In first visit to China, Obama walks a tightrope

SHANGHAI (AP) - President Barack Obama is walking a tightrope on his first trip to China, seeking to enlist help in tackling urgent global problems while weighing when and how - or if - he should raise traditional human rights concerns. Obama arrived in Shanghai late at night, in a driving rain, hustling through a phalanx of umbrella-holding dignitaries to reach his limousine. On Monday, the president is holding talks with local politicians and, in one of the marquee events of his weeklong Asian trip, conducting an American-style town hall discussion with Chinese university students.

French, Afghan troops push into hostile valley

TAGAB VALLEY, Afghanistan (AP) — Hundreds of French and Afghan troops on Sunday pushed into a hostile valley in eastern Afghanistan where militants launch quick attacks, then disappear into hillside villages. The mission: secure the area for a planned bypass road around the Afghan capital to move supplies from neighboring Pakistan. About 700 French troops, joined by 100 Afghan soldiers, moved into the Tagab valley before dawn with more than 100 armored vehicles. U.S. and French attack helicopters roared overhead as insurgent snipers fired from the roofs of houses onto the advancing column of vehicles, according to a reporter for The Associated Press traveling with the French troops.

Dozens of Gitmo detainees finally get day in court

WASHINGTON (AP) - In courtrooms barred to the public, dozens of terror suspects are pleading for their freedom from the Guantanamo Bay prison, sometimes even testifying on their own behalf by video from the U.S. naval base in Cuba. Complying with a Supreme Court ruling last year, 15 federal judges in the U.S. courthouse here are giving detainees their day in court after years behind bars half a world away from their homelands.

Apology for kids shipped from Britain to colonies

LONDON (AP) - As many as 150,000 poor British children were shipped off to the colonies over three and a half centuries, often taken from struggling families under programs intended to provide them with a new start - and the Empire with a supply of sturdy white workers. Forty years after the program stopped, Britain and Australia are saying sorry to the child migrants, who were promised a better life only to suffer abuse and neglect thousands of miles from home.

Palestinians to seek UN endorsement of statehood

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian officials said Sunday they are preparing to ask the United Nations to endorse an independent state without Israel's consent because they are losing faith in the peace talks. The idea appeared to be largely symbolic. The U.S., Israel's closest ally, would likely veto any initiative at the United Nations, and Israel controls the areas where the Palestinians want to establish their homeland. Nonetheless, the move reflected growing Palestinian frustration with the deadlock in peace efforts.

Mother of missing 5-year-old NC girl charged

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - The location and fate of a 5-year-old girl reported missing by her mother was unknown even after authorities charged the mother with human trafficking and other offenses. Antoinette Nicole Davis, the mother of Shaniya (Shuh-nigh-uh) Davis, faces a child abuse charge involving prostitution as well as filing a false police report, according to a Saturday news release from the Fayetteville Police Department.

Geeky 'tweeters' to report on space shuttle launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Fingers will be flying when space shuttle Atlantis blasts off Monday: About 100 of NASA's geekiest fans will be on hand, pecking away at iPhones, BlackBerrys, laptops and other Twittering gadgets. They plan to let loose with electronic messages - provided they aren't so swept away by the afternoon liftoff that they fall uncharacteristically silent for a moment or two.

Dobbs says his departure from CNN was 'amicable'

NEW YORK (AP) — Lou Dobbs says he doesn't feel like he was pushed out of CNN, the news organization where he worked for all but two years of its existence until last Wednesday. "Not at all," he said in a weekend interview. "I don't know if people will believe it, but we had a very amicable parting on the best of terms. I spent 29 years there building that company, and I wish everyone there nothing but the best, and they have reciprocated with me.''

'2012' has worldwide box-office bang of $225M

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Doom spelled dollars at the box office as the global-disaster tale "2012" opened at No. 1 domestically with $65 million and pulled in $225 million worldwide. The Sony Pictures action saga tells the story of a scramble to save remnants of humanity aboard giant arks as the earth's crust shifts and flood waters pour over most of the planet. With a cast led by John Cusack, Danny Glover and Chiwetel Ejiofor, "2012" was directed by doomsday specialist Roland Emmerich ("Independence Day," ''The Day After Tomorrow").

USC tumbles, Stanford soars in AP poll

NEW YORK (AP) - After another humiliating loss, Southern California tumbled to its worst ranking since Pete Carroll's Trojans began their run as one of college football's best programs in 2002. USC is No. 22 in The Associated Press Top 25 released Sunday, dropping 11 spots after losing 55-21 to Stanford. The Trojans have been ranked in 128 consecutive media polls dating to the start of the 2002 season, but never this low.

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