World leaders scramble to negotiate $60 billion rescue plan for Greece

LONDON -- European and International Monetary Fund negotiators were racing Friday to hash out a $60 billion rescue package for Greece after its prime minister, who called his country a "sinking ship," put out an urgent call for help to prevent a national default.

Seven Honduran broadcasters slain since March 1

Honduran television reporter Jorge Alberto "Georgino" Orellana had just left the station where he hosted his own show when a man stepped from the shadows, shot him dead and vanished.

U.S. military, diplomats at odds over how to resolve Kandahar's electricity woes

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- U.S. military commanders and senior diplomats are locked in a dispute over the best way to bring more electricity to Afghanistan's second-largest city, complicating a major campaign to win over the population of Kandahar and push out the Taliban.

International Whaling Commission proposes compromise on ban

A new International Whaling Commission proposal that would authorize commercial whale hunting for the first time in 24 years in exchange for reducing the number killed each year sets in motion a public diplomacy battle.

NATO approves plan to hand over Afghanistan security to Kabul government

TALLINN, ESTONIA -- NATO members adopted a framework Friday for turning over security in Afghanistan to that country's government, and senior officials said they want to begin the transition this year.

U.S. renews call for Iran to free jailed Americans

The Obama administration renewed calls Friday for Iran to immediately release three American hikers detained for nearly nine months and appealed to the Iranian government to issue their families visas to visit them.

Japan moves to settle dispute with U.S. over Okinawa base relocation

The Japanese government indicated Friday that it would broadly accept a plan to relocate a U.S. Marine Corps base on Okinawa, a move that could ease months of discord between the two allies, U.S. and Japanese officials said.

In ambitious but medal-poor India, a growing quest for athletic success

BANGALORE, INDIA -- India is a rising economic power and a world leader in technology and brainpower, but its performance in international sports is as sad as the dingy pool where Sandeep Sejwal, one of the world's top swimmers, trains near a throng of splashing toddlers.

Once-docile Afghan parliament stands up to Karzai and becomes an ally of U.S.

KABUL -- The Afghan parliament, long a bastion of dysfunction and docility, has emerged this spring as a robust check on President Hamid Karzai's power, giving the United States an unlikely ally as it tries to persuade the government here to clean up its act.

Iraq reports arrest of al-Qaeda mastermind of '09 bombings

BAGHDAD -- Iraqi officials said Thursday that they have detained the mastermind behind a string of bombings last year that targeted key government facilities in the capital.

In Round 2 on the televised debates, Clegg is the target

LONDON -- Candidates from Britain's two traditional parties sought to recapture the momentum from a surging challenger Thursday night, accusing him of being "anti-American" and "a risk" to national security in the second of three historic prime-time debates.

In Britain's second prime minister's debate, the punches come faster

It took the British politicians only a week to adapt fully to American-style candidate debates. If their first encounter a week ago was relatively polite and gentle, their second was marked by sharper exchanges and a sense of urgency on the part of the two major-party leaders, whose hopes for...