ALL RECENT AP STORIES

New York City authorities said two more possible anti-gay attacks have been reported, just hours after residents rallied in response to gay-bashing that has left one person dead and raised concern about hate crimes. A 45-year-old man was attacked late Monday in Manhattan by a drinking companion who yelled an anti-gay slur and knocked him unconscious, police said. A suspect was being sought. And two men were walking in Manhattan early Tuesday when two other men yelled homophobic insults in Spanish...

A man accused of vandalizing a 1929 Pablo Picasso painting in a Texas museum _ an act that was caught on cellphone video _ agreed Tuesday to a two-year prison term as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. His lawyer called his act "an artistic statement." Uriel Landeros had faced felony graffiti and criminal mischief charges accusing him of spray-painting "Woman in a Red Armchair" with an image of a bullfighter, a bull and the word "conquista," the Spanish word for conquest. Landeros, a 22-year-old...

AEG Live LLC did not conduct any background checks or supervise the doctor who was later convicted of killing Michael Jackson, a corporate attorney testified Tuesday in a lawsuit claiming the concert promoter was negligent in hiring the physician. AEG Live General Counsel Shawn Trell told jurors that no legal or financial checks were done involving Conrad Murray or anyone else who worked as an independent contractor on the "This Is It" shows. Jackson's mother Katherine is suing AEG claiming it...

Stoke says Tony Pulis has left as manager by mutual consent, ending his seven-year tenure at the Premier League club. By guiding Stoke to a 13th-place finish this season, Pulis secured the team's status in England's top division for a fifth straight year but he came under increasing fire for failing to change its direct and physical style of play. Pulis was the second longest-serving manager in the Premier League, behind Arsene Wenger of Arsenal, in the wake of Alex Ferguson's retirement from...

Super Rugby's governing body SANZAR may take disciplinary action against 2011 World Cup-winning coach Graham Henry after his stinging attack on the standard of refereeing in the southern hemisphere tournament. Henry, who now works as defense coach for the Auckland-based Blues, says referees should "just do the basics right, just like you ask the rugby players to do." The comments came after a series of contentious decisions in the Blues' match against the Crusaders last Saturday. Henry asked...

Rays manager Joe Maddon changed course Tuesday, saying he has no problem with the way shortstop Yunel Escobar celebrates home runs. Escobar, who played for Toronto last season, drew loud jeers after he hit a homer in the ninth inning of Monday's 7-5 loss to the Blue Jays, and then made an exaggerated safe sign as he crossed home plate. He had been booed in every at bat. After the game Maddon said he would speak to Escobar about the gesture, adding that he was "certain" Escobar would not do it...

Juventus coach Antonio Conte and captain Gianluigi Buffon have led a club delegation to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican. Pope Francis is a football lover and an avid fan of Argentine team San Lorenzo, although he is also said to like Juventus because of his family's roots from the Piedmont region. Juventus president Andrea Agnelli was also at the private meeting late Monday, and afterward Buffon said: "It was a great opportunity and I have to say I didn't expect there to be so many Juventus...

The Pentagon wants more than $450 million for maintaining and upgrading the Guantanamo Bay prison that President Barack Obama wants to close. New details on the administration's budget request for next year and other expenses emerged on Tuesday. The cost of the facility that houses 166 prisoners indefinitely includes $200 million for military construction work that could stretch over a decade. The request also includes $40 million for a fiber optic cable and millions more for other projects at...

Twitter is booming as a social media destination for teenagers who complain about too many adults and too much drama on Facebook, according to a new study published Tuesday about online behavior. It said teens are sharing more personal information about themselves even as they try to protect their online reputations. Teens told researchers there were too many adults on Facebook and too much sharing of teenage angst and inane details like what a friend ate for dinner. "The key is that there are...

Far-reaching U.S. immigration legislation neared a final committee vote on Tuesday as the White House and Democratic supporters sought to delay a showdown over the rights of gay spouses until a debate in the full Senate. "There have been 300 amendments. Why shouldn't we have one more?" replied Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. He was responding to concerns that a vote on the issue inside the panel could unravel months of work on the bill, which gives...

The number of people calling PGA Tour events after seeing possible rules violations has gone up since Tiger Woods took what turned out to be an illegal drop at the Masters. That doesn't mean the number of violations is increasing. "The rate of irrelevant call-ins has gone up dramatically, too," said Tyler Dennis, the tour's vice president of competition. What might seem like a simple solution _ have a rules official monitor the telecast to look for any violations that cause fans to call from...

Lawyers in the court-martial of an Army private who sent more than 700,000 classified U.S. documents to WikiLeaks said Tuesday they have reached a deal that may eliminate the need for testimony from a member of the military team that killed Osama bin Laden. Prosecutors also agreed to accept Pfc. Bradley Manning's guilty plea to a lesser version of one of the 22 counts he faces. Under the agreement, both the prosecution and defense teams would acknowledge at Manning's trial next month that there...

In a significant move, a prominent Republican senator said Tuesday he plans to let key sanctions legislation against Myanmar lapse because of the country's progress toward democracy. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell made the announcement after meeting the nation's President Thein Sein who is making a landmark visit to Washington. On Monday, Thein Sein became the first Myanmar leader to visit the White House in nearly 50 years and received strong backing from President Barack Obama. Thein...

The U.S. has identified five men who might be responsible for the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year, and has enough evidence to justify seizing them by military force as suspected terrorists, officials say. But there isn't enough proof to try them in a U.S. civilian court as the Obama administration prefers. The men remain at large while the FBI gathers evidence. But the investigation has been slowed by the reduced U.S. intelligence presence in the region since the...

The U.S. government has given the job of compiling statistics used by the State Department to analyze trends in global terrorism to an academic group, a move that may complicate accurate unclassified assessments of patterns of terrorist activity for years to come. As President Barack Obama prepares to deliver a major speech on counterterrorism this week and the State Department readies its annual terrorism report for release at the end of the month, officials said Tuesday that the switch also...

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says elephant poaching and its potential links to criminal and terrorist activities are threatening peace and security in central Africa. The U.N. chief cited an upsurge in poaching in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad and Gabon in a report to the Security Council obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. Ban said the illegal trade in elephant ivory may constitute an important source of funding for armed groups, including the Lord's Resistance Army. He also...

"Daring" isn't a word you would use very much to describe 2011's "The Hangover Part II," the disappointingly lazy, beat-for-beat rehash of the wild and wildly successful original "Hangover" from 2009. And yet, here we are with "The Hangover Part III," which runs a different sort of risk by going to darker and more dangerous places than its predecessors, both artistically and emotionally. It dares to alienate the very audience that made "The Hangover" the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all...

Guan Tianlang has decided not to try to play in the U.S. Open. The USGA said Tuesday that the 14-year-old from China has withdrawn from sectional qualifying in Dallas on June 3. Guan informed the USGA shortly after he received a sponsor's exemption to play in the Memorial, which ends June 2. The USGA offered to move Guan's qualifier from Texas to the Ohio to help with travel, but the teen declined. Guan was exempt from the first stage of U.S. Open qualifying by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur....

Sixth-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy rallied past Marco Cecchinato 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 Tuesday in an all-Italian match in the first round at the Nice Open. Fognini won only three points on his opponent's serve in the first set, but broke twice in the second set and three times in the third. He faces French wild card Gael Monfils, who came from behind to beat Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine defeated Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-2, 6-3, breaking serve...

Bolivia's culture minister calls it actor-activist Sean Penn's "worst performance" ever. He isn't talking about a movie. Minister Pablo Groux is slamming Penn's proposal to a U.S. congressional subcommittee Monday that Bolivia be cut out of the Dakar motor sport rally unless it frees a U.S. citizen under house arrest two years after he was jailed without charge in a money-laundering probe. Penn suggested that unless Jacob Ostreicher is freed, sponsors should drop their backing for the January...

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon says Mozambique has made tremendous progress in 20 years of peace but must put to good use the new natural resources income of an impoverished nation with one of the world's fastest growing economies. Ban Ki-Moon told reporters after meeting President Armando Guebuza that "new-found resources create new opportunities but generate heightened expectations." Mozambique descended into civil war after independence from Portugal in 1974. The United Nations helped...

A Swiss oil company says it will start selling regular gasoline mixed with ethanol as part of a pilot program in Puerto Rico. Puma Energy Caribe LLC says 56 gas stations across the island will participate in the program starting Wednesday. Puma says that if the program is successful, it will extend it to all its gas stations in the U.S. territory. Ethanol is routinely mixed with gasoline on the U.S. mainland as part of a 2007 federal renewable fuels law. Puma last year bought all of Chevron's...

The quotation from the proud father was a version of Ralph Waldo Emerson's famous words, "Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." The path of Peter Uihlein took him inside a cage below the surface of the Indian Ocean, where a Great White Shark with jaws wide open approached while closing in on a tuna. The jagged, triangular teeth gnashed at the tuna's head against the cage, and the former U.S. Amateur champion could see black eyes roll over to white. "That was the coolest," Uihlein...

Cuba has authorized individual imports of appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators and microwave ovens, lifting a ban imposed in 2005 amid a wave of energy shortages and blackouts. Islanders can now bring up to two such appliances per person into the country for noncommercial purposes, according to a law enacted with its publication Monday in the Official Gazette. The list of approved items includes air conditioners with a capacity of less than 1 ton, ovens that consume less than 1,500...

For fans of the boy wizard, this could be the most coveted copy of all the "Harry Potter" books in the world. A first edition copy of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" that contains author J.K. Rowling's notes and original illustrations fetched 150,000 pounds ($228,000) at a London auction on Tuesday. Sotheby's said the work, offered as part of a charity book sale jointly organized with the English PEN writers' association, was sold to an anonymous bidder by telephone. Rowling peppered...

Burt Bacharach knew writing a memoir would be emotional _ not because of his never-heard backstage tales or his tumultuous marriages. He knew that being honest would force him to come to terms with the death of his daughter. "It was very tough because I had to revisit what that period was and go deeper into it," he said of his daughter Nikki's premature birth, years of emotional issues, and eventual suicide at the age of 40. The 84-year-old award-winning music composer of such classics as "I'll...

U.N. officials said Tuesday that the number of Syrian refugees arriving in Jordan has suddenly fallen from an average of 2,500 a day to fewer than 20, and they are trying to quickly figure out why. Millions of people have been displaced in Syria as the civil war there has engulfed large areas, and Jordan has become a main refuge for Syrians who choose to flee their country. U.N. officials said they are unsure what has led to the drop in the flow of refugees to Jordan this week, and because they...

The price of corn fell after U.S. farmers planted record amounts of corn last week, easing concern that earlier planting delays would harm this year's crop. Corn for July delivery dropped 9.5 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $6.40 a bushel. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said late Monday that 71 percent of the U.S. corn crop had been planted as of Sunday, compared with only 28 percent a week earlier. "The farmer's did a spectacular job in making up for lost time," said Sterling Smith, a commodities...

App Store Official Charts for the week ending May 20, 2013: Top Paid iPhone Apps: 1. A Beautiful Mess (Red Velvet Art LLC) 2. Heads Up! (Warner Bros.) 3. WhatsApp Messenger (WhatsApp Inc.) 4. Minecraft - Pocket Edition (Mojang) 5. Survivalcraft (Igor Kalicinski) 6. Plague Inc. (Ndemic Creations) 7. Wood Camera (Bright Mango) 8. AfterLight (Simon Filip) 9. Kick the Buddy: No Mercy (Crustalli) 10. TETRIS, (Electronic Arts) Top Free iPhone Apps: 1. Candy Crush Saga (King.com Limited)...

Egypt's president signed a new tax law Tuesday that cuts the amount paid by poorer Egyptians in the latest move aimed at reforming the country's economy. The changes, which are more favorable than the previous tax law for the country's most vulnerable, could boost Islamists in parliamentary elections slated for later this year. The interim parliament, led by Islamist allies of President Mohammed Morsi, approved the measure last week. Ahmed el-Sayyed el-Naggar, an economic expert at the Ahram...

Colombian authorities say a middle-aged Spanish man and woman are missing in a northeastern border region where a car they rented three weeks ago was found. Spain's foreign minister said Tuesday in Madrid that two Spaniards had been kidnapped in Colombia. But Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo did not provide any additional details, including their names. Maj. Cesar Gonzalez of Colombia's anti-kidnapping unit says officials found the car Friday in Guajira state. The car contained documents indicating...

A lawyer for a former board member at Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble Co. urged an appeals court panel Tuesday to give his client a new trial, saying a judge had excluded evidence that might have led a jury to acquit him on insider trading charges. Attorney Seth Waxman told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that Rajat Gupta never got a fair chance to prove his innocence because his daughter was not permitted to testify about how angry her father was at a billionaire hedge...

iTunes' Official Music Charts for the week ending May 20, 2013 Top Songs: 1. "Can't Hold Us (feat. Ray Dalton)," Ryan Lewis, Macklemore 2. "Blurred Lines (feat. T.I. & Pharrell), Robin Thicke 3. "Just Give Me a Reason (feat. Nate Ruess)," P!nk 4. "Come & Get It," Selena Gomez 5. "Mirrors," Justin Timberlake 6. "Radioactive," Imagine Dragons 7. "Cruise (Remix) (feat. Nelly)," Florida Georgia Line 8. "I Love It (feat. Charli XCX)," Icona Pop 9. "Young and Beautiful," Lana Del...

Dozens of Indian guest workers are suing a U.S.-based marine and fabrication company, saying it financially exploited them and forced them to live in squalid conditions after bringing them to work at Gulf Coast shipyards after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Three federal lawsuits backed by the Southern Poverty Law Center were filed Tuesday in Mississippi and Texas on behalf of 83 people who were recruited to work as welders and pipefitters for Signal International LLC. The center filed a similar...

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. The Interior Ministry said the five were convicted of setting up a gang that carried out several crimes, including the murder of a Saudi man. They were executed on Tuesday and their bodies were put on display at a square in the southern city of Jazan. The ministry says the court ordered the bodies displayed because the crimes "indicate...

Wind, humidity and rainfall combined precisely to create Monday's massive killer tornado in Oklahoma. The awesome amount of energy released dwarfed the power of the atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima. On Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service gave the tornado the top-of-the-scale rating of EF-5 for wind speed and breadth and severity of damage. Wind speeds were estimated at between 200 mph (320 kph) and 210 mph (337 kph). Several meteorologists contacted by The Associated Press used...

Promoted Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin has extended coach Jos Luhukay's contract through to 2016. Hertha general manager Michael Preetz says the Dutchman is the club's "architect of success" and that his consistent methods and way of integrating players represent the future of the club. Luhukay, who joined Hertha from Augsburg last season, led the team back into the top flight after one year by winning the second division with a record 76 points.

Four peregrine falcon chicks roosting high on a bridge connecting New York and New Jersey were pronounced healthy Tuesday and fitted with tracking bands to help biologists keep tabs on them. Their mother's squawks competed with the din of morning-rush hour traffic on the George Washington Bridge as wildlife biologist Chris Nadareski gently lifted the fluffy chicks out of their nesting box and used pliers to fasten metal bands around their legs. Nadareski, of the New York City Department of Environmental...

Stocks are closing higher on Wall Street as investors bank on continued support from the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 52 points to close at 15,387 Tuesday, an increase of 0.3 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose three points to 1,669, or 0.2 percent. The Nasdaq composite rise five to 3,502, or 0.2 percent. Stock indexes wobbled between gains and losses in early trading, then took a turn higher after James Bullard, head of the Fed's St. Louis branch, said...

The National Weather Service says the tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma was a top-of-the-scale EF-5 twister with winds of at least 200 mph (322 kph). Spokeswoman Keli Pirtle said Tuesday the agency upgraded the tornado from an EF-4 on the enhanced Fujita scale to an EF-5 based on what a damage assessment team saw on the ground. The weather service uses the word "incredible" to describe the power of EF-5 storms. The weather service says the tornado's path was 17 miles (27 kilometers) long and 1.3...

Two endangered sea turtles that are shells of their former selves after getting stranded on Cape Cod during a cold spell are getting some help easing back into the wild _ from an acupuncturist. Dexter and Fletcher Moon, juvenile Kemp's Ridley sea turtles, remained calm as acupuncturist Claire McManus gently tapped more than a dozen needles into their grayish-green, leathery skin during a therapy session intended to decrease inflammation and swelling on their front flippers, restore a full range...

The White House says President Barack Obama opposes a House of Representatives bill that would speed approval of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas. The White House said Tuesday that the bill "seeks to circumvent longstanding and proven processes" by removing a requirement for a presidential permit. The legislation also says no new environmental studies are needed. Republicans say the bill is needed to ensure the long-delayed pipeline is built. The project would carry...

The price of oil fell Tuesday as investors waited for the Federal Reserve's latest views on the U.S. economy. Benchmark crude for June delivery dropped 55 cents to $96.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will appear before Congress and the central bank will release minutes of its most recent policy meeting. Traders will be looking for hints on what the Fed might be preparing to do in light of recent data that has pointed toward a sustained...

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says Myanmar's government has made progress in reducing the recruitment of children into the armed forces but still needs to stamp out the practice and discharge child soldiers. A new report to the U.N. Security Council found that while complaints about recruitment of child soldiers in Myanmar declined to 32 cases in 2012 from 172 cases in 2009, the military continued to target unaccompanied children and orphans found in workplaces, streets, bus and train stations,...

Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia don't like each other, and they're making no effort to disguise their feelings. The verbal feuding began May 11 during the third round of The Players Championship. It resumed this week on both sides of the Atlantic when Woods offered a one-word answer if he thought about contacting Garcia to put the matter to rest. "No," he replied with a tight smile. Garcia fired back at a sponsor function outside London. "He called me a whiner. That's probably right," he told...

An Uzbek national facing terrorism-related charges will remain jailed pending his trial after waiving his right to a detention hearing. Lawyers for Fazliddin Kurbanov on Tuesday waived a hearing where a U.S. District Court judge was to have considered whether he should stay in jail until his July 2 trial. Kurbanov is a refugee from Uzbekistan in Central Asia who arrived in Idaho in 2009. He was arrested last Thursday. The 30-year-old truck driver was indicted by a federal grand jury on...

Eighth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko lost his fourth straight match Tuesday, falling 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to "lucky loser" Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia in the first round of the Power Horse Cup. Bedene replaced Dmitry Tursunov of Russia in the main draw and needed less than 2 hours to add to Davydenko's opening-round losses in Munich, Madrid and Rome. Seventh-seeded Viktor Troicki defeated Michael Russell of the United States 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The Serb will play Grega Zemlja of Slovenia, who saved 13 of 15 breakpoints...

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mario Goetze pulled out of training on his comeback from a hamstring injury Tuesday, putting his participation in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in doubt. Goetze took part in individual jogging exercises in the morning before joining the team session in the afternoon, but he could only complete an hour with teammates before withdrawing. German magazine Kicker reported that Goetze's injured right hamstring that forced him off against Real Madrid in...

Police in suburban Atlanta say rapper Chief Keef, whose name is Keith Cozart, has been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Police spokesman Timothy Fecht says officers arrested Cozart after responding to a call about illegal drug activity at the Le M??ridien hotel just north of Atlanta Monday afternoon. Fecht says officers saw smoke and smelled marijuana wafting from a room. It wasn't immediately clear what Cozart was doing in Georgia. Representatives at his booking agency said they...

Spain's development minister is urging Brazil to hire some of the engineers that her own economy doesn't have room for. Brazil is beefing up its infrastructure ahead of soccer's World Cup and the Olympics. And Minister Ana Pastor says Spanish engineers could help, if allowed. She told Brazilian journalists on Tuesday that she has talked with Brazilian officials about cutting red tape that hinders hiring of foreigners. Among the problems is a lengthy process for certifying university degrees....

Officials say a 59-year-old German mountaineer has died of cardiac arrest while climbing Alaska's Mount McKinley. National Park Service officials say Klaus Bielstein of Muenster, Germany, was climbing North America's tallest peak with an 11-member expedition team Sunday evening when he suddenly collapsed at the 13,500-foot (4,000-meter) level of the roughly 20,000-foot (65,600-feet) mountain. Expedition guides radioed for help and began CPR on the unconscious man. Officials say rangers reached...

FC Seoul advanced to the Asian Champions League quarterfinals for the third time in five years Tuesday, while Buriram United became the first Thai team to reach the last eight in 10 years. Seoul scored three second-half goals to beat Beijing Guoan 3-1 on the night and on aggregate following a scoreless draw last week. Buriram played out a 0-0 draw with Bunyodkor but won 2-1 at home last week to go through. Beijing opened the scoring in the ninth minute in Seoul through French striker Fred Kanoute....

Sprint Nextel Corp. is offering 14 percent more than before for the stake in wireless data network operator Clearwire Corp. it does not already own, but a large shareholder said the offer was still inadequate. Sprint said Tuesday that it is offering $3.40 per share, or $2.5 billion, for the remainder of Clearwire Corp. Its previous offer, from December, was for $2.97 per share. Sprint said this is its best and final offer, but investors appear to hold out some hope of an even better offer. Clearwire...

Republicans are trying to block Obama administration overtures to Russia on missile defense, creating a potential obstacle to arms control talks. Lawmakers are proposing a measure that would bar the administration from sharing classified missile defense data with Russia. That would undercut a path that arms control advocates have urged to restart nuclear talks, which have been set back by a missile defense dispute. They say that if the United States releases classified data, it could persuade...

The parents and guardians stood in the muddy grass outside a suburban Oklahoma City church, listening intently as someone with a bullhorn called out the names of children who were being dropped off _ survivors of a deadly tornado that barreled through their community. For many families in Moore, the ordeal ended in bear hugs and tears of joy. Others were left to wait in the darkness, hoping for good news while fearing the worst. At least seven children are among the 24 reported dead so far in...

Willy Moon, "Here's Willy Moon" (Cherry Tree/Island) Willy Moon will soon be gyrating his way into your music collection. Fact. His distinct features, tall frame, fancy footwork, dapper suits and infectious 1960s pop grooves make this New Zealander hard to miss. The 23-year-old's self-produced debut album, "Here's Willy Moon," is sharp and slick, much like Moon himself. His album packs a punch, from his unique tone and string section on "Get Up" to surf guitars on "I Wanna Be Your Man." This...

Wireless company Sprint Nextel Corp. says it can now let Dish Network Corp. see its books and talk with Dish to see whether its competing offer to buy Sprint is better than its current deal with Japan's SoftBank. Sprint said late Monday that SoftBank had waived provisions of its deal with Sprint that will allow Sprint to talk with Dish. SoftBank currently has a $20.1 billion deal with Sprint to buy 70 percent of the company. Dish last month offered $25.5 billion for the whole company. Softbank...

Four finalists are vying for the "Dancing With the Stars" title, and just one point separates the top two contestants. A new champion will be crowned Tuesday. Football pro Jacoby Jones, Olympian Alexandra Raisman, singer Kellie Pickler and 16-year-old Disney Channel star Zendaya each did three dances on Monday's episode of the ABC competition. Zendaya was perfect in the judges' eyes, earning the maximum score for each routine. "You've only just scratched the surface of your talent," head judge...

Top-seeded Marion Bartoli and No. 2 Tamira Paszek were beaten Tuesday in the first round of the Strasbourg International. Bartoli, the 2007 Wimbledon finalist, lost 6-3, 6-2 to the 88th-ranked Camila Giorgi after dropping serve six times. Paszek was beaten 6-1, 6-4 by wild-card entry Virgine Razzano. Lauren Davis upset sixth-seeded Christina McHale 7-5, 6-3, Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor downed No. 8 Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4), and fourth-seeded Hsieh Su-wei rallied to beat Annika Beck 6-7...

A federal appeals court Tuesday backed the U.S. government's decision not to release photos and video taken of Osama bin Laden during and after a raid in which the terrorist leader was killed by U.S. commandos. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington turned down an appeal from Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, which had filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the images. The Defense Department said it didn't turn up anything pertinent to the...

Police say protesting students have hurled homemade firebombs during demonstrations as Chilean President Sebastian Pinera makes his final state of the nation speech to Congress. Pinera was not exposed to the protest, however, The police Twitter account says two motorcycles have been burned and officers stopped attempts at looting. Several thousand people took part in Tuesday's protests. The students are demanding wide-ranging expansion of free education. The president says he won't promote that...

Tornadoes are a part of life in Moore, Oklahoma, something country star Toby Keith was reminded of when a deadly, devastating one leveled parts of his hometown on Monday. "It's happened so many times through my life, I've been in so many," Keith said in a phone interview Tuesday. "During my life, probably on average every four or five years, you probably have one that's devastating. ... It affects you, somebody you know, every time." This time it affected his sister, Tonni. Keith flew out of...

Lawmakers are seeking to prohibit the U.S. from removing missile defense equipment from East Asia, even if the threat posed by a nuclear-armed North Korea is eliminated. The legislative proposal is a response to remarks last month by Secretary of State John Kerry that the U.S. could reduce its heightened defense posture in the region if North Korea abandoned its nuclear weapons. That drew criticism from Republicans who are also concerned about China's military power. The wording is included...

Guyana's chief judge is holding hearings on whether to eliminate a colonial-era law that prohibits cross-dressing in the conservative South American country. The case was filed by a local gay rights group following a 2009 conviction and minor fines imposed on seven of its members. "The law is plainly at odds with the ethos and provisions of the Guyana constitution, which states that it is committed to eliminating every form of discrimination," spokesman Seon Clarke with the Society Against Sexual...

Lawmakers are seeking to prohibit the U.S. from removing missile defense equipment from East Asia, even if the threat posed by a nuclear-armed North Korea is eliminated. The legislative proposal is a response to remarks last month by Secretary of State John Kerry that the U.S. could reduce its heightened defense posture in the region if North Korea abandoned its nuclear weapons. That drew criticism from Republicans who are also concerned about China's military power. The wording is included...

Benat Intxausti of Spain won the 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday, and favorite Vincenzo Nibali retained the overall lead as the race entered the final week. Intxausti won in a time of 5 hours, 52 minutes, 48 seconds, along the hilly 238 kilometers (148 miles) from Valloire, France, to Ivrea beating Tanel Kangert and Przemyslaw Niemiec in a final sprint. Nibali, who finished third and second in his last two Giro d'Italia races, maintained his lead of 1 minute, 26 seconds over Cadel...

Portia de Rossi only believed it was happening when her agent got the good news from the producers. Michael Cera only believed it was happening when the cameras rolled. It happened all right. After years of clamoring from fans and rumors firing them up while the cast hung on for a green light, "Arrested Development" has risen from the dead with 15 half-hours premiering en masse on Netflix on Sunday at 3:01 a.m. EDT. "Arrested Development" is the cock-eyed comedy blessed with a king's ransom of...

A Palestinian report shows human rights abuses by the rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza are on the rise. The Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights said in its annual report Tuesday that incidents of abuse are up 10 percent since last year. Director Ahmed Harb said, "Most of the complaints were on torture, mistreatment, preventing and dispersing public assemblies, preventing reporters from reporting or arresting them." The report said the rift between Palestinian factions...

Israel's chief peace negotiator said Tuesday that the current stalemate with the Palestinians is harmful for Israel, days before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to arrive in Israel for his latest push to restart long-dormant talks. Tzipi Livni told a parliamentary committee that resuming negotiations was "first and foremost an Israeli interest." Direct negotiations have been largely frozen since the two sides were reportedly close to a deal in late 2008. The Palestinians demand...

ESPN is cutting its workforce, the latest Disney division to reduce staff. "We are implementing changes across the company to enhance our continued growth while smartly managing costs," the sports media giant said in a statement Tuesday. "While difficult, we are confident that it will make us more competitive, innovative and productive." The company would not say how many jobs are being eliminated, but they include unfilled positions. ESPN has about 7,000 employees worldwide, with about 4,000...

A new branch of the Venezuela-to-Cuba undersea fiber-optic cable has reportedly come online, linking the island to nearby Jamaica, increasing Cuba's potential international communications bandwidth and providing a backup for the main line. Doug Madory of Internet analysis firm Renesys told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he detected new traffic between Cuban state telecom monopoly Etecsa and Cable & Wireless Jamaica beginning May 13. "They're gaining some physical diversity there, so...

The makers of a diabetes and weight loss drug suspected in the deaths of hundreds of people went on trial Tuesday, facing charges they misled the public about the product's safety. But after years of delays in one of France's biggest recent health scandals, the proceedings could still be pushed back further. Between 1976 and 2009, around 5 million people took Mediator, which was used to treat weight problems among diabetics and also marketed more widely. The European Medicines Agency pulled Mediator...

Olympic leaders held a summit meeting on doping and match-fixing but declined to give any details of the discussions. IOC President Jacques Rogge chaired Tuesday's session, which was attended by the four vice presidents of the IOC and leaders of international sports federations, national Olympic committees and other key groups. One of the key topics was the role of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Some sports federations requested the meeting in February following public spats between WADA and the...

Toxicology tests on the body of the Newtown school shooter did not turn up any alcohol, illegal drugs or prescription medications, an official close to the investigation said Tuesday. Adam Lanza, 20, fatally shot 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14 before killing himself as police arrived. He also killed his mother at their Newtown home before going to the school. The official said the toxicology tests were completed about five weeks ago and the results...

Eminem's song publisher is suing Facebook and an ad agency, saying they copied music from one of the rapper's songs. Eight Mile Style filed a federal lawsuit in Detroit on Monday alleging that a 30-second Facebook ad broadcast online last month copied music from Eminem's 2000 song "Under the Influence." The Detroit Free Press ( http://on.freep.com/10LFB2N ) reports that the ad was featured in a webcast by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to announce Facebook Home, an interface for Android phones....

Italian cyclist Ivan Basso is set to resume training next week after medical tests revealed he doesn't need surgery on a cyst in his seat area. His Cannondale squad said Tuesday that Basso, who pulled out of the Giro d'Italia two days before the May 4 start, will undergo treatment that "should allow him to resume physical activity in the first days of next week." Basso won the Giro in 2006 and 2010. He should be fully fit for the Tour de France and Spanish Vuelta.

The company that resumed riverboat cruises on the Mississippi River a year ago said Tuesday that it will offer seven-night trips starting next year on the Columbia and Snake rivers in Oregon and Washington. It will be the first time the cruises have been offered since 2008, when the previous operator, Majestic America, ceased operations. The new operator, the American Queen Steamboat Company, made the announcement from its Memphis headquarters. The company purchased the same boat that previously...

Laura Mvula, "Sing to the Moon" (Columbia Records) Infused with a range of influences, including African folk and modern pop, English-born singer Laura Mvula is distinctively different on her debut album, "Sing to the Moon." Comparisons to Nina Simone and rising Scottish newcomer Emeli Sande have already been made, but Mvula shouldn't be compared to anyone. The opening track, "Like the Morning Dew," is alluring and appealing, as is the string and brass arrangement on the following song, "Make...

Japan midfielder Hajime Hosogai is leaving Bayer Leverkusen for promoted Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin. Hertha says on its website that the 26-year-old Hosogai signed a four-year deal. Both clubs agreed not to disclose the transfer fee. Hosogai, who has played 18 internationals for Japan, scored five goals in 98 games for J-League side Urawa Red Diamonds. He joined Leverkusen in 2011 but spent his first season in the Bundesliga on loan at Augsburg, making 39 appearances before returning to Leverkusen...

One Pistorius brother is free of charges _ acquitted Tuesday of culpable homicide in the death of a woman in a road accident. The famous younger brother, Olympian double-amputee Oscar Pistorius, still must face his day in court for shooting and killing his girlfriend. Carl Pistorius cried tears of relief Tuesday as a magistrate acquitted him of culpable homicide and negligent driving for the woman's death. The magistrate ruled that Carl Pistorius, 28, was not negligent and that Maria Barnard,...

A homeless man whose face was mostly chewed off in a bizarre attack last year in Miami says he doesn't want any more reconstructive surgery. Ronald Poppo spent nearly a month in a hospital after the attack alongside a Miami highway. Since then, he's been living in a long-term care facility. The attack left him blind and disfigured. Poppo's doctors said Tuesday he knows he's lost his nose and his left eye completely, but he's satisfied with the surgeries and skin grafts that have closed his wounds....

The boardwalks are back, and so are most of the beaches, even if some are a little thinner this year. The smell of funnel cakes, french fries and pizza will mingle with the salt air, and the screech of seagulls will be heard, but so will the thwack of hammers repairing what can be fixed and the roar of bulldozers and backhoes tearing down what can't. Welcome to Summer 2013 at the Jersey shore, the first since Superstorm Sandy pummeled the coast and upended hundreds of thousands of lives in October....

There were no bidders and no locksmiths willing to force entry for a scheduled auction Tuesday to sell artworks and other belongings of Nelson Mandela's ex-wife. The bid to force Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to pay an old debt for school fees for her grand-niece failed. Court sheriff John Maluleke and two other officials joined reporters gathered outside her gated home but were denied entry despite repeated ringing of the bell and banging on the metal gate. Lawyer Stephen Karnavos of Alan Levy...

The U.S Peace Corps says it will begin accepting applications from same-sex domestic partners who want to serve together as volunteers overseas. Peace Corps Deputy Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet says the change will diversify the pool of applicants who want to help improve the quality of education, health care and economic development in host countries around the world. Married couples have been serving together in the Peace Corps since the organization was founded in 1961. About 7 percent of...

The following list represents the most viral tracks on Spotify, based on the number of people who shared it divided by the number who listened to it, from Monday, May 13, to Sunday, May 19, via Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and Spotify. 1. Five Finger Death Punch, "Lift Me Up" (Prospect Park) 2. Mariah Carey, "Beautiful" (The Island Def Jam Music Group) 3. Robin Thicke, "Blurred Lines" (Star Trak LLC) 4. Lorde, "Royals" (Lava Music/Republic Records) 5. Hoodie Allen feat. Kina Grannis, "Make It...

The following list represents the top streamed tracks on Spotify from Monday, May 13, to Sunday, May 19: UNITED STATES 1. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton, "Can't Hold Us" (Macklemore) 2. Daft Punk, "Get Lucky _ Radio Edit" (Columbia Records) 3. Imagine Dragons, "Radioactive" (Interscope Records) 4. Justin Timberlake, "Mirrors" (RCA Records) 5. P!nk, "Just Give Me a Reason" (RCA Records) 6. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz, "Thrift Shop" (Macklemore) 7. Icona Pop feat....

Chelsea surged to the top of the weekly Associated Press global football poll after winning the Europa League and qualifying for the Champions League for the 11th straight season. There was also a Chelsea player at the summit of the player rankings, with Fernando Torres sharing first place with Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery after a week that saw the Spain striker belatedly regain his goalscoring form to impress the 14 voters on the panel. "Great week for Torres and `Spanish' Chelsea in the...

Stock indexes are edging higher in midday trading on Wall Street as investors look ahead to the Federal Reserve's next moves. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 32 points at 15,367 at noon Eastern Daylight Time Tuesday, a gain of 0.2 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up a point at 1,667, or 0.08 percent. The Nasdaq composite was up two points at 3,498, or 0.05 percent. Home Depot rose 2 percent, or $1.64, to $78.40 after the home improvement retailer reported an 18 percent...

Justin Bieber's pet monkey is no longer his. The capuchin monkey named Mally was seized by German customs on March 28 when the 19-year-old Canadian pop star failed to produce the required vaccination and import papers after landing in Munich for a European tour. Authorities issued an order Tuesday transferring ownership of the animal to Germany after Bieber missed a deadline to send the documents, customs spokesman Thomas Meister said. Bieber has six weeks to contest the decision. Mally, now...

Prosecutors say they have agreed to charge a U.S. Army private who released more than 700,000 secret U.S. documents to the WikiLeaks site with a lesser offense on one of the 22 counts against him. Maj. Ashden Fein said Tuesday that prosecutors had changed their minds about charging Pfc. Bradley Manning with violation of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in connection with the release of a cable known as Reykjavik-13. Wikileaks posted a cable in 2010 about a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland,...

Coach Frank de Boer has agreed to extend his contract with Ajax until 2017 after leading the Amsterdam club to its third straight Dutch league title. The club announced Tuesday it had reached a verbal agreement with De Boer to extend his contract that was to expire in June 2014. Financial terms were not disclosed. In less than three years as coach, De Boer has won the league three times, but is not ready to move on yet. He says, "I see enough challenges here, so this new contract is precisely...

The International Cycling Union says it will ask French officials to open a disciplinary case against Sylvain Georges after his backup sample also tested positive for a banned stimulant. The UCI says the second test confirmed the presence of Heptaminol in a urine sample Georges gave after the seventh stage of the Giro d'Italia. The 28-year-old AG2R La Mondiale rider was withdrawn from the Giro last Wednesday after the first positive test was reported. Heptaminol is considered a specified substance,...

Canada's prime minister says those who seek to benefit personally from office should leave government, but he declined to discuss details about a Senate expenses scandal that ranks as one of the biggest controversies to hit Prime Minister Stephen Harper since he took office. The scandal has led to the resignations of Harper's chief of staff and two senators. Harper told Conservative lawmakers Tuesday that he's angry, but he didn't discuss details of a $90,000 gift from his chief of staff to a...

Carol Burnett, who became famous for playing a variety of characters in sketch comedy routines on her namesake American television show, was named the winner of the nation's top humor prize on Tuesday. The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts said Burnett will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Oct. 20 in Washington. A gala performance will feature top names in comedy The 80-year-old Burnett said she can't believe she is receiving the prize. "It's almost impossible to be funnier...

French actor Gerard Depardieu will star in a drama about a Chechen man who seeks revenge for the killing of his son. Chechnya, a southern Russian province, has been in the spotlight since it emerged that the suspects in April's Boston marathon bombing are ethnic Chechens. The predominantly Muslim province was devastated by two separatist wars with Moscow, and its current Kremlin-backed ruler has been widely criticized for human rights violations. The ruler, Ramzan Kadyrov, has been a gracious...

Mack Emerman, the founder of Criteria Recording Studios where acts including Eric Clapton, James Brown and the Bee Gees made some of their most famous records, has died after a long illness. He was 89. His daughter Bebe Emerman said Tuesday that her father died of complications from pneumonia at the Miami Jewish Home for the Aged, where he had lived since his health began failing in 2004. The Criteria studio, which he opened in 1959 in North Miami, has been operated by the Hit Factory since 1999....

Wireless equipment maker Ericsson AB says it will close down its telecom cable manufacturing operation and cut around 350 jobs in Sweden. Ericsson said Tuesday it has given notice to 318 workers in the city of Hudiksvall in Sweden and has started negotiations with unions to cut another 36 positions in Stockholm. Tomas Qvist, head of Special Products in business unit Networks, said the decision was based on the fact that Ericsson's production of telecom cables has a small market share, has "not...

Ray Manzarek, a founding member of the 1960s rock group The Doors whose versatile and often haunting keyboards complemented Jim Morrison's gloomy baritone and helped set the mood for some of rock's most enduring songs, has died. He was 74. Manzarek died Monday in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family, said publicist Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald. She said the musician's manager, Tom Vitorino, confirmed Manzarek died after being stricken with bile duct cancer. The Doors' original lineup, which...

Sri Lankan labor union leaders are accusing the government of using threats and intimidation to undermine a one-day strike against a recent increase in electricity rates. The unions planned the strike Tuesday in rare public resistance to President Mahinda Rajapaksa's powerful government. But few people joined the strike, with key sectors such as transport, port operations and health staying away. Teachers' union leader Mahinda Jayasinghe said the government sent letters canceling leave and sought...