PARIS – French energy giant Total SA says its net profit slid 20 percent in the first quarter despite a rise in production as slumping oil prices took their toll. The company says Tuesday that net profit for the quarter was $2.66 billion, down from $3.34 billion a year earlier. …

WARSAW, Poland – A Polish biker says at least one member of a nationalistic Russian motorcycle club appears to have entered Poland despite a ban, and was riding with two other Russians — one of whom briefly unfurled a Soviet flag in the Auschwitz memorial’s parking lot. The pro-Kremlin Night …

WASHINGTON – NASCAR dads are generally white, working class and rural — as well as racing fans — and they could emerge as a leading demographic force in the 2004 elections. “Sometime they vote, sometime they don’t, and when they do, they tend to vote Republican, but can be persuaded …

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is racing to put together a governing coalition with a deadline only hours away. Netanyahu was holding furious consultations Wednesday with the hawkish Jewish Home Party in order to secure a narrow 61-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament. If he fails by the …

JUBA, South Sudan – Two aid agencies have evacuated their international staff from a part of war-torn South Sudan fearing violence. Doctors Without Borders and the International Committee of the Red Cross both said Saturday that they withdrew their international staff from the rebel-held town of Leer in the south …

It’s horrible enough what happened in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Yet sadly, innocents getting blown up there is an almost familiar, tragic sight on almost any day. I want to focus on the other tragedy today. I hope the rest of the world took a look at what happened in Baghdad …

PARIS – A Paris court has convicted a 60-year-old Frenchman and sentenced him to eight years in prison for belonging to al-Qaida’s North African affiliate and taking part in armed actions in northern Mali. Gilles Le Guen, a former Breton merchant marine officer who converted to Islam 30 years ago, …

BEIJING – A schoolteacher who gained permission to have an additional child in one city has been ordered to have an abortion because the province where she is teaching has different rules. The case illustrates how different areas have different family planning regulations and how unyielding China’s birth limits continue …

WASHINGTON – Democrats critical of the exclusive contracts going to private companies helping to rebuildIraq (search)stepped up attackslast week following President Bush’s request that Congress provide $87 billion for military and reconstruction projects there. Led by Senate Minority LeaderTom Daschle (search), D-S.D., and House Minority LeaderNancy Pelosi (search), D-Calif., Democrats …

A Virginia teenager has been accused by federal authorities of helping a man make his way to Syria to fight for ISIS, according to reports. The Washington Post says the 17-year-old was taken into custody by FBI agents who raided his home in Woodbridge, about 20 miles south of Washington …