The foreign minister is offering assurances that Germany protects religious traditions after a court ruled that circumcising young boys on religious grounds amounts to bodily harm even if parents consent.

Last week, a state court in Cologne ruled that the child's right to physical integrity trumps freedom of religion and parents' rights. The ruling was strongly criticized by the head of Germany's Central Council of Jews, Dieter Graumann, who urged Parliament to clarify the legal situation to protect religious freedom. Muslim leaders also expressed concern.

A Soyuz space capsule carrying a three-man multinational crew touched down safely Sunday on the southern steppes of Kazakhstan, bringing an end to their 193-day mission to the International Space Station.

Pierre Cardin, the man who invented Paris menswear shows back in the 1950s, has staged a long-awaited comeback.

The legendary designer, famed for dressing the Beatles in collar-less jackets and taking high fashion to communist China, celebrated his long career on Sunday with his first menswear catwalk show in several years, showcasing his signature space-age designs.

He says he was one of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's favorite propaganda artists, singing the praises of the Dear Leader in dozens of poems. But these days Jang Jin-sung says he prefers to tell the truth about North Korea.

The former state poet, who defected to South Korea in 2004, now writes to tell the world about what he calls the brutality of everyday life in the North.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service says a stolen Salvador Dali painting has been mailed back to New York from Europe and intercepted at Kennedy International Airport.

Alec Baldwin and his yoga instructor fiancee tied the knot Saturday in a New York City church, with a guest list that included family and famous Hollywood pals.

Baldwin, 54, and Hilaria Thomas, 28, married at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in a Catholic ceremony performed by the Rev. George Deas. His "30 Rock" co-star Tina Fey, actress Mariska Hargitay, director Woody Allen, environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Baldwin's actor-brother, Stephen, were among those in attendance.

Government figures show that life expectancy in Brazil has risen more than 25 years since 1960.

The government's IBGE statistics agency says Friday that data compiled in the 2010 census shows that life expectancy for the average Brazilian went from 48 to 73.4 years between 1960 and 2010.

Government health experts said Thursday there are few reasons to continue using metal-on-metal hip implants, amid growing evidence that the devices can break down early and expose patients to dangerous metallic particles.

The Food and Drug Administration asked its 18-member panel to recommend guidelines for monitoring more than a half-million U.S. patients with metal hip replacements. The devices were originally marketed as a longer-lasting alternative to older ceramic and plastic models. But recent data from the U.K. and other foreign countries suggests they are more likely to deteriorate, exposing patients to higher levels of cobalt, chromium and other metals.

Attorney Bob Burns already gets a lot of information from his smartphone, but he welcomes the prospect of getting a little more — free warnings about life-threatening weather from a sophisticated new government system.

Beginning Thursday, the new Wireless Emergency Alerts system gives the National Weather Service a new way to warn Americans about menacing weather, even if they are nowhere near a television, radio or storm sirens. It sends blanket warnings to mobile devices in the path of a dangerous storm.

Sammy Lee remembers it vividly: food rationing, bombed-out buildings, rubble.

The year was 1948, and London was hosting the Olympics amid severe austerity in the aftermath of World War II. Lee, an American diver, and fellow amateur athletes slept on cots at local air bases and schools, brought their own towels and were ferried to events in old London buses.