JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel and the U.S. on Monday carried out a successful test of the next-generation Arrow 3 missile defense system, for the first time sending an interceptor into outer space, where it could destroy missiles fired from Iran.The Arrow 3 is part of a multilayered system that Israel is developing to protect against a range of missile threats, from short-range rockets in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon to medium and longer-range missiles in the hands of Syria and Iran. The Arrow system i

MOSCOW (AFP) -- The Syrian regime is ready for talks with armed rebels and anyone who favours dialogue, President Bashar al-Assad's foreign minister said in Moscow on Monday in the first such offer by a top Syrian official.Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem was in Moscow for talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, whose country is one of the few big powers to still maintain ties with Assad's regime.Russia has renewed calls for rebels and regime to engage in direct negotiations to end the tw

TOKYO (AFP) -- A 5.7-magnitude earthquake hit Japan on Monday, setting buildings in the capital swaying but causing no risk of a tsunami, seismologists said.National broadcaster NHK said no abnormalities were detected at nuclear power plants near the epicentre, which was north of Tokyo, where buildings rocked for upwards of half a minute.The US Geological Survey said the quake had hit at 16:23, with its epicentre 57 kilometres north-northeast of Maebashi and around 143 kilometres north-northwest

BEIJING (AP) ― Chinese leader Xi Jinping reaffirmed China’s desire to bring Taiwan under its control in a meeting Monday in Beijing with the honorary head of the island’s ruling party.Xi’s meeting with Nationalist Party honorary chairman Lien Chan was viewed on both sides as a symbolic gesture aimed a reaffirming warming ties between the former rivals following Xi’s elevation to leader of the ruling Communist Party last year. Once-tense relations have given way to thriving trade, transport, and

Conservative candidate Nicos Anastasiades won Cyprus' presidency Sunday by one of the widest margins in 30 years, promising to do what it takes to quickly secure a financial rescue package from international creditors and prevent the country from sliding into economic oblivion.Anastasiades, 66, won the runoff election with 57.48 percent of the vote, well ahead of left-wing rival Stavros Malas, who nabbed 42.51 percent, final results showed.The election comes as Cyprus is negotiating a much-neede

Raul Castro announced Sunday that he will step down as Cuba's president in 2018 following a final five-year term, for the first time putting a date on the end of the Castro era. He tapped rising star Miguel Diaz-Canel as his top lieutenant and first in the line of succession. The 81-year-old Castro also said he hopes to establish two-term limits and age caps for political offices including the presidency _ an astonishing prospect for a nation led by Castro or his older brother Fidel since the 19

PATTANI, Thailand (AP) – Police say suspected insurgents detonated two bombs that wounded 10 people and staged a series of minor attacks in nearly 30 spots in Thailand's violence-plagued south.Police Col. Tongsuk Jaranpong says the militants set off an improvised bomb in a garbage can in the city of Pattani on Saturday night. The explosion slightly wounded three police officers who had been called to inspect a suspicious item.Tongsuk says seven civilian security officers suffered minor injuries

VATICAN CITY (AP) ― The Vatican lashed out Saturday at the media for what it said has been a run of defamatory and false reports before the conclave to elect Pope Benedict XVI’s successor, saying they were an attempt to influence the election.Italian newspapers have been rife with unsourced reports in recent days about the contents of a secret dossier prepared for the pope by three cardinals who investigated the origins of the 2012 scandal over leaked Vatican documents.The reports have suggested

NICOSIA (AFP) ― Voting was under way in Cyprus on Sunday in a left-right presidential runoff to elect a new leader to seal a crucial bailout for the EU state on the brink of bankruptcy.The vote, being closely watched in European Union capitals, pits rightwing opposition leader Nicos Anastasiades against Stavros Malas, who is backed by the communist party Akel in power during the island’s economic downturn.Clear frontrunner Anastasiades says he has sounded out foreign governments for a possible b

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan said three Chinese surveillance ships entered its territorial waters off disputed East China Sea islands on Sunday, hours after one of Beijing’s fisheries patrol boats sailed into the zone.The three marine surveillance ships entered the 12-nautical-mile territorial zone off Uotsuri, one of the Senkaku islands, shortly before 1 p.m., the Japan Coast Guard said in a statement.The incident came hours after Japan said a Chinese fisheries patrol boat briefly entered the territoria

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would-be attacker in the capital city of Kabul.The attacks were a reminder that insurgents are still going on the offensive even as U.S. and other international forces draw down. All four attacks Sunday appeared to target Afghan forces, who have been suffering higher casualties this year. Afghan soldier