SKorea says NKorea fires 3 short-range missiles

North Korea fired three short-range guided missiles into its eastern waters on Saturday, a South Korean official said. It routinely tests such missiles, but the latest launches came during a period of tentative diplomacy aimed at easing tensions.

Gunmen raid home in Iraq, kill 5 people

Iraqi authorities say gunmen have broken into the house of an anti-terrorism police officer in the southern suburbs of Baghdad, killing five people including him and his sleeping family.

French president signs gay marriage into law

French President Francois Hollande has signed a law authorizing gay marriage and adoption by same-sex couples, after months of nationwide protests and wrenching debate.

Afghan police chief shot dead outside home

Motorcycle-riding gunmen assassinated a police chief in front of his house after he led an anti-Taliban campaign in western Afghanistan, an official said Saturday.

Glance: Europe's Key Institutions

Following the chaotic bailout of Cyprus, top European Union officials are saying it's time to rethink how the region manages its crisis _ and who should be involved.

Top officials call to overhaul euro institutions

Engineering a financial bailout for Cyprus in March was such a chaotic process that top European officials say it is time to rethink how the region manages its crisis _ and who should be involved.

Egyptians targeted with blasphemy charges

The pale, young Christian woman sat handcuffed in the courtroom, accused of insulting Islam while teaching history of religions to fourth-graders. A team of Islamist lawyers with long beards sang in unison, "All except the Prophet Muhammad."

China arrests man over fake plane bomb threats

A man has been arrested for allegedly making fake bomb threats against several domestic flights bound for Shanghai, Chinese officials said Saturday.

Canada abuzz over purported crack video of mayor

A video purportedly of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack has caused an uproar in Canada. Ford on Friday called the allegations "ridiculous."

Myanmar leader frees prisoners ahead of US visit

Myanmar's president has pardoned at least 20 political prisoners just ahead of a historic visit to the United States that will highlight the two sides' improved relations brought about by the former pariah nation's democratic reforms.

Southern China rains kill 55, leave 14 missing

Chinese authorities say rainstorms that battered southern China this week have killed 55 people and left 14 others missing.

Mexico to create police unit to search for missing

Mexico's government says it will create a special investigative unit to search for the missing, heeding a request by relatives of the disappeared who have been on a hunger strike for nine days.

OAS drug study eyes marijuana legalization

An Organization of American States study released Friday is calling for a serious discussion on legalizing marijuana.

AP PHOTOS: Cuba's LGBT community celebrates

A week of drag shows, colorful marches and social and cultural events in Havana culminates Friday with celebrations of the International Day Against Homophobia.

Egypt security forces clash with Cairo protesters

Egyptian security forces have fired tear gas at protesters hurling firebombs at them in central Cairo, hours after hundreds of opponents of Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi rallied peacefully in the streets denouncing his rule and demanding early presidential elections.

Argentine dictator Videla dies in prison at age 87

Former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, who took power over Argentina in a 1976 coup and led a military junta that killed thousands of his fellow citizens in a dirty war to eliminate so-called "subversives," died quietly in his sleep Friday while serving life in prison for crimes against humanity. He was 87.

Official: Nigeria military attacks camps, kills 21

Soldiers in Nigeria launched their first raid against suspected Islamic extremists in a campaign to take back control of the nation's northeast, killing at least 21 people, a security official said Friday.

Crucial evidence to be secret in Litvinenko probe

A coroner overseeing a British inquest into the 2006 poisoning death of Alexander Litvinenko ruled Friday he has to exclude evidence on whether the Russian state was involved in the killing, drawing bitter criticism from the former Russian security agent's widow and adding further doubts to an already much-delayed probe.

Venezuela's military enters high-crime slums

Stern-looking soldiers clutching assault rifles wave down the beat-up Chevy Caprice entering this sprawling slum on the outskirts of Caracas.

Ex-warlord Johnson in Liberia quits his own party

Prince Johnson, a former warlord-turned-politician who is best known for having videotaped himself overseeing the torture of Liberia's ex-president, announced Friday he is quitting the political party he founded.

Tunisia bans conservative Islamist conference

Tunisia's Interior Ministry on Friday banned a conference by the North African country's most prominent ultraconservative Islamic group, setting up the possibility of a confrontation over the weekend.

Brazil approves law to modernize ports

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,

Egypt police close Gaza border to protest kidnap

Dozens of disgruntled border policemen forced the closure of Egypt's main crossing point into the Gaza Strip on Friday to protest the abduction of their colleagues by suspected militants, underscoring the lawlessness and crisis of authority in the country two years since the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

Photos sought of Guantanamo prisoner hit in clash

A lawyer for a Guantanamo Bay prisoner is calling on the U.S. Justice Department to release photos of wounds the man suffered when struck with non-lethal rounds at a recent clash with guards at the prison.

UK police announce new leads in missing girl case

British police say they are investigating new leads in the case of Madeleine McCann, the Briton who disappeared six years ago in Portugal at the age of three.