In this May 14, 2013 photo, a National Guard soldier frisks a man outside his car at a checkpoint that is part of the "Secure Homeland" initiative in Petare, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods of Caracas, Venezuela. Since Monday, this scene is playing out day and night at dozens of military checkpoints set up here in the socialist government's latest attempt to control the oil-rich country’s pandemic of violence.

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. Photo Gallery Available

Karima el-Mahroug, from Morocco, the woman at the center of a sex scandal involving former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, is seen in the witness stand at left as she testifies for the first time in the trial of three Berlusconi aides charged with recruiting her and other women for prostitution, in Milan's courthouse, Italy, Friday, May 17, 2013. El-Mahroug, known by the nickname Ruby Heart Stealer, has made carefully orchestrated statements to the media since the scandal broke but has never publicly given sworn testimony. Both she and Berlusconi deny having had sex. Prosecutors in Berlusconi's separate trial on charges of paying for sex with a minor and trying to cover it up say her testimony is unreliable and are relying on her sworn statements. Writing above judges reads in Italian "The law is equal for all."

Woman describes Berlusconi's 'bunga bunga' parties

Silvio Berlusconi's private disco featured not only aspiring showgirls performing striptease acts as sexy nuns and nurses, but one woman dressed up as President Barack Obama and a prominent Milan prosecutor whom the billionaire media mogul has accused of persecuting him, according to the first public sworn testimony by the Moroccan woman at the center of the scandal. Photo Gallery Available

In this undated photo downloaded from the Union County Prosecutor’s website, Caleb “Kai’ Lawrence McGillivary is shown. McGillivary, 24, is being sought by New Jersey authorities on a murder warrant in the beating death of a New Jersey lawyer he befriended in New York’s Times Square. The homeless hitchhiker had previously gained Internet and TV celebrity status by using a hatchet to intervene in an attack in California on a utility worker on Feb. 1, 2013.

Pa. coffee run leads to hatchet hitchhiker arrest

Life on the run for the Internet sensation known as Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker ended when he asked for a cup of coffee. Photo Gallery Available

John Edwards reactivates law license, speaking at event

Former presidential contender John Edwards has reactivated his license to practice law and is setting out on the speaking circuit.

In Miami, Donna Karan showcases Haitian artisans

Fashion designer Donna Karan is visiting Miami's Little Haiti.

Texas tornado devastation includes Habitat homes

Habitat for Humanity spent years in a North Texas subdivision, helping build many of the 110 homes in the low-income area. But its work was largely undone during an outbreak of 13 tornadoes Wednesday night that killed six people and injured dozens. Photo Gallery Available

Jodi Arias reacts as the jury begins deliberation whether there was an aggravating factor in the murder of Travis Alexander on Wednesday, May 15, 2013, during the sentencing phase of her trial at Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix. If the jury finds aggravating factors in her crime, Arias could be sentenced to death.

Emotional day of testimony in Arias trial

Jurors deciding whether convicted murderer Jodi Arias will get the death penalty heard the victim's brother describe Thursday how he was hospitalized for ulcers, lost sleep and separated from his wife after his brother was killed. Photo Gallery Available

A photo provided by New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas shows 19-year-old Akien Scott, who is wanted in the Mother's Day shootings, during a news conference in front of police headquarters in New Orleans, Monday, May 13, 2013.

Brothers arrested in Mother's Day parade shooting

Two brothers with a history of drug arrests and suspected ties to a neighborhood gang each face 20 counts of attempted second-degree murder in a shooting spree that brought a sudden bloody end to a Mother's Day parade in a New Orleans neighborhood. Photo Gallery Available

FILE - This Nov. 28, 2012, file photo shows a customer at a 7-Eleven convenience store with a Powerball ticket in Tampa, Fla. The jackpot for the latest drawing on Wednesday, May, 15, 2013, has ballooned to an estimated $360 million, with a cash value of $229.2 million, making it the third largest Powerball jackpot and the seventh largest jackpot ever.

California fuels $550 million Powerball jackpot

The numbers sum up the frenzy that has taken over the Golden State since it became the newest in the nation to join the madness over Powerball, which saw its jackpot soar Thursday to $550 million. Photo Gallery Available

Florida's crime rate dropped 6.5 percent in 2012

Florida's crime rate dropped 6.5 percent in 2012, including a significant decrease in thefts, robberies and burglaries, according to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner released Thursday.

A woman who just bought toilet paper at a grocery store reads her receipt as she leaves the private store in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, May 15, 2013. First milk, butter, coffee and cornmeal ran short. Now Venezuela is running out of the most basic of necessities _ toilet paper. Economists say Venezuela's shortages stem from price controls meant to make basic goods available to the poorest parts of society and the government's controls on foreign currency.

Venezuelans scrambling to find scarce toilet paper

Venezuelans scrambled to stock up on toilet paper Thursday as fears of a bathroom emergency spread despite the socialist government's promise to import 50 million rolls. Photo Gallery Available

Fla. man accused of killing ex-girlfriend's embryo

The 28-year-old son of a Florida fertility doctor has been charged by federal authorities with tricking his girlfriend into taking a pill used to induce labor and cause an abortion, killing the embryo she was carrying.

Stretch of U.S. 27 in West Broward shut down with major truck crash

All lanes on U.S. 27 at mile marker 44 in West Broward are shut down Thursday afternoon due to a major crash.

Afghan and U.S. soldiers arrive to the scene where a suicide car bomber attacked a NATO convoy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, May 16, 2013. A Muslim militant group, Hizb-e-Islami, claimed responsibility for the early morning attack, killing at least six people in the explosion and wounding more than 30, police and hospital officials said. The powerful explosion rattled buildings on the other side of Kabul and sent a pillar of white smoke into the sky in the city's east.

Afghanistan: Bomb kills 15, including 6 Americans

A suicide car bombing tore through a U.S. convoy in Kabul on Thursday, killing at least 15 people including six Americans in a blast so powerful it rattled the other side of the Afghan capital. U.S. soldiers rushed to help, some wearing only T-shirts or shorts under their body armor. Photo Gallery Available

Israeli security forces detain a Palestinian man during clashes that erupted during a rally marking Nakba Day in Jerusalem, Wednesday, May 15, 2013. Palestinians annually mark the "nakba," or "catastrophe" — the term they use to describe their defeat and displacement in the war that followed Israel's founding in 1948.

Watchdog: Israel trying to legalize settlements

An Israeli watchdog group on Thursday accused the government of taking steps to legalize four unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank, days before the U.S. secretary of state is set to arrive on a new peace mission.

Boston Marathon invites stopped runners back

Boston Marathon runners who were stopped on the course when bombs went off at the finish line will have a chance to come back and run again next year, race organizers said on Thursday.

President Barack Obama makes a statement on the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday May 15, 2013. The president spoke after discussing the IRS matter with Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and his top deputy, Neil Wolin.

AP source: Acting IRS head to be named this week

An administration official says President Barack Obama will name a new acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service this week to replace ousted commissioner Steven Miller. Poll Available

Pope Francis, middle, kisses the altar as he arrives to celebrate his first canonization ceremony in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, May 12, 2013. The pontiff will canonize Antonio Primaldo and his companions, also known as the Martyrs of Otranto, Laura di Santa Caterina da Siena Montoya of Colombia, and Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala of Mexico in a ceremony at the Vatican on Sunday.

Pope Francis gives church hundreds of new saints

Pope Francis on Sunday gave the Catholic Church new saints, including hundreds of 15th-century martyrs who were beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam, as he led his first canonization ceremony Sunday in a packed St. Peter's Square. Photo Gallery Available

2 killed while crossing State Road 7 in Margate

Two pedestrians died when a minivan hit them as the crossed State Road 7 in Margate.

Tropical Storm Alvin strengthening in the Pacific

Tropical Storm Alvin, the first named storm of the east Pacific hurricane season is gradually strengthening off the coast of Mexico.

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