International Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

South African authorities have gone on the defensive about the health of Nelson Mandela, disputing a court filing that labeled the former president as completely vegetative. The court documents were filed on June 27 as part of a legal matter about Mandela family graves. The papers claim that physician statements were forthcoming that would show Mr.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center said Thursday it will petition the U.S. Supreme Court to abolish the law that lets the National Security Agency collect data on Americans' telephone calls. The Domestic Surveillance Project, an arm of the EPIC, will file the petition on Monday, Raw Story reported.

Israel is in quiet, behind-the-scenes talks with top-level officials in the United States and in Egypt, aimed at coordinating strategies in case of spillover violence from the ousting of President Mohammed Morsi. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke Thursday with Secretary of State John Kerry on the telephone about possible policies.

Egypt's military opened fire Friday on scores of Mohammed Morsi supporters who had gathered near the Republican Guard headquarters to protest the president's ouster. Mr. Morsi, who was removed from power Wednesday by the nation's military, is believed to be under house arrest in the facility, according to the Associated Press.

A leading female police officer in Afghanistan, hailed as a hero in a strict religious atmosphere that discourages women from appearing on the streets without a burqa, was fatally shot Thursday morning. Lt. Islam Bibi was attacked while riding on a motorbike alongside her son-in-law, said Omar Zwaak, a spokesman for the governor of Helmand, according to the Telegraph.

Leading financial figures in the Philippines promised on Friday that the government was on track to growing its economy to the point of halving the nation's poverty, by 2015. That's a sizeable prediction. Almost 28 percent of the country's 97 million residents live below the poverty line, The Associated Press reported.

Pope Francis said a second miracle attributed to John Paul II has panned out as true, and the now-deceased pontiff will be given the title of sainthood at a ceremony later this year. The Catholic Church generally requires a two-miracle minimum as one condition of sainthood.

Islamist gunmen launched several attacks on Friday at a police station in Sinai that borders the Gaza Strip, killing an Egyptian soldier and injuring two, fueling fears that the unrest in Egypt and ouster of President Mohammed Morsi would spill to other regions.

As a new interim president of Egypt was sworn in Thursday, President Obama met with his national-security team at the White House to review the situation and to warn Egypt's interim government away from retaliation against its former Muslim Brotherhood leaders.

Tunisia's youth have turned to Egypt as an example of how to lead their own mass protest and government overthrow. The group Tunisian Tamarud , or Rebel , has launched a campaign to drive the Islamists from power and bring in a new government, one that doesn't crack down on individual freedoms or decimate the economy, Reuters reported.

An American who has been imprisoned in North Korea for months, and who faces 15 years of hard labor for accused crimes against the dictatorial government, has a message for the United States: Try harder to win my freedom.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) , The remains of Nelson Mandela's three deceased children were reburied at their original resting site on Thursday, a day after a court ordered their return two years after Mandela's grandson moved the bodies.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) , Senior Republican Sen. John McCain is visiting American troops in Afghanistan to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday. He presided over a reenlistment ceremony for about a half dozen U.S. soldiers in Kabul on Thursday.

Israel's top security forces are red-faced after a team of television journalists sneaked a printed 3-D plastic gun past Knesset guards, ostensibly to show that it could be done , and they did it twice. The Channel 10 team said it wanted to show that Knesset security could be easily breached, Ynet New reported.

Syria's embattled president, Bashar Assad, said his government is safe and sound , only an outside military force could topple him from power. Mr. Assad said he would survive the war that's raged within his country for more than two years and remain leader, Reuters reported.