WASHINGTON -- The U.S. added the Pakistani Taliban to a list of terrorist organizations and offered rewards for the whereabouts of its leaders, responding to pressure from lawmakers to take action after the group claimed responsibility for the failed Times Square bombing in New York.

The formal designation bans suspected Pakistani Taliban members from entering the U.S., makes it illegal for U.S. citizens to provide "material support or resources" to the group, and allows American authorities to seize assets tied to the organization.

In a further step against the newly designated terrorist group, Hakimullah Mehsud, one of the Pakistani Taliban's leaders, was charged by the U.S. with a terrorism conspiracy related to a suicide bombing that killed seven CIA agency members at a U.S. base in Afghanistan last year.

LONDON -- Tony Blair regrets banning fox hunting, but not invading Iraq. He was captivated by Princess Diana, intimidated by Queen Elizabeth II. He heaps praise on President George W. Bush but calls his close colleague Gordon Brown a man of "zero" emotional intelligence. He acknowledges that some find him delusional, and says he possibly drank a bit too much.

Mr. Blair's long-awaited memoir hit bookstores Wednesday, and the revealing, self-justifying 700-page volume provides plenty of fodder for the former British leader's supporters -- and detractors.

The former British prime minister was paid a 4 million pound ($7 million) advance for "A Journey."

STOCKHOLM -- A senior Swedish prosecutor is reopening a rape investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the latest twist to a case in which prosecutors of different ranks have overruled each other.

The Australian has denied the allegations and suggested they are part of a smear campaign by opponents of WikiLeaks -- an online whistle-blower that has angered Washington by publishing thousands of leaked documents about U.S. military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Two Yemeni men arrested on arrival from the United States on suspicion they may have been conducting a dry run for an airline terror attack were released without charge Wednesday after investigations turned up no evidence to link them to a terror plot, Dutch prosecutors said.

Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al-Soofi and Hezam al-Murisi were arrested by airport police Monday in Amsterdam on a United Airlines flight from Chicago following a request from U.S. law enforcement officials.

JOHANNESBURG -- An American medical agency says gunmen in eastern Congo fired on a private plane carrying international aid workers who have escaped into the forest and are in hiding.

The Los Angeles-based International Medical Corps says U.N. peacekeepers are en route to save the three Americans and one Georgian who were on the aircraft and two Congolese staff who were at the landing strip outside Walikale mining town when the shooting erupted.

MIAMI -- Mexican police have rescued six illegal Cuban migrants kidnapped by gunmen in the beach resort of Cancun who were demanding ransoms of up to $10,000 for their release.

The beach resort on Mexico's Caribbean coast has long been an entry point for illegal Cuban migrants seeking to reach the U.S. border with the help of smugglers who charge from $5,000 to $10,000 per person.

But many Cubans and other undocumented migrants have fallen prey to Mexican gangs that capture and hold them for ransom.

-- Compiled from news services

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.