Pussy Riot member declares hunger strike in prison

An imprisoned member of the punk band Pussy Riot says she is going on hunger strike after a judge refused to allow her to attend a court hearing where she was seeking release on parole.

Germany backs terror label for Hezbollah militants

Germany says it supports adding the military wing of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah to the European Union's list of terrorist groups.

FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008 file photo, a young girl cries as she is carried by a man and woman fleeing an area of wooden kiosks which was set on fire by supporters of Raila Odinga's party, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), during post-election violence in the Kibera slum area of Nairobi, Kenya. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta received late Tuesday, May 21, 2013 the long-awaited report from the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, which was established as part of a reform process aimed at preventing a repeat of the 2007-08 post-election violence in which more than 1,000 people were killed.

Kenya's truth report: Killings, land grabs, graft

Kenya's president received a long-awaited Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission report that names the president and his deputy as being among those suspected of planning and financing Kenya's 2007-08 postelection violence in which more than 1,000 people died and 600,000 were evicted from their homes. 1369238488 Photo Gallery Available

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy smiles as he faces the cameras upon arrival at an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday, May 22, 2013. Leaders from the 27 European Union countries gather in Brussels for one of their regular European Council sessions. On the agenda is the increasingly controversial subject of large corporations’ creative tax avoidance schemes.

EU steps up fight against tax evasion by end 2013

The European Union's leaders took a major step in tackling tax-dodgers Wednesday by pushing to end bank secrecy across the bloc's 27 members by the end of the year. 1369249013 Photo Gallery Available

Herman Nackaerts, left, Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, shakes hands with Iran's Ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, after their talks at the permanent mission of Iran in Vienna, Austria, Wednesday, May 15, 2013. U.N. nuclear agency officials are meeting with Iranian counterparts in a renewed attempt by the agency to re-launch its probe of suspicions that Tehran might have worked on atomic arms.

Iran expands nuke technology

The U.N. atomic agency on Wednesday detailed rapid Iranian progress in two programs that the West fears are geared toward making nuclear weapons, saying Tehran has upgraded its uranium enrichment facilities and advanced in building a plutonium-producing reactor. 1369247126 Photo Gallery Available

In this Saturday, May 11, 2013 photo, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a close ally of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaks with journalists, during a press conference after registering his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election, at the election headquarters of the interior ministry, in Tehran, Iran. A hardline news website says Iran's election overseers have rejected a pair of powerful and divisive figures from running in next month's presidential election. Tasnimnews.com says Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who still wields enormous influence, and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a close confident of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have been barred by the Guardian Council.

Iran's Ahmadinejad looks to outsider options

By now, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is well-accustomed to enduring blows from Iran's ruling clerics as his reputation fell from favored son to political outcast. But their intended parting shot - barring his chief aid from the presidential race - may be just the opening act in Ahmadinejad's reinvention as a self-styled opposition force. 1369247126 Photo Gallery Available

Chinese premier visits Pakistan, praises ties

China's premier signed economic agreements and praised Pakistan in glowing terms as he began a two-day visit Wednesday, underscoring the importance of the longstanding alliance to the two Asian powers. 1369239442 Photo Gallery Available

6 kids among 7 injured in south China attack

A mentally ill man attacked six primary school students and a woman with a cleaver in the latest of a string of attacks on Chinese schoolchildren, authorities said Wednesday.

Japan watchdog: Nuclear plant sits on active fault

Japan's nuclear watchdog on Wednesday endorsed a panel's conclusion that a seismic fault running underneath one of two reactors at an atomic plant in western Japan is active, making the reactor's restart virtually impossible.

In this May 5, 2010 file photo, fathers that lost their children to spousal abduction to Japan hold photos of their children during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Japan’s parliament has approved joining an international child custody treaty amid foreign concerns that Japanese mothers can take children away from foreign fathers without recourse. The upper house of parliament on Wednesday, May 22, 2013, voted to join the 1980 Hague Convention on international child abduction following passage by the more powerful lower house last month.

Japan approves joining int'l child abduction pact

Japan's parliament on Wednesday approved joining an international child custody treaty amid foreign pressure for Tokyo to address concerns that Japanese mothers can take children away from foreign fathers without recourse. Photo Gallery Available

Afghan students protest women's rights decree

Hard-line Islamist students protested Wednesday in the Afghan capital demanding the repeal of a presidential decree for women's rights that they say is un-Islamic. It was the latest sign of a backlash against the legal protections passed in the 12 years since the toppling of the Taliban regime known for its harsh treatment of women.

In this Friday, May 17, 2013 photo distributed by Miura Dolphins, 80-year-old Japanese adventurer Yuichiro Miura, right, and his son, Gota, rest on their way to a camp at 6,500 meters (21,325 feet) from a camp at 6,050 meters (19,849 feet) during their attempt to scale the summit of Mount Everest. According to his management office, Miura plans to reach the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) peak on Thursday, May 23 to be the world's oldest person to reach the world's highest peak. (AP Photo/Miura Dolphins) MANDATORY CREDIT

Octogenarians race to be oldest Everest climber

An 80-year-old Japanese extreme skier who climbed Mount Everest five years ago, but just missed becoming the oldest man to reach the summit, was back on the mountain Wednesday to make another attempt at the title. Photo Gallery Available

In this May 7, 2013 photo, a fishing boat returns to their village in the coastal town of Masinloc, Zambales province, northwestern Philippines. Since China took control of the Scarborough Shoal last year, which Beijing calls Huangyan Island, Filipino fishermen say Chinese maritime surveillance ships have shooed them from the disputed waters in the South China Sea and roped off the entrance to the vast lagoon that had been their fishing paradise for decades. Now, they say, they can't even count on the Chinese to give them shelter there from a potentially deadly storm.

Fishermen pay price in Asia's volatile sea rifts

Along the northwestern Philippine coast, poor children with claw hammers clamber aboard an abandoned fishing vessel to pry loose and steal rusty nails from its deck. It's become a familiar sight in villages where some fishermen have been forced to give up their livelihoods since China took control of their fishing haven last year. Photo Gallery Available

Weak yen a help for Japan, but headache elsewhere

A steady fall in the value of the yen is proving a godsend for exporters such as Toyota. The cheaper yen is making their products more affordable overseas. 1369242398 Photo Gallery Available

Left wing activists hold signs during a protest calling for the release of Israeli conscientious objector Natan Blanc from military prison, in front of the ministry of defense office in Tel Aviv, Tuesday, May 21, 2013. The Israeli military has jailed Blanc for six months because of his opposition to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, in one of the most protracted cases by a conscientious objector in years. The refusal by 20-year-old Natan Blanc to serve in the military has shined a light on Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. It has also put the military in a delicate position as it tries to resolve the case, since releasing him could set an unwanted precedent while keeping him jailed could turn into a public relations debacle. Hebrew on signs read: "Natan Blanc political prisoner."

Young objector challenges Israeli army

The Israeli military has jailed a young man for six months for refusing to serve because of his opposition to Israel's occupation of the West Bank, focusing attention on the longstanding conflict between the country's universal military service and divided political beliefs. Photo Gallery Available

Oil falls near $94 on small drop in supplies

The price of oil fell near $94 a barrel Wednesday as the nation's oil supply fell less than expected and demand for gasoline remained weak. 1369249838

US parents quit Singapore inquest into son's death

The parents of an American software engineer who believe their son was murdered last year in Singapore withdrew from the inquest Wednesday, saying they have no confidence in the city-state's legal process.

Supporters of former Pakistani cricket star and chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) Imran Khan attend a sit-in-protest to condemn the killing of Zohra Shahid, a senior member of PTI in Karachi, Monday, May 20, 2013 in Islamabad, Pakistan. Police said gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed Shahid outside her home on Saturday.

Pakistani cricket star politician leaves hospital

Pakistani cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan left a hospital Wednesday, more than two weeks after he suffered serious back injuries in a fall from a forklift at a campaign event, a spokesman said. 1369233985 Photo Gallery Available

Japan mulls talks with NKorea, surprising allies

Japan's government is looking into re-opening official talks with North Korea to resolve questions over the abductions of Japanese citizens decades ago, raising concerns among allies who fear Tokyo's focus on that issue might weaken efforts to rein in Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

State media shows NKorea has new military chief

A North Korean state media dispatch shows that leader Kim Jong Un has named a hardline general as his new military chief.

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