The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has chosen three cities as finalists to bid for the chance to host the 2020 Summer Games. "In the order of drawing lots: Istanbul, Tokyo, and Madrid," said IOC communications director Mark Adams on Wednesday in Quebec City. The announcement marks the beginning of a 16-month campaign among finalists to win over the IOC before it makes its final selection in September 2013 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Two other candidate cities: ...

Pakistan on Thursday rejected U.S. criticism of the jailing of Shakeel Afridi, a Pakistani doctor who helped the United States track down Osama bin Laden, while a U.S. congressional panel cut aid to protest his imprisonment. A court in Pakistan's Khyber tribal region Wednesday sentenced Afridi to 33 years in prison for treason.  He was accused of running a fake vaccination campaign to help the CIA obtain DNA samples of the al-Qaida leader and family members to confirm his presence ...