Syrian troops push into strategic rebel-held town
BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian troops pushed into a rebel-held town near the Lebanese border on Sunday, fighting house-to-house and bombing from the air as President Bashar Assad tried to strengthen his grip on a strategic strip of land running from the capital to the Mediterranean coast....

Israeli seeks interim deal with Palestinians
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's senior coalition partner says that reaching a final peace agreement with the Palestinians is unrealistic at the current time and the sides should instead pursue an interim arrangement....

Russian TV: American accused of spying flies out
MOSCOW (AP) -- The U.S. Embassy employee accused of spying in Moscow flew out of Russia on Sunday, five days after he was ordered to leave the country, NTV television reported....

Honeybees trained in Croatia to find land mines
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) -- Mirjana Filipovic is still haunted by the land mine blast that killed her boyfriend and blew off her left leg while on a fishing trip nearly a decade ago. It happened in a field that was supposedly de-mined....

Slim, broadcasters take fight to soccer field
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexicans often feel that billionaire Carlos Slim owns everything in their country, from telephone and Internet companies to banks and chain stores, but his latest acquisitive foray is meeting resistance after touching a national passion: soccer....

China asks NKorea to release fishing boat, crew
BEIJING (AP) -- China is urging North Korea to release a Chinese fishing boat whose owner says it was seized by gun-toting North Koreans earlier this month and held for ransom, in the latest irritant in relations between the neighboring allies....

Mexico judge orders prison for suspects in killing
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- A judge on Saturday issued an order for the imprisonment of two waiters accused in the beating death of Malcolm Shabazz, grandson of civil rights activist Malcolm X, the Mexico City attorney general's office said....

SKorea analyzing NKorea's 4 projectile launches
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea is analyzing whether projectiles North Korea fired into its eastern waters over the weekend are short-range missiles or a new type of artillery the country may be developing, officials said Monday....

Top Libyan official: Benghazi explosion accident
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- Libya's deputy prime minister says an investigation has indicated that a deadly explosion in Benghazi last week was an accident and not an attack....

Tunisia security blocks salafi conference, 1 dead
KAIROUAN, Tunisia (AP) -- Around 11,000 police officers and soldiers blocked an annual conference Sunday at Tunisia's main religious center by a radical Islamist movement that has been implicated in attacks across the country, prompting clashes with angry youths that resulted in one death....