LONDON (AP) — The British Cabinet minister responsible for the media says the press must face tougher penalties for breaches of standards in the wake of the tabloid phone-hacking scandal. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the BBC on Sunday that newspapers must change their system of self-regulation, but insisted the government should not have any role. He said the written media need a tougher system of industry-led regulation, with the capacity to hand out “credible punishment” for transgressions. The Press... Read more

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — A mounting rebellion by Hamas leaders in Gaza against a breakthrough power-sharing agreement with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas highlights a potentially fatal flaw — the deal never spelled out how the Western-backed leader can take charge again in Gaza, the territory he lost to a violent takeover by the Islamic militants. Former bitter foes Abbas and Khaled Mashaal, Hamas’ top leader in exile, signed the Qatar-brokered deal in Doha last week, saying they are committed... Read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — The past week’s dustup over contraception underscored President Barack Obama’s early advantage in one important area: working to attract independent voters without alienating his Democratic base. His Republican rivals, meanwhile, are forced to keep emphasizing their conservative credentials to attract the right-leaning activists who dominate primaries and caucuses. It’s a dynamic that usually plays out when a president seeks re-election without a primary challenger, and a nomination fight wages on the opposite side. While Obama already is... Read more

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A day after Mitt Romney regained some momentum in the Republican presidential contest, his rival Rick Santorum went on the attack, calling the front-runner “desperate” while promising to compete aggressively to win the state where Romney grew up. Santorum said Sunday he could do “exceptionally well” in Michigan, where Romney’s father served as governor. The Midwestern state and Arizona host Republican presidential nominating contests on Feb. 28. “We’re going to spend a lot of time in... Read more

MALE, Maldives (AP) — The Maldives’ new president has expanded his Cabinet to include members of the former autocratic ruler’s party, and Islamic conservatives will be appointed ministers in coming days. Conservatives have been demanding the introduction of strict Islamic laws in the Indian Ocean nation that relies on high-end tourism. Demonstrations over the past year calling for more religiously conservative policies as well as widespread protests over soaring prices had put pressure on the former leader, Mohamed Nasheed. He... Read more

MALE, Maldives (AP) — The Maldives’ new president expanded his Cabinet on Sunday to include members of the former autocratic ruler’s party and Islamic conservatives are also to be appointed ministers in coming days. Conservatives have been demanding the introduction of strict Islamic laws in the Indian Ocean nation that relies on high-end tourism. Demonstrations over the past year calling for more religiously conservative policies as well as widespread protests over soaring prices had put pressure on the former leader,... Read more

MALE, Maldives (AP) — The Maldives’ new president expanded his Cabinet on Sunday to include religious conservatives who have been demanding the introduction of strict Islamic laws in the Indian Ocean nation that relies on high-end tourism. Demonstrations over the past year calling for more religiously conservative policies as well as widespread protests over soaring prices had put pressure on the former leader, Mohamed Nasheed. He resigned last week after his order to arrest a senior judge sparked continuous protests.... Read more

J.R. Childress is up before the sun, bustling about in the French colonial brick house he built. He helps pack his wife’s lunch, downs some eggs or cereal for breakfast, pores over online and newspaper job listings and hopes — even prays — this will be the day when his fortunes turn around. He’s determined to stay busy, job or no job, for sanity’s sake. Maybe he’ll help a neighbor. Exercise. Or check out computer blueprints of construction projects around... Read more

BEIJING (AP) — An 18-year-old Tibetan nun has set herself on fire in western China in the latest such protest against Beijing’s handling of the vast ethnic Tibetan regions it rules, an overseas activist group said Sunday. Free Tibet said in a statement that the nun set herself ablaze Saturday and was believed to have survived. The young woman, identified as Tenzin Choezin, was a nun at the Mamae Nunnery in Sichuan province’s Aba prefecture, the statement said. It said... Read more

Gunmen assassinate Syrian army general in Damascus BEIRUT (AP) — Gunmen assassinated an army general in Damascus Saturday in the first killing of a high ranking military officer in the Syrian capital since the uprising against President Bashar Assad’s regime began in March, the country’s state-run news agency said. The attack could be a sign that armed members of the opposition, who have carried out attacks on the military elsewhere in the country, are trying to step up action in... Read more