LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Authorities say the elementary school teacher told the children that it was a game. Once inside his third-grade classroom, they say, he blindfolded them, gagged them and set cockroaches crawling on their faces.And then, Mark Berndt photographed them, creating hundreds of images t

An Italian woman said she is willing to give up a kidney in exchange for a job for her 38-year-old son. The Perugia woman, whose name was not released, told the daily La Nazione she had “nothing left to lose and nothing to be ashamed of” in offering her kidney in exchange for employment for her s

SHANGHAI (AP) -- China’s environmental authorities were redoubling efforts Monday to prevent a toxic cadmium spill from further tainting water supplies of cities downstream, as seven chemical company officials were reported detained in connection with the accident.Official reports have provided little information about the exact cause of the spill, whose impact was first seen in fish kills in mid-January. The contamination initially was blamed on a mining company, but the official Xinhua News Ag

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) -- A severe and snowy cold snap across central and eastern Europe has left at least 36 people dead, cut off power to towns, and snarled traffic. Officials are responding with measures ranging from opening shelters to dispensing hot tea, with particular concern for the homeless and elderly.This part of Europe is not unused to cold, but the current freeze, which spread to most of the region last week, came after a period of relatively mild weather. Many were shocked when temp

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Occupy D.C. protesters defied a threatened police clampdown on their tent colony Monday, pitching a massive “tent of dreams” in the park near the White House they took over four months ago.With several hundred cheering supporters looking on, but no police in sight, they hoisted a deep-blue tarpaulin over an equestrian statue of Civil War general James McPherson in the downtown Washington square that bears his name.Under the tarp, and surrounding the granite base of the statue,

CAIRO (AP) ― Three American citizens barred from leaving Egypt have sought refuge at the American Embassy in Cairo amid growing tensions between the two allies over an Egyptian investigation into foreign-funded pro-democracy groups.The White House said Monday it was disappointed with Egypt’s handing of the issue, which U.S. officials have warned could stand in the way of more than $1 billion in badly needed U.S. aid.The growing spat between the two longtime allies reflects the uncertainty as the

BEIJING (AP) ― None of the 29 Chinese workers abducted after an attack in a volatile region of Sudan have been freed, Chinese state media said Tuesday, dismissing reports that some of the workers had been released.The workers were abducted Saturday by militants in a remote region in the country’s south. Sudanese state media reported Monday that 14 of them had been freed, but the official Xinhua News Agency and China Daily newspaper said all 29 were still being held.China has close political and

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) _ Police in northern Mexico have captured an alleged member of the Zetas drug gang who confessed to killing at least 75 people, including many who were pulled off buses, authorities said Monday.Enrique Elizondo Flores told investigators 36 of his victims were bus passengers tr

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) ― The African Union’s new chairman faced tough challenges Sunday as U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon warned that a furious row between Sudan and South Sudan threatened regional security.Thomas Boni Yayi, the president of Benin, vowed to work for peace in his one-year tenure as the 54-member bloc’s rotating head, as sideline talks at the two-day summit tried to tackle several hotspots across the continent.Top of these were Sudan tensions. Ban said both Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir an

AMMAN (AP) ― A high-profile visit to Jordan by the leader of Hamas has revived contacts with the Palestinian militant group, but Jordan will not lift a ban on its activities there, a senior Jordanian official said Sunday.Khaled Mashaal’s visit was part of Jordan’s efforts to engage with previously shunned Islamists, who have been gaining ground across the region in Arab Spring uprisings.“It will only break the ice, following years of estrangement,” said the official, who was attending talks betw