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  Afghan leader backs away from Taliban talks

  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's president said Wednesday he will not pursue peace talks with the Taliban unless the United States steps out of the negotiations, while also insisting the militant group stop its violent attacks on the ground after it claimed responsibility for a rocket attackthat killed four Americans.

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  CBO: Senate bill still allows illegal immigration

  WASHINGTON (AP) — Illegal immigration into the United States would decrease by only 25 percent under a far-reaching Senate immigration bill, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office that also finds the measure reduces federal deficits by billions.

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  Protesters out again in Brazilian cities

  SAO PAULO (AP) — Scattered street demonstrations popped up around Brazil Wednesday as protesters continued their collective cry against the low-quality public services they receive in exchange for high taxes and rising prices.

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  Iceland: 'informal talks' about Snowden asylum

  STOCKHOLM (AP) — A WikiLeaks spokesman who claims to represent Edward Snowden has reached out to government officials in Iceland about the potential of the NSA leaker applying for asylum in the Nordic country, officials there said Wednesday.

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  Investors look for answers on economy from Fed

  WASHINGTON (AP) — Worry and speculation have consumed investors since Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke to Congress last month about the Federal Reserve's drive to keep long-term interest rates at record lows.

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  FBI hunt for ex-Teamster boss Hoffa's remains ends

  OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The excavation of a rural field in suburban Detroit has failed to turn up the remains of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa, the FBI announced Wednesday, adding another unsuccessful chapter to a nearly 40-year-old mystery.

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  Comparison of mass protests in Brazil and Turkey

  Large-scale protests have engulfed Turkey and Brazil, which are thousands of miles apart, but share some traits such as being new democracies with a growing middle class. Here's a look at the protests in both countries, highlighting the similarities and differences in how they started and developed:

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  Men's Wearhouse ousts founder, pitchman Zimmer

  NEW YORK (AP) — Apparently, Men's Wearhouse Inc. doesn't like the way its founder looks anymore.

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  Baked Alaska: Unusual heat wave hits 49th state

  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A heat wave hitting Alaska may not rival the blazing heat of Phoenix or Las Vegas, but to residents of the 49th state, the days of hot weather feel like a stifling oven — or a tropical paradise.

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  'Man of Steel' promoted from the pulpit

  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Seems Warner Bros. has taken movie marketing to a whole new level — even higher than a bird or a plane.

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• 
  Traffic returns to Wash. bridge that collapsed

  MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — Cars and trucks are rolling again across the Interstate 5 Skagit River bridge, restoring the traffic flow on the main route between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia.

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  Former TWA Flight 800 investigators want new probe

  MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — Former investigators are pushing to reopen the probe into the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of New York, saying new evidence points to the often-discounted theory that a missile strike may have downed the jumbo jet.

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  FBI hunt for ex-Teamster boss Hoffa's remains ends

  OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The excavation of a rural field in suburban Detroit has failed to turn up the remains of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa, the FBI announced Wednesday, adding another unsuccessful chapter to a nearly 40-year-old mystery.

• Tropical depression heads toward Mexican coast

  MIAMI (AP) — Forecasters say a tropical depression crossing Mexico's Bay of Campeche is getting better organized and is expected to become a tropical storm before making landfall along Mexico's Gulf Coast.

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  Mueller urges caution on NSA program changes

  WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Robert Mueller is cautioning Congress to give careful consideration before making any changes to the National Security Agency programs for mass collection of people's phone records and information from the Internet.

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  Baked Alaska: Unusual heat wave hits 49th state

  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A heat wave hitting Alaska may not rival the blazing heat of Phoenix or Las Vegas, but to residents of the 49th state, the days of hot weather feel like a stifling oven — or a tropical paradise.

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  Men's Wearhouse ousts founder, pitchman Zimmer

  NEW YORK (AP) — Apparently, Men's Wearhouse Inc. doesn't like the way its founder looks anymore.

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  Neighbors: Couple killed waited for order to leave

  DENVER (AP) — Bob and Barbara Schmidt dashed to their home on a dirt road in a heavily wooded area northeast of Colorado Springs as smoke from what would become the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history filled the air.

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  VP Biden pays tribute to civil rights leader

  WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden is hailing Frederick Douglass for his work to bring about equal justice, leading a series of tributes at the unveiling of a statue of the 19th-century orator and writer.

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  Judge reads charge against Zimmerman to jurors

  SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — A Florida judge read the formal charge against George Zimmerman on Wednesday to 40 potential jurors who could be selected to decide if the neighborhood watch volunteer committed murder when he shot an unarmed Trayvon Martin.

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  Monsoon floods kill 102 in India, strand pilgrims

  LUCKNOW, India (AP) — India's prime minister said Wednesday that the death toll from flooding this week in the northern state of Uttrakhand had surpassed 100 and could rise substantially.

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  Afghan leader backs away from Taliban talks

  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's president said Wednesday he will not pursue peace talks with the Taliban unless the United States steps out of the negotiations, while also insisting the militant group stop its violent attacks on the ground after it claimed responsibility for a rocket attackthat killed four Americans.

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  16 dead: Militants infiltrate UN's Somalia office

  MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Seven al-Qaida-linked gunmen detonated a pick-up truck rigged with explosives at the gate of the U.N. compound in Somalia's capital Wednesday, launching a bombs-and-gunfire assault that saw militants pour into the complex, killing at least nine people, including three foregners, officials said.

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  Obama renews calls for nuclear reductions

  BERLIN (AP) — Appealing for a new citizen activism in the free world, President Barack Obama renewed his call Wednesday to reduce U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles and to confront climate change, a danger he called "the global threat of our time."

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  Protesters out again in Brazilian cities

  SAO PAULO (AP) — Scattered street demonstrations popped up around Brazil Wednesday as protesters continued their collective cry against the low-quality public services they receive in exchange for high taxes and rising prices.

More

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  Obama: 'Lives have been saved' by NSA programs

  BERLIN (AP) — Trying to tamp down concerns about government over-reach, President Barack Obama on Wednesday defended U.S. Internet and phone surveillance programs as narrowly targeted efforts that have saved lives and thwarted at least 50 terror threats.

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  CBO: Senate bill still allows illegal immigration

  WASHINGTON (AP) — Illegal immigration into the United States would decrease by only 25 percent under a far-reaching Senate immigration bill, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office that also finds the measure reduces federal deficits by billions.

• 
  Obama renews calls for nuclear reductions

  BERLIN (AP) — Appealing for a new citizen activism in the free world, President Barack Obama renewed his call Wednesday to reduce U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles and to confront climate change, a danger he called "the global threat of our time."

• Pruitt: DOJ broke rules in phone records seizure

  WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of The Associated Press says the Justice Department violated its own rules when it secretly seized records for thousands of phone calls to and from AP journalists as part of a leak investigation.

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  Senator: IRS to pay $70M in employee bonuses

  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year, according to a GOP senator.

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  Social issues still fire up GOP despite 2012 loss

  WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican lawmakers have a message for those who want the party to soften its emphasis on social conservatism in hopes of reaching a wider national audience: Not so fast.

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  Mueller urges caution on NSA program changes

  WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Robert Mueller is cautioning Congress to give careful consideration before making any changes to the National Security Agency programs for mass collection of people's phone records and information from the Internet.

• Food stamp cuts key to farm bill's fate in House

  WASHINGTON (AP) — Prospects for House passage of a new farm bill could turn on the level of food stamp cuts as Republicans leaders scrambled Wednesday to secure support for the five-year, half-trillion dollar measure.

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  VP Biden pays tribute to civil rights leader

  WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden is hailing Frederick Douglass for his work to bring about equal justice, leading a series of tributes at the unveiling of a statue of the 19th-century orator and writer.

• Senators seek cost cuts for F-35 fighter jet

  WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators sought cost-cutting opportunities Wednesday in the Pentagon's $400 billion program for the next-generation F-35, a fighter jet with a troubled testing record that military leaders said America couldn't afford not to build.

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• Study: Wiser medication use could cut health costs

  TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — If doctors and patients used prescription drugs more wisely, they could save the U.S. health care system at least $213 billion a year, a study concludes.

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  Sunscreen slows skin aging, if used often enough

  WASHINGTON (AP) — If worry about skin cancer doesn't make you slather on sunscreen, maybe vanity will: New research provides some of the strongest evidence to date that near-daily sunscreen use can slow the aging of your skin.

• Gender report of Shah Rukh Khan baby investigated

  NEW DELHI (AP) — Health officials in Mumbai are investigating reports that Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his wife know the sex of a baby they are having through a surrogate mother.

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  UK to start regulating e-cigarettes as medicines

  LONDON (AP) — Britain will start regulating electronic cigarettes and other products containing nicotine as medicines, according to the country's top regulator.

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  18 mayors: Limit use of food stamps to buy soda

  NEW YORK (AP) — The mayors of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and 15 other cities are reviving a push against letting food stamps be used to buy soda and other sugary drinks.

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  Girl who took on transplant rules gets new lungs

  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A 10-year-old girl ailing with cystic fibrosis is recovering from a transplant of adult lungs made available to her by a judge's controversial ruling that expanded her options for lifesaving surgery.

• HHS chiefs seeks review of lung transplant policy

  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is calling for a review of policies affecting patients needing lung transplants as a 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl whose parents say she's been denied the life-saving surgery because of her age remains hospitalized on a vetilator.

• Judge considers effect of fungus on Calif. inmates

  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge in San Francisco on Monday is scheduled to consider whether an airborne fungus that occurs naturally in the San Joaquin Valley presents enough of a public health danger that thousands of vulnerable state prison inmates should be moved to other locations.

• Study: Doctors often on board to help sick fliers

  Is there a doctor on board? Surprisingly often, there is — in half of in-flight medical emergencies — and sick airline passengers almost always survive, a new study finds.

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  Medicare: Cost-saving changes coming for diabetics

  WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicare begins a major change next month that could save older diabetics money and time when they buy crucial supplies to test their blood sugar.

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• Wilson, Nobel winner for physics, dies in Maine

  PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Physicist Kenneth Wilson, who earned a Nobel prize for pioneering work that changed the way physicists think about phase transitions, has died in Maine, where he retired to enjoy kayaking with his wife. He was 77.

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  Airborne laser reveals hidden city in Cambodia

  SYDNEY (AP) — Airborne laser technology has uncovered a network of roadways and canals, illustrating a bustling ancient city linking Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temple complex.

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  Official: Solar plane to help energy use on ground

  CHANTILLY, Va. (AP) — The plane parked outside the airport looks more like a giant exotic insect or maybe an outsized balsa wood toy airplane.

• 'Dead zones' predicted for Gulf, Chesapeake Bay

  NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Scientists in Michigan and Louisiana are predicting a big summer "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico unless a tropical storm hits the area shortly before or during the annual measurement. In the Chesapeake Bay, scientists expect a smaller-than-average area where there's too little xygen to support fish, shellfish and other aquatic life.

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  NASA picks 8 new astronauts, 4 of them women

  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA has eight new astronauts — its first new batch in four years.

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• Ed Koch's tombstone engraved with wrong birth date

  NEW YORK (AP) — Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch meticulously planned his own funeral, but his tombstone has the wrong birth date.

• Minn. mother, son accused of stealing gopher feet

  PRESTON, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota mother and her 18-year-old son are accused of stealing nearly $5,000 in frozen gopher feet and selling them for a bounty.

• Hitchhiking cat 'Mata Hairi' headed home to Oregon

  HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A well-traveled cat named "Mata Hairi" will soon be reunited with her owner after spending nearly 10 months traveling thousands of miles with a hitchhiker who rescued her from the rain.

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  Morris the cat runs for mayor of Mexican city

  MEXICO CITY (AP) — This mayoral hopeful in Mexico promises to eat, sleep most of the day and donate his leftover litter to fill potholes.

• Bear with head stuck in jar is rescued in Pa.

  JAMISON CITY, Pa. (AP) — Four central Pennsylvania residents said they used only a rope and a flashlight during a wild chase to rescue a young bear whose head had been stuck in a plastic jar for at least 11 days.

• NJ Transit probes bizarre bus trip into New York

  NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Some New Jersey bus commuters apparently have gotten an unexpected tour of the New York metro area they'd rather forget.

• Swedish male train drivers wear skirts to work

  STOCKHOLM (AP) — Commuters on a train line in northern Stockholm were met with an unusual sight this week: male train drivers and conductors wearing skirts to work.

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  US Marshals auction scammer's diamond, other loot

  LAS VEGAS (AP) — Want to own a 5-carat diamond from a Texas scammer?

• Danish supermarket got drugs instead of bananas

  COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Drug traffickers back in Colombia must be going bananas over how their shipment ended up at Danish supermarkets and not on the streets.

• Group wants to knit cover for Pa. Warhol bridge

  PITTSBURGH (AP) — Andy Warhol's art doesn't often conjure warm and fuzzy images — but a proposed tribute to him just might.

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• DreamWorks says TV revenue to hit $200M by 2015

  LOS ANGELES (AP) — DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., the studio behind "Shrek" and "Kung Fu Panda," said Tuesday that a new deal to provide original TV shows to Netflix will help it double the revenue it gets from TV shows to $200 million by 2015.

• Icahn changes tack, seeks $16B Dell stock buyback

  NEW YORK (AP) — Activist investor Carl Icahn on Tuesday proposed a $16 billion share buyback in his latest effort to thwart Dell Inc. founder Michael Dell's effort to take the struggling computer maker private.

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  Award-winning journalist Michael Hastings dies

  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Hastings, the war correspondent whose unflinching reporting from Afghanistan led to the resignation of a top U.S. army general, has died in a car accident in Los Angeles, according to his employer and family.

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  Social-network gaffes plague Japanese politicians

  TOKYO (AP) — On the Internet, no one can save you from yourself. That is a lesson many Japanese politicians have learned recently in painful, awkward and at times costly fashion.

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  NYC to offer free phone-charging stations in parks

  NEW YORK (AP) — It's a message busy New Yorkers hate to get: the low-battery message on your cellphone when there's no charger in sight.

• Hewlett-Packard puts Bradley in strategy role

  NEW YORK (AP) — Todd Bradley, the head of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s printing and personal computer business, has been appointed to a new position in charge of the company's strategy with a focus on China, the company said Tuesday.

• Netflix to expand to Netherlands later this year

  LOS GATOS, Calif. (AP) — Netflix is going Dutch.

• Sprint sues to stop Dish Clearwire buyout

  OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Sprint is suing to stop Dish Network's buyout of wireless data network operator Clearwire. The nation's third-largest cellphone carrier said the proposed deal violates the rights of Sprint and other Clearwire shareholders.

• Stuntwoman sues News Corp. over alleged phone hack

  LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman who worked as a stunt double for Angelina Jolie sued Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. in Los Angeles on Tuesday, claiming she's a victim of a phone hacking scheme to obtain information about the actress.

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  With Samsung, Jay-Z's business continues to boom

  NEW YORK (AP) — He really is more than a businessman.

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