JOHANNESBURG – The mother of one of the women accusing former tennis star Bob Hewitt of rape says her daughter is lying. Judy Sheehan testified in a South African court on Tuesday that her daughter was not abused by the Grand Slam doubles champion and former Hall of Fame member. …

BANGKOK – Thailand’s military-picked legislature passed a law that criminalized commercial surrogacy and prohibited foreigners from seeking surrogacy services in the kingdom after a string of scandals last year, a lawmaker said Friday. The law, which prohibits the act of hiring women commercially to carry fetuses to term, aims to …

TRIPOLI, Libya – A friend says a female Libyan activist has been shot to death in the capital, Tripoli, which is controlled by militias backed by Islamist groups. Taha Krewi on Tuesday confirmed the death of activist Intissar al-Hasaari. Al-Hasaari was the founder of the Enlightenment Group, which led protests …

SEOUL, South Korea – A South Korean court on Thursday abolished a 62-year-old law that bans extramarital affairs, ruling that the law suppresses personal freedoms. The ruling by the Constitutional Court could potentially affect thousands of individuals who faced adultery charges since Oct. 31, 2008, a day after the court …

TORONTO – Ontario Premier’s, who is openly gay, is urging businesses upset by a so-called religious objections law in Indiana to set up shop in Canada’s most populous province. The Indiana law, which takes effect July 1, does not specifically mention gays and lesbians, but critics say it is designed …

BEIJING – Officials say seven members of a family on a holiday outing in southern China drowned when a 17-year-old girl fell into a reservoir and several relatives dove in after her in a deadly attempt to rescue her. The government in the Guangdong province city of Shantou said in …

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey’s Cumhuriyet newspaper says two of its journalists have been charged with “openly insulting the people’s religious values” for featuring French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s cover with the image of the Prophet Muhammad in their columns. The pro-secular newspaper said Thursday that columnists Ceyda Karan and Hikmet …

CAIRO – Egypt has arrested a journalist on claims he is wanted in seven different cases — just days after he published a series of critical articles about the police. The country’s Ministry of Interior announced Sunday in a statement on its Facebook page that Hussein Abdel Halim, a journalist …

DAMASCUS, Syria – A Palestinian official and an activist say local fighters in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus have advanced in clashes with Islamic State militants. Damascus-based Palestinian official Khaled Abdul-Majid said Wednesday that Palestinian factions have forced the IS fighters to retreat from some positions in Yarmouk camp. …

BEIJING – The top anti-graft body of China’s Communist Party says more than 100,000 officials have been reprimanded since late 2012 for violating policies mandating more austere working practices. The party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in its monthly report Monday that 5,340 officials were reprimanded in December 2014, …