World

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) -- Kyrgyzstan has voted to end the United States' lease on an airbase key to supplying military operations in nearby Afghanistan....

ROME (AP) -- Organizers of the Taormina, Sicily, Film Festival are scrambling to put together a tribute to U.S. actor James Gandolfini, who had been expected to attend the festival's closing ceremony this weekend....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Over the past two weeks, President Barack Obama has argued with Chinese President Xi Jinping over cybersecurity, consulted with world leaders over Syria and trade, declared his desire to reduce U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons, and embraced the uncertain steps toward reconciliation in Afghanistan....

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- The Afghan Taliban are ready to free a U.S. army soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay as a conciliatory gesture, a senior spokesman for the group said Thursday....

SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) -- It was the worst disaster in the history of the garment industry. When the Rana Plaza factory building crashed down in April, 1,129 people were killed. But many others had to sacrifice their limbs to survive....

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Singapore urged people to remain indoors amid unprecedented levels of air pollution Thursday as a smoky haze wrought by forest fires in neighboring Indonesia worsened dramatically. Nearby Malaysia closed 200 schools and banned open burning in some areas....

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Al-Qaida's Iraq arm is gathering strength in the restive northern city of Mosul, ramping up its fundraising through gangland-style shakedowns and feeding off anti-government anger as it increasingly carries out attacks with impunity, according to residents and officials....

SAO PAULO (AP) -- With massive protests by middle-class Brazilians demanding wholesale government reforms, people all over this continent-sized country have reached a verdict on the streets and online: "The giant has awakened."...

LONDON (AP) -- A mysterious new respiratory virus that originated in the Middle East spreads easily between people and appears more deadly than SARS, doctors reported Wednesday after investigating the biggest outbreak in Saudi Arabia....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday made his second call to the Afghan president in 24 hours to ease Hamid Karzai's anger over the rollout of the Taliban's new political office in Qatar - a rift that temporarily delayed U.S. talks with the militant group set to begin later this week....