North Korean leader sends 'special envoy' to China
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- A "special envoy" for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un left Pyongyang on Wednesday for China, the North's only major political and economic benefactor. State media released few details, but the trip comes at a rocky time in ties between the allies....

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....

Iran candidate list for presidential race
The eight candidates approved Tuesday for Iran's June 14 presidential election to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who cannot run again because of term limits....

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....

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."...

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....

Suicide at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
PARIS (AP) -- Some 1,500 visitors were cleared out of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris after a man put a letter on the altar of the 850-year-old monument Tuesday, pulled out a gun and shot himself in the head....

UN: Drop in Syrians reaching Jordan, unclear why
GENEVA (AP) -- U.N. officials said Tuesday that the number of Syrian refugees arriving in Jordan has suddenly fallen from an average of 2,500 a day to fewer than 20, and they are trying to quickly figure out why....

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....

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....