19 Jun. 20139:31 AM ET

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's president said Wednesday he will not pursue peace talks with the Taliban unless the United States steps out of the negotiations, while also insisting the militant group stop its violent attacks on the ground after it claimed responsibility for a rocket attack that killed four Americans.

19 Jun. 20138:10 AM ET

BERLIN (AP) — Trying to tamp down concerns about government over-reach, President Barack Obama on Wednesday defended U.S. Internet and phone surveillance programs as narrowly targeted efforts that have saved lives and thwarted at least 50 terror threats.

19 Jun. 20132:17 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — Worry and speculation have consumed investors since Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke to Congress last month about the Federal Reserve's drive to keep long-term interest rates at record lows.

19 Jun. 201310:56 AM ET

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Seven al-Qaida-linked gunmen detonated a pick-up truck rigged with explosives at the gate of the U.N. compound in Somalia's capital Wednesday, launching a bombs-and-gunfire assault that saw militants pour into the complex, killing at least nine people, including three foreigners, officials said.

19 Jun. 201310:54 AM ET

SAO PAULO (AP) — Street demonstrations popped up again around Brazil early Wednesday as protesters continued their collective cry against the low-quality public services they receive in exchange for high taxes and high prices.

19 Jun. 201311:02 AM ET

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A search of a rural field in suburban Detroit has failed to turn up the remains of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa, an FBI agent announced Wednesday as authorities ended the dig.

19 Jun. 201310:52 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year, according to a GOP senator.

19 Jun. 201310:43 AM ET

BERLIN (AP) — Issuing an appeal for a new citizen activism in the free world, President Barack Obama renewed his call Wednesday to reduce U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles and to confront climate change, a danger he called "the global threat of our time."

19 Jun. 20138:32 AM ET

The zoo in Novosibirsk, Russia's third-largest city, is home to a unique animal — the liliger. That's a big cat breed where the father is a lion and the mother is a lion-tiger hybrid, called a liger.