Toronto Mayor Rob Ford sits during a City council meeting at Toronto City Hall on Tuesday May 21, 2013. Ford ignored a crush of reporters waiting outside his city hall office this morning in the hopes he would address allegations that he was recorded on video appearing to smoke crack cocaine.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP Photo

Toronto mayor avoids questions about crack video

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford continued to duck questions Tuesday about a video that purportedly shows him smoking crack cocaine despite calls by allies and rivals for further comment. 1369179017

Brazil party challenges ruling on gay marriage

A conservative party is challenging a judicial ruling that requires all of Brazil's notary publics to register same-sex civil unions as marriages if couples request it. 1369173025
Puma to sell gasoline-ethanol mix in Puerto Rico

A Swiss oil company says it will start selling regular gasoline mixed with ethanol as part of a pilot program in Puerto Rico. 1369172152
Egypt troops in Sinai sweep mistakenly hit funeral

Egyptian troops and police mistakenly fired on a Bedouin funeral in the Sinai Peninsula on Tuesday, security officials said, in the opening salvo of a sweep searching for security personnel kidnapped by suspected militants. 1369174537
Venezuela TV host goes off air after audio scandal

A prominent Venezuelan talk show host has gone off the air after allegedly being caught on tape discussing politics inside Venezuela's ruling party with a Cuban intelligence official. 1369169736
Nigeria: Islamic extremist inmates to be released

Nigeria's military said Tuesday that the West African nation would release some of the prisoners it has taken in the country's fight against Islamic extremists - including all the women now held in custody. 1369170917
Gay marriage bill clears UK House of Commons

Britain's House of Commons has passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in England and Wales. 1369168848
Deadliest attacks in Iraq since US troop pullout

Here is a look at the deadliest attacks in Iraq since the withdrawal of U.S. troops on Dec. 18, 2011: 1369168848
Saudi executes 5 Yemenis, displays bodies

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday executed five Yemenis convicted of crimes and displayed their bodies in public as a deterrent for future criminals, the government said. 1369168848
Delay in mine project shadows hopes for Afghan economy

The giant copper mine that the Afghan government has made the centerpiece of its plans for building an economy nearly from scratch is at least five years behind schedule and the state-owned Chinese company that won the bidding has missed key deadlines in its still-secret contract with the Afghan government and is trying to renegotiate the deal, according to several officials and observers inside and outside the Mining Ministry. 1369179314
Struggling Spain offers engineers to Brazil

Spain's development minister is urging Brazil to hire some of the engineers that her own economy doesn't have room for. 1369164930
Brazil commission says abusers could be tried

A Truth Commission investigating human rights abuses under Brazil's military dictatorship says that those it finds guilty of torture could be brought to trial. 1369167942
Ex-Ford execs charged in Argentine torture cases

Three former Ford Motor Co. executives were charged Tuesday with crimes against humanity for allegedly targeting Argentine union workers for kidnapping and torture after the country's 1976 military coup. 1369178115
German climber dies on Alaska's Mount McKinley

Officials say a 59-year-old German mountaineer has died of cardiac arrest while climbing Alaska's Mount McKinley. 1369164629
Iran candidate list for presidential race

The eight candidates approved Tuesday for Iran's June 14 presidential election to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who cannot run again because of term limits. 1369165429
Gandhi's 'blood sample' fails to sell in Britain

Dozens of Mohandas Gandhi's personal items have been sold at an auction, but a sample of blood purportedly from the Indian independence leader didn't draw high enough bids. 1369162164
Algerian president leaves Paris military hospital

Officials say Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has left the French military hospital where he has been treated for nearly a month and transferred to another facility.
2 Moroccans tried for homosexuality get 4 months

A Moroccan court has convicted two men of homosexuality and public indecency, and sentenced each to four months in prison, in the latest case against gays in this North African nation.
Thousands of women protest death in Togo

Thousands of women have taken to the streets in Togo to protest the death of an opposition figure who had been jailed.
Palestinian group: Ruler rights abuses increasing

A Palestinian report shows human rights abuses by the rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza are on the rise.