LOS ANGELES (AP) – Facebook says it is dropping its reliance on news outlets to help determine what gets posted as a “trending topic” on the giant social network, a move adopted after a backlash over a report saying it suppressed conservative views. Facebook’s General Counsel Colin Stretch outlined the …

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – After decades of officially-imposed detachment from the “Great Satan,” Iranians are this time transfixed by the wild U.S. presidential campaign, mindful that the next White House occupant could have direct impact on their lives. At the heart of the matter is last year’s deal with world …

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) – President Barack Obama said Monday that the violent death of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour by a U.S. airstrike should send a “clear signal” to anti-American extremists that “we’re going to protect our people.” Obama also said Mansour’s death was an “important milestone” in the …

BAGHDAD (AP) – Iraqi government forces on Monday pushed Islamic State militants out of some agricultural areas outside of Fallujah as they launched a military offensive to recapture the city from the extremists, officials said. Backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and paramilitary troops, Iraqi government forces launched the long-awaited military …

TOKYO (AP) – Two very different visions of the hell that is war are seared into the minds of World War II survivors on opposite sides of the Pacific. Michiko Kodama saw a flash in the sky from her elementary school classroom on Aug. 6, 1945, before the ceiling fell …

SANAA, Yemen (AP) – A pair of suicide bombings killed at least 45 people in Yemen’s southern city of Aden on Monday, security officials said. They said the bombings targeted young men seeking to join the army. One suicide car bomber targeted a line outside an army recruitment center, killing …

PARIS (AP) – Explosives in the form of paper, or concealed in a medicine-sized bottle and looking like salt. Tiny electric detonators. Security agents at the main airport in Paris are trained to detect all manner of increasingly sophisticated devices that could doom a flight. But the chilling reality is …

BANGKOK (AP) – Vietnam granted early release from prison to a Catholic priest who is one of its most prominent dissidents, a move widely seen as a goodwill gesture before President Barack Obama arrives on an official visit late Sunday night. The Catholic Archdiocese of the central city of Hue …

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) – Less than two years ago, amid Cyprus’ worst economic crisis in decades, a charity shop run by the Orthodox Church in the heart of medieval Nicosia was awash with jobless people looking for free food. Now, demand has dropped off to the point where Church authorities …

AKIU, Japan (AP) – The Group of Seven major economies showed a united front on fighting terrorist financing and tax evasion in talks that ended Saturday, but shied away from coordinated action on policies to revive stalling growth. An “action plan” issued after the talks by G7 finance ministers and …