Obama: 'Lives have been saved' by NSA programs

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:11:08 GMT

BERLIN (AP) -- Trying to tamp down concerns about government over-reach, President Barack Obama on Wednesday defended U.S. Internet and phone surveillance programs as narrowly targeted efforts that have saved lives and thwarted at least 50 terror threats....

Karzai sets new conditions for talks with Taliban

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:56:50 GMT

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghanistan's president says he will not pursue peace talks with the Taliban unless the United States steps out of the negotiations and the militant group stops its violent attacks on the ground....

10 Things to Know for Today

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:59:56 GMT

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:...

5 Somalis, 7 militants die in attack on UN office

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:06:33 GMT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Al-Qaida-linked militants detonated multiple bomb blasts and breached the main U.N. compound in Mogadishu on Wednesday, sparking gun battles with security forces that killed at least 12 people. U.N. personnel who reached the compound's secure bunker all survived, though officials hinted not all reached that bunker....

Protesters out again in Brazil's biggest city

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:11:35 GMT

SAO PAULO (AP) -- Tens of thousands of Brazilians again flooded the streets of the country's biggest city to raise a collective cry against a longstanding lament - people are weighed down by high taxes and high prices but get low-quality public services and a system of government infected with corruption....

Senator: IRS to pay $70M in employee bonuses

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:20:09 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year, according to a GOP senator....

Ohio woman accuses 3 of holding her captive

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 06:52:43 GMT

ASHLAND, Ohio (AP) -- A woman told authorities she was held captive for more than a year by three people who forced her to do housework, raided her bank account and menaced her with snakes and pit bulls....

Turkey's 'standing man' to join ranks of icons?

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:39:22 GMT

The image was stark: a silent, solitary figure standing in passive defiance to the Turkish prime minister's demand for protesters to clear Taksim Square in central Istanbul....

AP PHOTOS: 3 little liligers cavort at Russian zoo

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:32:39 GMT

The zoo in Novosibirsk, Russia's third-largest city, is home to a unique animal - the liliger. That's a big cat breed where the father is a lion and the mother is a lion-tiger hybrid, called a liger....

Heat force Game 7 with 103-100 OT win over Spurs

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:40:32 GMT

MIAMI (AP) -- When LeBron James' greatness almost wasn't good enough, officials began preparing for a San Antonio celebration....