A judge in Italy has ordered the captain of the Costa Concordia to stand trial in the shipwreck of the cruise liner, which struck a reef off Tuscany last year, killing 32 people.

A North Korean state media dispatch shows that leader Kim Jong Un has named a hardline general as his new military chief.

Hungarian police say they are investigating an incident in which an elderly man may have been mauled to death by two donkeys.

Pope Francis has expressed his "closeness to the families of all who died in the Oklahoma tornado," with special concern for "those who lost young children."

A Moroccan court has convicted two men of homosexuality and public indecency, and sentenced each to four months in prison, in the latest case against gays in this North African nation.

Three former Ford Motor Co. executives have been charged with crimes against humanity in Argentina for allegedly targeting union workers for kidnapping and torture after the country's 1976 military coup.

A Truth Commission investigating human rights abuses under the nation's military dictatorship says that those it finds guilty of torture could be brought to trial.

Residents of a western Mexico area who endured months besieged by a drug cartel cheered the arrival of hundreds of Mexican soldiers Monday.

Officials in Turkey say two hot air balloons collided mid-air during a sightseeing tour of volcanic rock formations today, causing one of them to crash to the ground.

A retired Anglican priest has been convicted of 36 separate sex offenses against children in the 1960s and 1970s.

A surprise shell has caused a big stir at a popular Athens beach.

A Swedish prosecutor says three former executives of automaker Saab Automobile AB have been arrested on accounting fraud charges.

Saudi Arabia says it has recorded another death from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing the total number of deaths in the kingdom to 16.

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.

Rescuers have pulled another body from a collapsed facility at a giant U.S.-owned gold and copper mine in Indonesia, bringing the death toll to six.

A lawyer says the High Court in Bangladesh's capital has asked authorities to prevent the owner of a garment factory where 112 people died in a fire last year from leaving the country.

Iran's state radio says authorities have executed two men convicted of spying for Israel's Mossad and the American CIA intelligence agency.

A Russian capsule carrying mice, lizards and other small animals returned to Earth on Sunday after spending a month in space for what scientists said was the longest experiment of its kind.

Pope Francis is calling for renewal in the Catholic church as he wrapped up two days of mass gatherings in St. Peter's Square aimed at energizing the faithful.

Egyptian officials say baggage handlers in Cairo's airport have gone on strike to protest a colleague's death, leaving passengers on 20 international flights from Europe and Arab countries waiting several hours for luggage.

Shootings and bombings have killed at least 16 people in Iraq today. And gunmen abducted eight policemen guarding a post on the country's main highway to Jordan and Syria.

France will see its first gay weddings within days, after French President Francois Hollande signed a law Saturday authorizing marriage and adoption by same-sex couples and ending months of nationwide protests and wrenching debate.

Yemeni security officials say a suspected US drone strike killed four al-Qaida militants in the country's south.

Part of an airliner carrying more than 130 people caught fire as it was landing in Moscow, and passengers evacuated the plane by jumping off one of its wings and shooting down an evacuation slide.

A Congolese official says the body of a journalist was found on the bank of the Ngezi River near the provincial capital of Bunia in eastern Congo.