Iran: Prisoner swap
TEHRAN — Iran's intelligence minister on Sunday signaled that Tehran might be open to a prisoner swap with the U.S. for three Americans jailed in Iran since last July.
Sarah Shourd, 31, Shane Bauer, 27, and Josh Fattal, 27, were arrested along the Iraqi border 10 months ago. Iran has accused them of espionage and entering the country illegally; their families say the three were hiking in Iraq's largely peaceful mountainous northern Kurdish region and that if they crossed the border, it was accidental.
Last week, Iran allowed the trio's mothers to visit their children.
Jamaica: Attack
KINGSTON — Masked men torched a police station and traded gunfire with security forces in a patchwork of barricaded slums in Jamaica's capital Sunday, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency.
Sporadic gunshots rang out in gritty West Kingston where defiant supporters of Christopher "Dudus" Coke, a Jamaican "don" sought by the U.S. on drug and arms trafficking charges, turned his Tivoli Gardens neighborhood and other areas into a virtual fortress with trashed cars and barbed wire.
Peru: Quake hits
LIMA — Seismologists say a 5.9-magnitude earthquake has shaken southern Peru. There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the temblor struck at 5:46 p.m. local time Sunday.
Its epicenter was near the city of Ayacucho, and about 225 miles from the capital of Lima.
Venezuela: Oil spill
CARACAS — Venezuela has sent a team of experts to Cuba to help the island prepare in case the Gulf of Mexico oil spill reaches its shores, President Hugo Chavez said Sunday.
Speaking during his weekly TV and radio program, Chavez said the spreading spill "is threatening Cuba's coasts." He said Venezuelan oil experts will help carry out "simulation drills because the Cubans didn't have much experience in this."
Egypt: Tombs found
CAIRO — Archaeologists have unearthed 57 ancient Egyptian tombs, most of which hold an ornately painted wooden sarcophagus with a mummy inside, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said Sunday.
The oldest tombs date back to around 2750 B.C. during the period of Egypt's first and second dynasties, the council said in a statement. Twelve of the tombs belong the 18th dynasty, which ruled Egypt during the second millennium B.C.
Cuba: Prisoners
HAVANA — The Cuban government has agreed to move many of the country's 200 political prisoners to jails closer to their homes, and will give medical attention to some ailing prisoners, a Catholic Church official told The Associated Press on Sunday.
The government's decision comes just days after a rare meeting between Cuban President Raul Castro and two church leaders, including Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega. After the meeting, Ortega said he was optimistic that there was willingness on the government's side to compromise.
Afghanistan: Assault
KABUL — The Taliban claimed responsibility Sunday for a nighttime assault on Kandahar Air Base that wounded a number of coalition soldiers and civilian employees at the biggest NATO base in southern Afghanistan.
The Saturday night attack against Kandahar base was the second ground assault on a major NATO installation in a week. Officials said a number of soldiers and civilians were wounded but gave no figures.