Niger defense minister: Hostages freed in Agadez
NIAMEY, Niger (AP) -- Hours after denying that jihadists in the city of Agadez had taken several soldiers hostage, Niger's minister of defense corrected the record in an interview with The Associated Press, saying that in fact two hostages had been found and have now been released.... 5/24/2013 10:08 AM

UK arrests 2 men over incident with Pakistan plane
LONDON (AP) -- British police say two men have been arrested on suspicion of endangerment of an aircraft after an incident on a civilian plane flying from Pakistan to England.... 5/24/2013 10:05 AM

Czech police say US suspect in 4 murders arrested
PRAGUE (AP) -- An American man accused of killing a family of four in the Czech Republic has been arrested in the United States, police said Friday.... 5/24/2013 10:00 AM

Steely Cotillard shines in 'The Immigrant'
CANNES, France (AP) -- Actress Marion Cotillard has given her all and even learned another language to play a Polish woman struggling with the realities of 1920s New York in James Gray's terse movie, "The Immigrant."... 5/24/2013 10:00 AM

Russia: Syrian regime may take part in peace talks
BEIRUT (AP) -- The Syrian government has agreed "in principle" to attend a conference proposed by Russia and the United States on ending the country's civil war, Russia's Foreign Ministry said Friday, the first confirmation that President Bashar Assad's regime would be willing to take part in the talks with the opposition.... 5/24/2013 9:59 AM

AP NewsAlert
LONDON (AP) -- UK police: 2 men arrested after flight from Pakistan to England diverted.... 5/24/2013 9:58 AM

China, Switzerland to seal free trade deal
GENEVA (AP) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is in Switzerland to sign a free trade pact with the Alpine nation - the first comprehensive agreement the country has reached with a major western economy.... 5/24/2013 9:57 AM

Q&A: On Turkey's proposed alcohol restrictions
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- A look at legislation passed in Turkey's parliament early Friday that would ban all alcohol advertising and tighten restrictions on the sale of such beverages, and how such a law could affect tourists and liquor companies in the mainly Muslim but secular country.... 5/24/2013 9:57 AM

UN chief challenges African leaders over Congo
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is urging African leaders to implement a plan that the U.N. hopes will stabilize eastern Congo after years of turmoil.... 5/24/2013 9:55 AM

Uganda president ousts army boss amid dispute
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni fired his top military commander Friday, the ouster apparently linked to turmoil over Museveni's alleged plan to have his son succeed him as head of state.... 5/24/2013 9:52 AM

Abe on 1st trip to Myanmar by Japan PM in 36 years
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in Myanmar on Friday on the first visit to the country by a Japanese leader in 36 years, as Tokyo bids to reassert its position as a top economic partner after decades of frosty relations with the previous military regime.... 5/24/2013 9:47 AM

Kenya's mental hospital drugs, confines patients
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- An advocacy group says patients at Kenya's only psychiatric hospital are often confined and immobilized using drugs that put them into a comatose-like state, factors that could have led to the recent escape of 40 male patients.... 5/24/2013 9:34 AM

Spanish court opens tax probe into king's daughter
MADRID (AP) -- Princess Cristina, the daughter of Spain's King Juan Carlos, is under investigation for possible tax fraud and money laundering, the latest blow to the Spanish royal family's reputation.... 5/24/2013 9:18 AM

Attack casts spotlight on radical preachers
LONDON (AP) -- The slaying of a British soldier in southeast London cast a spotlight on radical preachers that influenced Michael Adebolajo, the attacker seen in videos with bloody hands holding a butcher knife. It also raised questions about the reach of the terrorist group al-Shabab, after a British government official said one of the two men tried to go to Somalia to train or fight with the group. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak abo... 5/24/2013 9:01 AM

Kerry, Lavrov to meet in Paris
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov next week in Paris to discuss peace talks in Syria.... 5/24/2013 8:58 AM

Austria links UN peacekeepers to Syria arms ban
VIENNA (AP) -- Austria said Friday that it may rethink its U.N. peacekeeping role in the Golan Heights, if the European Union doesn't extend its arms embargo to Syria.... 5/24/2013 8:53 AM

Police: Suicide bomb hits heart of Afghan capital
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A suicide bomber struck in the heart of the Afghan capital on Friday, sending a plume of smoke billowing over Kabul in the second major attack in the city in little over a week, police said.... 5/24/2013 8:51 AM

France won't force companies to cap executive pay
PARIS (AP) -- The French government is trying to woo executives and entrepreneurs, amid concerns that it has antagonized the businesses needed to reinvigorate the economy.... 5/24/2013 8:51 AM

Kerry blasts Iranian election maneuvering
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry harshly criticized Iranian authorities on Friday for eliminating hundreds of presidential candidates, suggesting that Tehran is standing in the way of legitimate, representative democracy.... 5/24/2013 8:47 AM

NKorean envoy delivers letter to China's Xi
BEIJING (AP) -- A top North Korean envoy delivered a letter from leader Kim Jong Un to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday and told him Pyongyang would take steps to rejoin stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks, in an apparent victory for Beijing's efforts to coax its unruly ally into lowering tensions.... 5/24/2013 8:34 AM