BEIJING (AP) — A top North Korean envoy delivered a letter from leader Kim Jong Un to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday and told him Pyongyang would take steps to rejoin stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks, in an apparent victory for Beijing's efforts to coax its unruly ally into lowering tensions.

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - The United States on Friday called into question the credibility of Iran's presidential election next month, criticizing the disqualification of candidates and accusing the government of disrupting Internet access. Iran's Guardian Council, the state body that vets all candidates, had struck former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and others from the roster in the June 14 ballot. "The Council narrowed a list of almost seven hundred potential candidates down to the sort of...officials of their choice, based solely on who represents the regime's interests," U.S. ...

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Niger's government spokesman told The Associated Press that the jihadists who attacked a military installation in the town of Agadez on Thursday had never taken any hostages, unlike their earlier statements.

LONDON (Reuters) - A British Airways plane travelling from London to Oslo was forced to make an emergency landing at Heathrow on Friday after a technical fault in an engine. "The BA762, Heathrow to Oslo service, returned back to Heathrow shortly after take-off due to a technical fault," BA parent company IAG said. The Airbus A319 aircraft was carrying 75 passengers. "The aircraft landed safely and emergency slides were deployed and we are currently caring for our customers. Emergency services attended the aircraft," IAG added. ...

By Yoshiyuki Osada OSAKA, Japan (Reuters) - Two elderly South Korean women forced to work in Japanese war-time military brothels canceled a meeting on Friday with the mayor of the city of Osaka after he refused to withdraw remarks asserting the brothels were "necessary" at the time. The mayor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto, an outspoken populist who has often stirred controversy, sparked a storm of criticism at home and abroad when he said last week that the military brothels had been needed, and Japan has been unfairly singled out for wartime practices common among other militaries. ...

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland's top negotiator in talks to resolve disputes over tax evasion with Europe and the U.S. is stepping down.

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israeli and Palestinian leaders are nearing crunch time, when they must decide whether to revive long-dormant peace negotiations to end their decades-old conflict, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday. Speaking to reporters after two days of meetings, Kerry said he had had "very productive" talks with the two sides and urged them to avoid taking any actions that would jeopardize his shuttle diplomacy. ...

ISLAMABAD (AP) — President Barack Obama's speech on the use of drones and the fate of Guantanamo prisoners was largely welcomed Friday in two key countries affected by the policies— Pakistan and Yemen.

BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian government has agreed "in principle" to attend a conference proposed by Russia and the United States on ending the Arab country's conflict, Russia's foreign ministry said Friday.

By Terril Yue Jones and Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) - A North Korean envoy told China's president on Friday that his reclusive country was willing to take "positive actions" to ensure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, as China steps up diplomatic efforts to bring Pyongyang back to talks. Choe Ryong-hae, a special envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, met Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping, in the highest-ranking visit by an official from Pyongyang in about six months. ...

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israel's government on Friday to prevent further settlement construction where possible to help revitalize Middle East peace hopes, but stressed that the Jewish state and Palestinians alike should remain focused on the larger goal of restarting direct negotiations.

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — After lengthy and wrenching debate, local leaders of the Boy Scouts of America have voted to open their ranks to openly gay boys for the first time, but heated reactions from the left and right made clear that the BSA's controversies are far from over.

MOORE, Okla. (AP) — After living nearly 20 years in their one-story brick home, Sherry and Larry Wells finally won the lottery — for a state rebate on a home storm shelter, that is. A contractor finished installing the concrete bunker beneath the slab of their garage in early May. About three weeks later, the shelter saved their lives when a tornado that killed 24 people tore through their neighborhood.

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

CANNES, France (AP) — Associated Press journalists open their notebooks at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

(Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co will pay A.G. Lafley, the former chief executive it brought back on Thursday to run the world's largest household products maker, a base salary of $2 million a year, it said in a regulatory filing on Friday. Lafley, who was CEO 2000 to 2009, on Thursday replaced his successor, Bob McDonald, and was also named chairman and president. Lafley's base salary in 2009 was $1.8 million. (Reporting by Phil Wahba in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

(Reuters) - Tornadoes that struck the United States from May 18 to May 20 caused anywhere from $2 billion to $5 billion in insured losses, disaster modeling company Eqecat said. The firm said most of the losses were attributed to the tornado that devastated Moore, Oklahoma, last Monday. Eqecat said some 76 tornadoes struck across 10 states over a three-day span. The worst of it was in Moore, where the firm said about 13,000 structures were damaged. ...

NEW YORK (AP) — Household products giant Procter & Gamble Co. is hoping its former CEO can work his magic once again.

NEW YORK (AP) — Household products giant Procter & Gamble Co. is hoping its former CEO can work his magic once again.

MOSCOW (AP) — World stocks stabilized on Friday, a day after global markets dropped sharply on concerns global growth is slowing and the Federal Reserve could start scaling back its monetary stimulus.

MOSCOW (AP) — World stocks stabilized on Friday, a day after global markets dropped sharply on concerns global growth is slowing and the Federal Reserve could start scaling back its monetary stimulus.

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — Dan Sligh and his wife were in their pickup truck on Interstate 5 heading to a camping trip when a bridge before them disappeared in a "big puff of dust."

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — At one bar, a mixture that included rubbing alcohol and caramel coloring was sold as scotch. In another, premium liquor bottles were refilled with water — and apparently not even clean water at that.

By Janeman Latul and Kanupriya Kapoor JAKARTA (Reuters) - Standard Chartered PLC's chief executive Peter Sands denied U.S. activist investor Muddy Waters' claim that the bank has taken on too much risk, saying its loan book was in a good condition and there is no change in risk appetite for lending. Sands' comments came after Carson Block, the founder of Muddy Waters, told a conference earlier this month that he had bet against Standard Chartered's debt because he thought the market was underestimating the risk in the bank's loan portfolio. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC's Chairman Douglas Flint said on Friday the pace of reform in the banking industry must be accelerated to avoid investor confidence in the sector being undermined. "We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform banking and the broader financial industry," Flint told shareholders at the bank's annual general meeting. "As a first priority we need to speed up the reform process. Otherwise investor confidence in the sector will continue to be undermined," he added. (Reporting by Matt Scuffham, editing by Sinead Cruise)

By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - African nations have backed a request by Kenya for charges of crimes against humanity by its president to be referred back to the east African country, African Union documents show. President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, are both facing trial in the International Criminal Court (ICC), accused of masterminding ethnic bloodshed in post-election violence five years ago that killed more than 1,200 people. Both deny the charges. ...

NEW YORK (AP) — The forecast for summer travel, 2013: Partly sunny.

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - An al Qaeda-linked group that carried out the raid on the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria in January has claimed to have participated in Thursday's attacks in Niger. A statement posted on the internet on Friday was signed by Khalid Abu al-Abbas, better known as Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a leading figure in al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). At least 21 people were killed and dozens wounded in coordinated dawn assaults on a uranium mine run by French company Areva at Arlit and the military base in Agadez, Niger, on Thursday. ...

By Yantoultra Ngui KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian billionaire Vincent Tan is exploring an IPO of British soccer team Cardiff City for as early as this year, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, in a deal that would follow the team's recent promotion to the Premier League. The process is in its early stages, the people said, with details on the timing, size and listing venue subject to change. A listing would come after Manchester United Plc's debut on the New York Stock Exchange last year, which raised $233.2 million in the largest sports team IPO ever. ...

LONDON (AP) — Two Muslim hardline preachers say that one of the suspects in the killing of a London soldier was interested in their teachings. And a British government official said one of the men tried to go to Somalia to train or fight with the terror group al-Shabab.

By Peter Griffiths LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's security services faced questions on Friday over whether they could have done more to prevent the murder of a soldier hacked to death in a busy London street after it emerged that his suspected killers were known to intelligence officers. The two suspects, Michael Adebolajo, 28 and Michael Adebowale, 22, are under guard in hospitals after being shot and arrested by police after the murder of 25-year-old Afghan war veteran Lee Rigby on Wednesday in broad daylight. They have not yet been charged. ...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A bail hearing is scheduled for a Philadelphia couple who believe in faith healing over medicine and are charged with third-degree murder in the April death of their 8-month-old son.

ROME (AP) — Silvio Berlusconi's figure looms large over Rome's mayoral elections this weekend, even though the former premier isn't among the 19 candidates running.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Police say a suicide bomber walked up to a vehicle owned by an Afghan religious leader in northwestern Pakistan and set off his explosives, killing three people.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday the Syrian government had agreed in principle to attend an international peace conference proposed by Russia and the United States, and criticized what it called attempts to undermine peace efforts. "Damascus has expressed its readiness in principle to participate in the international conference in order for Syrians themselves to find a political path to a solution," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. ...

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Syria's divided opposition leaders have failed to back a plan by their outgoing leader for President Bashar al-Assad to cede power gradually to end the country's civil war, highlighting the obstacles to international peace talks expected next month. The 16-point plan proposed by Moaz Alkhatib, who resigned as head of the Western-backed opposition National Coalition in March, urges Assad to hand power to his deputy or prime minister and then go abroad with 500 members of his entourage. ...

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran denied on Friday it had forces in Syria supporting President Bashar al-Assad's army, one day after foreign backers of his rebel foes demanded Tehran withdraw its fighters from Syrian territory. "The true enemies of Syria make up these accusations to provoke the people of this country," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi said, quoted by Iranian state television. At a meeting in Jordan on Thursday, the Friends of Syria grouping of Western and Arab governments called for the immediate withdrawal from Syria of Iranian fighters and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas. ...

By Andrew Callus LONDON (Reuters) - A group of accountancy professors is backing BP's fight to cap the U.S. oil spill compensation payouts it has to fund as the cash outflow threatens to add billions of dollars to its bill for the disaster. The news comes after the payouts administrator, Patrick Juneau, predicted that over 200,000 claims may be made in total by businesses and individuals under a settlement BP agreed last year - a level that could result in a charge against the oil company's profits as early as next year. ...

Terry McAuliffe, a Democratic operative embroiled in a tight race to become Virginia's next governor, knows a thing or two about conservatives like his Republican opponent, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. That's in part because his older brother, Joseph McAuliffe, spent two decades as a Republican activist who worked for evangelical leader Pat Robertson's presidential [...]