International Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

BAGHDAD (AP) , Iraq carried out its first election since the U.S. military withdrawal without major bloodshed Saturday in a major test for Iraqi security forces as they face a reviving al-Qaida insurgency. But delayed elections in two provinces wracked by anti-government protests and complaints about missing names on voter rolls overshadowed the vote.

BOSTON (AP) , Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev lay hospitalized in serious condition under heavy guard Saturday as people around the city breathed easier and investigators tried to piece together the who and why of the deadly plot.

WASHINGTON (AP) , World finance leaders meeting in Washington have come out with a somber assessment of the global economy. They say the recovery remains uneven, and that growth and jobs are in short supply. The steering committee for the 188-nation International Monetary Fund said in a statement Saturday that decisive action is needed to boost growth.

BOSTON , Federal public defenders have agreed to represent the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings. Miriam Conrad, the federal defender for Massachusetts, says her office expects to represent Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after he is charged. Tsarnaev remained hospitalized Saturday after being wounded in a firefight with police Friday. His brother was killed.

CAIRO (AP) , Some members of a high-level commission that issued a report detailing security abuses and atrocities during and after Egypt's 2011 uprising accused President Mohammed Morsi on Saturday of ignoring their findings.

Both Chechnya's Moscow-backed president and the Islamic extremists seeking to overthrow him have distanced themselves in blog postings from the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, claims analysts take seriously.

A massive manhunt for one of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers shutdown one of the nation's largest cities Friday following violent gunfights with police that left a second suspected bomber and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus police officer dead.

Britain on Friday became the latest major developed country to lose its top AAA credit rating, following a downgrade issued by Fitch, a London-based ratings agency. Moody's already had downgraded Britain from AAA in February, leaving only one major credit rater , Standard and Poor's Corp.

The United Nations said one peacekeeper was killed and two others injured in a Friday attack by unidentified gunmen in East Darfur. The U.N. has joined with Sudan's government to investigate the attack, The Associated Press reported.

Secretary of State John F. Kerry and his Mexican counterpart touted the growing economic connection between Mexico and the U.S. on Friday, with Mr. Kerry saying that while the security relationship between the two nations remains vital, economic ties are ultimately more important.

An "outpouring of feedback" led to Boy Scouts of America officials' proposing a change to its membership standards for youth , but to maintain a strict ban on openly gay adults serving as troop leaders.

Fitch Ratings agency downgraded Britain's rating on Friday from triple-A to AA+, a recognition of the nation's weak economic future and growing debt. "The downgrade of the UK's sovereign ratings primarily...

One of the main architects of a gun-control bill that failed in the Senate this week said Friday he will continuing selling his plan on and off Capitol Hill and remains optimistic it one day will become law. Sen.

Former Florida Rep. Allen West issued a scathing statement on his Facebook page Friday, in response to the ongoing manhunt for one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings. "Let me be very clear. The terrorist attack in Boston and evolving events indicate we have a domestic radical Islamic terror problem in America," he wrote. "No more excuses. No more apologies.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) , North Korea's newest batch of future soldiers , scrawny 11-year-olds with freshly shaved heads , punch the air as they practice taekwondo on the grounds of the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School. Students and teachers here say they're studying harder these days to prepare for a fight.