Exports from Germany, Europe's biggest economy, bounced back in May, helping the country's trade surplus to widen, official figures showed Friday.

Germany exported goods and services worth €92.1 billion ($132 billion) in May, the Federal Statistical Office said. That was up 4.3 percent from the previous month and 19.9 percent in year-on-year terms.

Video-game publishers seem to believe their audience would rather risk sunburn than have fun in air-conditioned comfort, so you won't find many major new games in stores during the summer. But that doesn't mean there's nothing new out there — and you don't need to search any further than the online services Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Store.

One studio that's made a big impression in the download-only market is Double Fine Productions, led by industry legend Tim Schafer. Its new release is called "Trenched" (Microsoft, for Xbox 360, $15), and it's a witty mash-up of the third-person shooter and tower defense genres.

A sticky-fingered person might be wandering the streets of Philadelphia in a flowing judicial robe.

A municipal judge on Wednesday said he had his official garb taken from the robing room at the city courthouse while he was in the men's room. Judge Joseph Waters Jr. says he had left the door of the room unlocked.

One's an arrogant sadist. Another is a shameless sexual harasser. A third is just a narcissistic fool.

They're the horrible bosses of "Horrible Bosses," the latest in a long line of comedies about how badly work can suck.

Latvia's new president was sworn in Friday at a time of political turmoil in the small Baltic country where voters could soon decide to dissolve Parliament.

Andris Berzins, 66, defeated outgoing President Valdis Zatlers in a parliamentary ballot last month. The vote came just days after Zatlers called a referendum on dissolving the legislature, which he said was controlled by wealthy oligarchs. It was the first time in Latvia's 20-year, post-Soviet history that a president had used that power.

Scores of pro-Palestinian protesters trying to reach Israel were blocked at airports in Europe and two American activists who arrived in Israel were deported early Friday, Israeli officials said.

Israel increased security at the Ben-Gurion International Airport ahead of the activists' arrival and asked foreign airlines to prevent blacklisted travelers from boarding Israel-bound flights, as hundreds said they would travel to Israel to protest Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.

Hugo Chavez has built an entire career on being Venezuela's one-man political messiah. Now his precarious health appears to be prompting him to look into his inner circle for those he thinks are most capable of managing his socialist revolution while he undergoes cancer treatment.

Those standing out include Chavez's elder brother, his foreign minister, his energy minister and a few trusted military officers, both current and former. They are all time-tested loyalists and committed leftists. Yet if Chavez has his mind set on any particular heir to power, he hasn't yet sent clear signals as to whom it would be.

A gunman opened fire in two Michigan homes Thursday, killing his daughter, ex-girlfriend and five other people before leading police on a high-speed chase and taking hostages inside a stranger's home.

The five-hour standoff ended when he killed himself as authorities were telling him how to surrender.

Elie Saab has the formula down pat: Take miles of flowing silks and tulle, whip the fabrics into flattering, nip-waisted silhouettes and cover them with a ton of shimmering sequins and beads and you've got yourself a red carpet winner.

For Wednesday's fall-winter 2012-12 couture collection, the Lebanese designer didn't stray from the winning recipe that has helped him conquer red carpets worldwide. But then again, with gowns that look that good, why would he?

President Barack Obama answered questions from Twitter users across the U.S. in a town hall meeting Wednesday that used the popular social media service and focused on jobs and the economy.

White House officials say Obama sees social media as a way to reach beyond the mainstream media and interact with Americans directly, particularly the younger and more tech-savy part of the electorate as his campaign for re-election in 2012 ramps up.