WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With no sign of an end to three mushrooming scandals, the White House acknowledged the rising political dangers on Wednesday by launching a concerted effort at damage control.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - He may have been the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago. He may have written a book extolling constitutional values in a democracy. And he may have run for president on a civil liberties banner, pledging to reverse the legacy of George W. Bush.

WASHINGTON | (Reuters) - The Associated Press on Monday said the US government secretly seized telephone records of AP offices and reporters for a two-month period in 2012, describing the acts as a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into news-gathering operations.

REUTERS - Alex Ferguson's last home match in charge of Manchester United ended in a 2-1 Premier League victory over Swansea City as the Old Trafford crowd gave their long-serving manager a warm and emotional send-off on Sunday.

LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Several thousand people protested in Gabon on Saturday against a spate of ritual killings that has seen mutilated bodies washing up on beaches in the central African state this year.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Toppled in a 1999 coup, jailed and exiled, Nawaz Sharif has made a triumphant election comeback and on Sunday was heading for a third term as Pakistan's prime minister.

(BBC News) Three men have been arrested after police held back hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters trying to prevent a liberal Jewish women's group from praying at Jerusalem's Western Wall.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was back in court on Saturday for a retrial on charges of complicity in the murder of protesters, reopening a case that has shown the difficulty of transitional justice in post-revolutionary Egypt.

SAVAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - A young Bangladeshi woman who spent 17 days buried alive under a collapsed garments factory was rescued on Friday when astonished workmen heard a voice calling "save me, save me" from the rubble.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House offices were evacuated briefly on Saturday when an electrical transformer near the West Wing malfunctioned and set off a smoke alarm, a White House official said. A Secret Service official said President Barack Obama had not been in the area at the time.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Twin car bombs killed at least 20 people near Turkey's border with Syria on Saturday, increasing fears that Syria's civil war was dragging in neighbors and drawing a swift warning from Ankara not to test its resolve.

(BBC News) People in Pakistan have taken part in landmark national and provincial polls. The vote marks Pakistan's first transition from one civilian government to another in its 66-year history.

(BBC News) Iranian ex-President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has registered for June's presidential election, just ahead of Saturday's deadline.

Tax avoidance, secret mining deals and financial transfers are depriving Africa of the benefits of its resources boom, ex-UN chief Kofi Annan has said.

(BBC Sport) Frank Lampard scored twice to become Chelsea's all-time leading scorer as the Blues came from behind to win at relegation-threatened Aston Villa.

LONDON (Reuters) - Alex Ferguson, Britain's longest-serving and most decorated football manager, will retire at the end of the season after more than 26 years and nearly 1,500 matches at the helm of Manchester United, he announced on Wednesday.

(BBC) Eight people - including four Saudi nationals - have been arrested over an explosion that killed two people at a church in the northern Tanzanian city of Arusha on Sunday, police say.

KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Gunmen killed 10 people in an attack on a market and a church in northeast Nigeria before fleeing over the border to Cameroon, police said on Monday.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - A Kenyan court sentenced two Iranian men to life in prison on Monday for planning to carry out bombings in Nairobi and other cities last year.

LONDON (Reuters) - A late own goal from Phil Jones secured Chelsea a 1-0 victory at Manchester United on Sunday to leave the Londoners poised for a top-four finish and a Champions League place next season.