International Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) , Croatia formally becomes the 28th member of the European Union on Monday, the bloc's first addition since Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007. Croatia is becoming a member after a decade of negotiation, and marks a historic turning point for the country which went through a civil war after declaring independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

CAIRO (AP) , As the streets once again fill with protesters eager to oust the president and Islamists determined to keep him in power, Egyptians are preparing for the worst: days or weeks of urban chaos that could turn their neighborhoods into battlegrounds.

WASHINGTON (AP) , Vice President Joe Biden has asked Ecuador to turn down an asylum request from National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, the country's president said Saturday. Rafael Correa, in a weekly television address, offered little sympathy for the Obama administration's view that Snowden is a criminal who should be swiftly returned to the U.S.

A day after an American student from Maryland was killed during protests in Cairo, President Obama said Saturday his most urgent priority is protecting U.S. diplomatic posts in Egypt. "Our most immediate concern with respect to protests this weekend have to do with our embassies and consulates," Mr. Obama told reporters in South Africa, where he is in the midst of a weeklong tour.

LONDON (AP) , One of two suspects shot by police following the slaying of a British soldier in London last week has been released from the hospital and taken to a police station for questioning, police said Tuesday.

VENICE, Italy (AP) , When a mother views scenes of her son's imprisonment, sometimes no words are needed. Tears will do. Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was prevented by Chinese authorities from traveling to Venice for the opening of two new works of his on the sidelines of the Biennale contemporary art show, so his mother came in his stead.

BEIRUT (AP) , Russia on Tuesday harshly criticized Europe's decision to allow the arming of Syrian rebels, saying it undercuts international efforts to negotiate an end to the civil war, and a rebel general said he's "very disappointed" weapons won't come fast enough to help opposition fighters defend a strategic Syrian town.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) , Ethiopia started to divert the flow of the Blue Nile river to construct a giant dam on Tuesday, according to its state media, in a move that could impact the Nile-dependent Egypt.

PARIS (AP) , A French patient infected with a deadly new respiratory virus related to SARS died Tuesday of the disease, which has killed half the people known to be infected and alarmed global health officials. The novel coronavirus is related to SARS, which killed some 800 people in a global epidemic in 2003. Dr.

WASHINGTON (AP) , Sen. John McCain on Tuesday praised the "brave fighters" battling the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad and renewed his call for the Obama administration to move aggressively militarily to aid the opposition.

Iran's June 14 elections are expected to produce a president loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and do nothing to improve prospects for an end to its nuclear standoff with the West or support for President Bashar Assad's embattled regime in Syria.

BRUSSELS (AP) , Austria's foreign minister said Monday that the European Union's top diplomats have failed to agree about how to deal with Syria's civil war, and EU sanctions against Bashar Assad's regime are likely to expire on June 1.

WASHINGTON (AP) , In the months leading up to the killing of Osama bin Laden, veteran intelligence analyst Robert Cardillo was given the nickname "Debbie Downer." With each new tidbit of information that...

Sen. John McCain visited rebels in Syria Monday, making him the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the war-torn country in more than two years. The Arizona Republican made the unannounced trip from Turkey to Syria with Gen. Salem Idris, the leader of the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army, according to an exclusive report by The Daily Beast.

Members of the African Union accused the International Criminal Court of racism on Monday, characterizing the high number of Africans who are indicted , 99 percent of the ICC cases , as proof that justice is not being served.