent rebel setbacks in Syria's civil war, the main opposition bloc signaled a tough line Tuesday on attending possible peace talks with President Bashar Assad's regime....

The pope and the devil: Is Francis an exorcist?
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis' fascination with the devil took on remarkable new twists Tuesday, with a well-known exorcist insisting Francis helped "liberate" a Mexican man possessed by four different demons despite the Vatican's insistence that no such papal exorcism took place....