Thousands rally against gay marriage in France

PARIS (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of protesters are mobilizing against the French president's plan to legalize gay marriage, streaming into Paris by bus, car and specially reserved high-speed train.Police are expecting about 300,000 people to march toward the Eiffel Tower from three different points in the city, tying up traffic and closing subway stations for hours in what could be the largest...

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Thousands gather to protest Russia's adoption ban

MOSCOW (AP) — Thousands of people are gathering in central Moscow for a protest against Russia's new law banning Americans from adopting Russian children.They are carrying posters of President Vladimir Putin and members of Russia's parliament who overwhelmingly voted for the law last month. The posters have the word "Shame" written in red over the faces and proclaim that Sunday's demonstration is...

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AP Interview: Dane's life as a spy inside al-Qaida

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — After converting to Islam, a former member of a Danish motorcycle gang travels to Yemen to study the Quran and soon comes in contact with radical preachers waging holy war against the West.On the verge of becoming a jihadist, he abruptly abandons his faith and embarks on a dangerous undercover mission to help Western intelligence agencies capture or kill terrorists.Morten...

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Serbia loosens grip over Kosovo

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia on Sunday adopted a set of guidelines for reconciliation talks with the leaders of Kosovo, in a strong first signal it is loosening its claim to its former province in hopes of getting closer to European Union membership.In a resolution adopted by an overwhelming majority in Parliament, Serbia maintained it will never recognize Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence....

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Reports: sled crash kills 6 on Italian ski slope

ROME (AP) — Italian news reports say a motorized sled making a night run down an Italian ski slope slammed into a fence and flipped over into a ditch, killing six tourists and severely injuring two others aboard.RAI state radio reported early Saturday that the sled's occupants were Russian tourists. The crash occurred on an unlit slope late Friday on Mount Cermis in northeast Italy. Victims' names...

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Italy: 6 Russian tourists die in snowmobile crash

ROME (AP) — Italian news reports say six Russian tourists were killed and two others were injured after their snowmobile slammed into a fence and flipped over into a ditch during a night run down an Italian ski slope.RAI state radio reported early Saturday that the crash occurred on an unlit slope late Friday on Mount Cermis in northeast Italy. Victims' names were not immediately available. Cause...

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Excavators head to Myanmar to find WWII Spitfires

LONDON (AP) — An airplane-obsessed farmer, a freelance archaeologist and a team of excavators are heading to the Myanmar city of Yangon on Saturday to find a nearly forgotten stash of British fighter planes thought to be carefully buried beneath the former capital's airfield.The venture, backed with a million-dollar guarantee from a Belarusian videogame company, could uncover dozens of Spitfire aircraft...

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Egypt says it seizes US-made missiles near Gaza

 Egyptian authorities seized six U.S.-made missiles in the Sinai Peninsula Friday that security officials said were likely smuggled from Libya and bound for the Gaza Strip.Libya's 2011 uprising and subsequent civil war left the country awash in weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades, automatic rifles and other munitions. Since the end of the country's eight-month conflict, smugglers have...

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Saudi's top cleric warns against mixing of genders

 Saudi Arabia's top cleric on Friday warned against the mixing of the genders, saying it poses a threat to female chastity and society, as the kingdom prepares for the first time to grant women seats on the country's top advisory body.Delivering his traditional Friday sermon, Grand Mufti Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheik said authorities must adhere to Shariah, or Islamic law, by ensuring men and women...

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Iraq's al-Sadr visits church, site of 2010 attack

BAGHDAD (AP) — Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr reached out to Iraq's religious minorities Friday, visiting a Baghdad church desecrated in a deadly 2010 attack and a prominent Sunni mosque as public opposition spread against his rival, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.The anti-U.S. cleric's stops at the holy sites — a rare public appearance outside predominantly Shiite parts of Iraq — came as tens of thousands...

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Fatah rally in Gaza looks toward unity with Hamas

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Tens of thousands of Fatah supporters rallied in the Hamas stronghold of Gaza on Friday for the first time since they were routed from power in the territory by the Islamist militants in 2007.The rally, approved by Gaza's Hamas rulers, marks a renewed attempt by the rival Palestinian factions to show unity following a fierce Hamas battle with Israel in November and Fatah's...

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Syrian forces bombard rebel areas near capital

 Syrian government warplanes and artillery pounded restive suburbs of Damascus on Friday and anti-regime activists said a car bomb targeted an intelligence building north of the capital.Fighting in Syria's civil war has flared in areas around Damascus as rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad try to push into the city itself. The rebel advances in the suburbs threaten the government's...

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Unreleased ‘BlackBerry X10′ QWERTY phone appears again in new photos

As Research In Motion’s (RIMM) January 30th BlackBerry 10 unveiling draws closer, nearly every last detail surrounding RIM’s first two BlackBerry 10-powered smartphones will likely soon emerge. The vendor has a long history of leaks leading up to its new device announcements, and this time around RIM reps toured the world showing the phones to every carrier that would meet with them. Pictured once...

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BlackBerry Z10 with AT&T-compatible LTE uncovered ahead of January unveiling

Hang in there, American BlackBerry fans — your wait for a new device is nearly over. Engadget reports that the Federal Communications Commission has granted approval to what looks like RIM’s (RIMM) BlackBerry Z10 smartphone for use on AT&T’s (T) LTE and HSPA networks. The Z10, which will be the first device released with the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, is rumored to include a Qualcomm...

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No surprise: YouTube, Angry Birds, Instagram and Facebook among 2012′s top apps

Although every app developer dreams of creating the next big mobile app, it seems that established applications are becoming more firmly entrenched at the top of the food chain. Per Reuters, year-end totals from the Apple (AAPL) App Store and Google (GOOG) Play show that stalwarts such as YouTube, Angry Birds, Instagram and Facebook (FB) “continued to be among the most downloaded apps of the year,”...

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Thieves stole more than $1 million worth of Apple products during a New Years Eve heist

As the world celebrated the New Year, masked men forced their way into an Apple (AAPL) retail store in Paris and made off with an estimated $1.32 million worth of iPads, iPhones and Macs, according to The Wall Street Journal. The suspects are said to have broken in through an employee entrance, slightly injuring a cleaner and a security guard. Apple products have been a hot commodity for thieves this...

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Poll: Would you buy a blue, pink or yellow iPhone 5S?

A report issued by Topeka Capital Markets on Wednesday morning suggested that Apple (AAPL) has some big changes in store for the next-generation iPhone. According to analyst Brian White, the “iPhone 5S” will be available with two different screen sizes to help Apple better address emerging markets, marking the first time Apple offers a single smartphone model with multiple screen size options. In...

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