Sean Penn holds Haiti fundraiser at Cannes

Repsol: Exploratory oil well off Cuba comes up dry

An exploratory oil well off the northern coast of Cuba has proved a failure and will be capped and abandoned, Spanish company Repsol said Friday, a disappointment for a cash-strapped nation hoping for an economic lifeline.

Cubans denied US visas have record of engagement

The political hubbub over Washington's decision to grant a visa to the daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro has eclipsed the fact the State Department simultaneously denied nearly a dozen other prominent Cubans permits to attend an academic conference in California, among them some of the island's most independent and open-minded scholars.

Salvage firm: Concordia wreckage gone by early '13

Salvage experts plan to use water-filled cisterns to weigh down the above-sea side of the cruise liner capsized off the Italian coast — part of an effort to turn the massive vessel upright so that it can towed for demolition early next year. One official on Friday called the operation's magnitude "unprecedented."

UN urges massive support for Afghan forces

The United Nations has been urging participants at this weekend's NATO summit to provide "predictable, massive, long-term support" for Afghanistan's security forces to promote stability and ensure that the country is never again a base for international terrorism, the U.N. envoy to Afghanistan said Friday.

German baritone opera singer Fischer-Dieskau dead

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, the renowned German baritone singer who performed for more than five decades on stages in Berlin, Vienna, London and New York, died Friday. He was 86.

Queen's Jubilee guest list raises eyebrows

Britain has come under criticism for inviting the king of Bahrain, whose Gulf state has engaged in a brutal crackdown on political dissent, to a lunch Friday celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.

Warsaw fires architect of planned art museum

Officials have fired the Swiss architect tapped to design an ambitious museum of modern art in Poland's capital, throwing the whole project off track.

Cannes entry 'Paradise: Love' looks at sex tourism

There's sun, sand and sex in Cannes Film Festival entry "Paradise: Love" — and they add up to a grim and unsettling holiday movie.

Iranian singer in hiding in Germany after threats

An Iranian-born singer who went into hiding after receiving death threats for allegedly insulting a Shiite Muslim saint said Friday he didn't intend to provoke the wrath of religious extremists.

Poland to press for Afghan mission end at summit

Poland's president says he will press NATO leaders at an upcoming summit to stick to plans to end its military mission in Afghanistan in 2014, and for member states to offer financial support to the nation after troops have left.

Malawi's president vows to repeal gay ban

President Joyce Banda declared Friday she wants to repeal Malawi's laws against homosexual acts, going against a trend in Africa in which gays are being increasingly singled out for prosecution.

Divided but peaceful 2 years after Thai violence

Just two years ago, Thailand was at war with itself. Rifle shots and exploding grenades rang out in Bangkok as troops crushed through barricades to disperse a nine-week-old insurrection. A retired nurse was the last to capitulate.

Report: HSBC says regulations may prompt UK exit

HSBC may decide to sell its U.K. retail banking operations, depending on the impact of yet to be announced new banking regulations, published reports say.

Malawi president looks into predecessor's death

Malawi's new president says official investigators will look into her predecessor's recent death in office and alleged attempts to keep her from taking his place.

Putin gives top job to tank factory worker

President Vladimir Putin has given a senior government post to a tank factory worker who had offered to come to Moscow with fellow laborers to disperse opposition protests.

Imprisoned star of 'Reality' impresses at Cannes

The breakout performance at the Cannes Film Festival this year is Aniello Arena's turn as a Naples fishmonger who becomes obsessed with appearing on a "Big Brother"-style TV show in "Reality."

American jihadi says he had 'privileged' childhood

An American who serves as a commander with a Somali militant group says in a new autobiography that he had a "privileged" childhood in Alabama before he joined the al-Qaida linked militants.

A teenager hanged herself after becoming convinced the world would end in 2012 after researching doomsday scenarios on the internet, an inquest heard. Schoolgirl Isabel Taylor, 16, turned to Buddhism after becoming fed up with the 'complications and injustice' of the modern wo …

Facebook stock up slightly in public debut "Facebook stock up slightly in first day of trading after raking in $16 billion in IPO"  

A 7-year-old girl is at the center of an international custody dispute. She is a child with two identities, in two countries, with two sets of parents who claim her as their own. Loyda Rodriguez says she can still remember the day her daughter was taken. What began as a simple  …

Complaints filed over alleged use by police of Taser electroshock weapons, beating and kicking bound detainees, racist verbal abuse and sexual harassment of female detainees.

The U.S. has plans in place to attack Iran if necessary to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, Washington's envoy to Israel said, days ahead of a crucial round of nuclear talks with Tehran.

 President Barack Obama will host the NATO alliance Sunday in Chicago to talk of long-term commitments to Afghanistan, tempered by the fact that the countries are tired of the war, their budgets are strained and they see a need to resist what one analyst called “a rush …

"Whenever they want to implement reform, their children might say, 'Dad, what about my business?'" professor says

Tobacco, computers, Mercedes cars and cosmetics on list of goods shipped to reclusive state through China

Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko declares a national disaster area

The Hague war crimes tribunal, already under fire for its slow pace in dealing with Balkan war crimes cases, was thrown into confusion on Thursday by the revelation that lawyers prosecuting the Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic had failed to turn over hundreds of thousands of …

Couple, eyed in incidents in at least 4 countries, faces separate N.Y. charges

Twitter and Facebook have proven invaluable to protest movements around the world. In this episode of Fast Forward, social media experts gather in a Google Hangout session to weigh in on the strengths and weaknesses of Twitter and Facebook as a tool for protesters, from Tahrir  …

The Welcome Home Veterans Living Military Museum celebrated the grand opening of its permanent home in North Carolina