BAGHDAD (AP) — A car bomb exploded near a bus station in Baghdad's main Shiite district Wednesday, the deadliest in a series of explosions that killed at least 33 people nationwide, officials said.
The bloodshed came amid growing tensions between the Shiite-led government and minority Sunnis following a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in the country's north. Violence has ebbed sharply in Iraq, but a spike in attacks has raised fears about a return of...
CANNES, France (AP) — Like millions of others, Leonardo DiCaprio read and loved "The Great Gatsby" as a teenager. But he says he only recently began to understand it.
The star of Baz Luhrmann's kaleidoscopic screen adaptation, said reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's book again, he came to believe that it was not the tale of tragic romance he had once believed.
"I remember picking up the novel as a youth and being entertained by it, fascinated with Gatsby...
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican says the Scottish cardinal who resigned as archbishop after admitting to sexual misconduct will leave Scotland for several months of prayer and atonement.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien recused himself from the March conclave that elected Pope Francis pontiff after a newspaper reported unnamed priests' allegations that he acted inappropriately toward them.
O'Brien subsequently acknowledged he had engaged in unspecified sexual...
MADRID (AP) — A Dutch sociologist has been awarded Spain's Prince of Asturias social sciences prize for her work in the field of globalization and urban sociology.
The jury said that one of Saskia Sassen's greatest scientific contributions was "her concept of the 'global city', now accepted and used worldwide." The concept describes cities that are centers of the world economy.
Sassen, a professor at Columbia University, was born in the Hague in 1949...
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand has limited the use of shackles on more than 500 prisoners who committed serious crimes in a move to conform to international human rights standards.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said Wednesday the initiative also shows the government's intent to switch its emphasis from punishment to rehabilitation of inmates.
Under the pilot project, 563 well-behaved inmates out of 800 prisoners at Central Bangkwang Prison have had the...
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A preliminary report into last month's Lion Air plane crash off the resort island of Bali urges the budget carrier to immediately address safety concerns by providing more training for pilots during critical landing times.
The National Transportation Safety Committee's investigation did not outline what caused the accident, but said the brand new Boeing 737-800 aircraft was airworthy. It issued three safety recommendations for Lion Air to ensure...
SAKVICE, Czech Republic (AP) — At just 13, Radomir Franz already knew he wanted to be a taxidermist.
He credits a boyhood trip to a natural science museum with capturing his imagination. More than three decades later, he's one of central Europe's most sought-after experts in the field — and says he has stuffed animals from every country except, perhaps, Greenland.
On a recent visit, some of his 15 staff — all of whom he trained because there's no...
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Wednesday ordered a disgraced Scottish cardinal to leave Scotland for several months to pray and atone for sexual misconduct, issuing a rare public sanction against a "prince of the church" and the first such punishment meted out by Pope Francis.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien resigned as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh and recused himself from the March conclave that elected Francis pope after a newspaper reported unnamed priests'...
LONDON (AP) — A major casino operator is accusing Phil Ivey, an American who is one of the world's top professional poker players, of amassing millions of dollars in winnings by cheating at baccarat.
Court papers filed in Britain's High Court by the Malaysia-based Genting Group say that Ivey and an accomplice successfully used a scam to rack up winnings of roughly 7.8 million pounds ($11.9 million) last summer.
The case has rocked the world of...
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria's president says he will start talks with the four parties represented in the new legislature following last weekend's election.
President Rosen Plevneliev said he will announce when parliament will convene after holding those talks Friday, but it will be before May ends.
The Central Electoral Commission said Wednesday that the center-right GERB party took 30.5 percent of the vote while the Socialists got 26.6 percent...
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