Oil rises near $92 ahead of key Iran nuclear talks

Oil prices rose to near $92 a barrel Monday in Asia ahead of talks this week aimed at avoiding a military conflict over Iran's nuclear program.

NATO to endorse Afghan exit plan, seeks routes out

CHICAGO (Reuters) - NATO leaders will endorse plans to hand over combat command in Afghanistan by mid-2013 on Monday and seek practical progress in opening routes to bring an international army of more than 130,000 back home from an unpopular, resource-draining war. The strategy for a gradual exit from Afghanistan is aimed at holding together the multinational force and maintaining security in spite of France's decision to withdraw its troops earlier than scheduled. ...

Miss. prison riot leaves guard dead, 6 hurt

A prison guard was killed Sunday during a riot that also injured five other correctional officers and hurt at least one inmate at a privately run facility in Mississippi that holds illegal immigrants, authorities said.

Protesters march through Chicago to NATO summit

Thousands of protesters marched through downtown Chicago on Sunday in one of the city's largest demonstrations in years, airing grievances about war, climate change and a wide range of other complaints as world leaders assembled for a NATO summit.

Eclipse 'ring of fire' wows Asian, US sky-gazers

Millions turned their eyes to the sky on both sides of the Pacific as a solar eclipse created a "ring of fire" from Asia to the western United States, where it was greeted with whoops in California.

Yahoo to sell half of its Alibaba stake for $7.1B

Yahoo Inc. has agreed to sell half of its 40 percent stake in Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba for about $7.1 billion, and the struggling U.S. Internet company said it would return most of the cash to shareholders.

MS prison riot leaves guard dead, 6 hurt

Officials say a riot at a privately run federal prison in southwest Mississippi that left one guard dead and five other correctional officers and an inmate injured has been brought under control.

Pakistan restores access to Twitter

Pakistan restored access to Twitter after briefly blocking the microblog over "blasphemous" posts about a Facebook competition involving caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

Pakistan blocks Twitter over contentious tweets

Pakistan blocked the social networking website Twitter for several hours because it refused to remove tweets considered offensive to Islam, said one of the country's top telecommunications officials.

Chinese company to buy US movie theater chain AMC

A Chinese conglomerate announced Monday it will buy U.S. cinema chain AMC Entertainment Holdings for $2.6 billion to create the world's biggest movie theater operator.

APNewsBreak: 22 states join campaign finance fight

Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia are backing Montana in its fight to prevent the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision from being used to strike down state laws restricting corporate campaign spending.

Study: 2,000 convicted then exonerated in 23 years

More than 2,000 people who were falsely convicted of serious crimes have been exonerated in the United States in the past 23 years, according to a new archive compiled at two universities.

Europe faces difficult search for growth

On paper at least, European leaders agree: They need stronger growth measures to help their economies expand out of their 2½-year-old government debt crisis. Figuring out exactly what those new steps might be will be the hard part.

Asia stocks mixed after G8 vague on Europe fix

Asian stock markets struggled for direction Monday, with investors unconvinced that the world's major economies nailed a solution to the European debt crisis following a summit in Washington.

Protesters clash with police at NATO summit

Protesters clashed with riot police as an anti-NATO protest turned ugly in Chicago when a few hundred demonstrators demanding an end to war ignored orders to clear the streets.

Ultra-Orthodox hold large NYC meeting on Net risks

Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men attended a rally Sunday at the New York Mets' stadium on the dangers of the Internet and how to use modern technology in a religiously responsible way.

Today in History

Today is Monday, May 21, the 142nd day of 2012. There are 224 days left in the year.

NATO shifts to help an elusive Afghanistan peace

President Barack Obama and NATO allies declared Sunday that the end of the long and unpopular Afghanistan war is in sight even as they struggled to hold their fighting force together in the face of dwindling patience and shaky unity.

Ruling party candidate leads Dominican vote count

A long-time governing party official took the lead late Sunday in vote counting from the Dominican Republic's presidential election, leading a brash ex-president whose last term ended with the deepest economic crisis in the country's modern history.

AP Photos: Millions view 'ring of fire' eclipse

Millions of early risers in Asia turned their attention skyward to view a rare "ring of fire" eclipse as it crossed their skies Monday morning.

3 charged in carjacking of pastor Marvin Winans

Three young men were arraigned Sunday in the assault and carjacking of popular Detroit pastor and gospel singing icon Marvin Winans.

Coyotes live to fight another day in NHL series

The Phoenix Coyotes weren't about to go quietly into the night as long as captain Shane Doan had a say in the matter.

Newark mayor: Romney business record is fair game

Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker is backing off comments he made earlier Sunday, when he criticized President Barack Obama's re-election campaign for its attacks on Bain Capital, the private equity firm once run by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Alibaba to buy back shares from Yahoo! for $7.1 bln

Alibaba, China's top e-commerce player, will re-purchase a 20-percent state in itself from US portal Yahoo! for at least $7.1 billion, the companies announced.

Bee Gees' Robin Gibb dies after long cancer battle

With his carefully tended hair, tight trousers and perfect harmonies, Robin Gibb, along with his brothers Maurice and Barry, defined the disco era. As part of the Bee Gees — short for the Brothers Gibb — they created dance floor classics like "Stayin Alive," ''Jive Talkin'," and "Night Fever" that can still get crowds onto a dance floor.