BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi forces and Sunni militants battled fiercely for control of the nation’s largest oil refinery on Wednesday as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki went on a diplomatic offensive, reaching out in a televised address to try to regain
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s top prosecutor on Monday ordered the release of an Al-Jazeera journalist who has been on hunger strike for more than four months to protest his prolonged detention without charges or trial. A statement from the prosecutor’s
PILGER, Neb. (AP) — A storm packing rare dual tornadoes tore through a tiny farming town in northeast Nebraska, killing a motorist and a 5-year-old girl, leaving grain bins crumpled like discarded soda cans and flattening dozens of homes. Pilger’s
PILGER, Neb. (AP) — A powerful storm with tornadoes ripped through northeast Nebraska on Monday, destroying more than half of the tiny town of Pilger, killing a 5-year-old child and injuring at least 19 people, hospital and emergency officials said.
Somali jihadist group al-Shabaab attacked a coastal town in Kenya, killing 48 people through a series of shootings and fires. The group claimed responsibility and asserted that it would target World Cup viewings and highly populated places in Kenya, warning
JERUSALEM (AP) — The family of an Israeli-American teen believed to have been abducted in the West Bank says it has received an outpouring of support from friends and family back in the U.S. Naftali Fraenkel is believed to have
HOUSTON,Texas–A tidal wave of children who entered the U.S. illegally has left federal resources and facilities completely overwhelmed. As a result, the children have been sheltered in housing facilities in states across the country including Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and California. As agents
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Casey Kasem, the internationally famous radio broadcaster with the cheerful manner and gentle voice who became the king of the top 40 countdown with a syndicated show that ran for decades, died Sunday. He was 82.
In a country with one of the highest murder rates in the world, the availability of coffins is fundamental. In Venezuela, a nation suffering from shortages of everything from water to flour to toilet paper, citizens must now fear scarcity
Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington seek to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. But the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) hasn’t yet decided whether it will even advance a bid from an American city. The information comes from the
Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl is coming home to America as early as Friday morning. The former Taliban captive has been deemed ready to enter a new phase of his recovery after being released in exchange for five high-ranking Taliban officials this
Wendy Davis is replacing her campaign manager as her bid to become Texas’ next governor is suffering. According to the Associated Press (AP), Davis announced on Wednesday that her campaign has struggled against Greg Abbott, the Republican gubernatorial candidate who is leading
Even the Associated Press saw the writing on the wall for amnesty legislation after Dave Brat stunned House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) in Tuesday’s primary. The Associated Press declared on Wednesday that Cantor’s loss was such a “stunning rebuke” that
Brazil still might encounter a subway worker strike in Sao Paulo during the World Cup. The workers suspended the strike on Monday, but threatened to start again by Thursday–the first day of the tournament–if 42 fired workers are not rehired.
BAGHDAD (AP) — Al-Qaida-inspired militants seized effective control Wednesday of Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, expanding their offensive closer to the Iraqi capital as soldiers and security forces abandoned their posts following clashes with the insurgents. Fighters from the Islamic
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Ten gunmen disguised as police guards attacked a terminal at Pakistan’s busiest airport with machine guns and a rocket launcher during a five-hour siege that killed 13 people as explosions echoed into the night, while security
FIFA President Sepp Blatter believes the long European soccer season is causing some of the world’s top players to get hurt before the World Cup. He said that it’s “too long a season and always the same players are always
Only 25,636 out of the 61,600 tickets to Thursday’s opening match at the World Cup went to the general public. The rest were reserved for VIPs, broadcasters, and hospitality programs. FIFA said they withheld 10,000 tickets, which will be given
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — Actor and comedian Tracy Morgan was critically injured in a fatal six-vehicle pileup on the New Jersey Turnpike on Saturday, hours after performing a standup routine at a show in Delaware, authorities said. A limousine
Amid news of the release of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for five high-level Taliban leaders, North Korea announced that it had arrested yet another American without indicating what crime the American had committed. According to the nation’s Korean Central
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton writes in her new book that the Obama administration demanded the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in every discussion it ever held with the Taliban about prisoners. The former secretary of state also says
In the contentious GOP Arkansas Attorney General runoff, David Sterling has vowed to hire conservative lawyers to help him fight the federal government’s overreach. His Republican opponent Leslie Rutledge thinks that could be discriminatory. Days before the June 10 runoff
Kathy Gannon is the Associated Press’ intrepid senior correspondent for Afghanistan and Pakistan (Gannon was shot covering the Afghan election earlier this year). Last year, during an interview with a Taliban spokesman, she was the first to hear the outlines
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Boko Haram militants dressed as soldiers slaughtered at least 200 civilians in three villages in northeastern Nigeria and the military failed to intervene even though it was warned that an attack was imminent, witnesses said on
Chester Nez, one of the 29 original Navajos who were recruited to help the American military transfer information in a code the Japanese military could not break, passed away today at 93. Their efforts in developing a Navajo-based code to
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has decided to celebrate his birthday in Bolivia this year, and in honor of his visit and the festivities at hand, Bolivian president Evo Morales is set to present Ban with a birthday cake
WASHINGTON (AP) — A government document provided to The Associated Press says more than 2 million people who got health insurance under President Barack Obama’s law have data discrepancies that could jeopardize coverage for some. Two million people works out
Joel Osteen will add a SiriusXM channel to his already formidable media empire. The Texas-based megachurch pastor already reaches millions through the Trinity religious network and various other channels across the country. According to the Associated Press, the Sirius channel
BEIJING (AP) — Yin Min held the ashes of her son and wept, she said, as she marked 25 years since he was killed in the crackdown by Chinese tanks and troops on protests at Tiananmen Square. Outside, guards kept
Governor Jerry Brown has easily advanced in Tuesday’s primary election with over 55% of votes in his favor against his two main rivals, Republicans Neel Kashkari and Tim Donnelly. According to polling data released by the Los Angeles Times, Brown
Anti-coup protesters in Thailand have adopted a three-fingered salute from the book The Hunger Games as a symbol against what they argue is an oppressive and illegitimate military regime. In response to this form of silent protest, officials have warned that
Wildlife officials in California are alleging that medical marijuana farms are damaging the rivers and streams in Northern California, polluting them and leaving them high and dry, the Associated Press reports. The marijuana farms’ use of water is compounding the
Salvador Sánchez Cerén, a former officer of leftist guerrilla group, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), has been sworn in as president of El Salvador, promising to fight “organized crime” while strengthening ties with Venezuela. Sánchez Cerén, who served as
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Emmy-winning actress Ann B. Davis, who became the country’s favorite and most famous housekeeper as the devoted Alice Nelson of “The Brady Bunch,” died Sunday at a San Antonio hospital. She was 88. Bexar County, Texas,
WASHINGTON (AP) — Five years a captive from the Afghanistan war, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is back in American hands, freed for five Guantanamo terrorism detainees in a swap stirring sharp debate in Washington over whether the U.S. should have negotiated
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Inquirer co-owner Lewis Katz was killed along with six other people in a fiery plane crash in Massachusetts, his business partner said Sunday. Harold H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest confirmed Katz’s death to The Associated Press, saying he
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Friday he plans to have a “serious conversation” with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki about whether he can stay in his job as the agency head apologized for the systemic problems plaguing the
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man was jailed on suspicion of battery after rushing up and touching Brad Pitt on the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of the movie “Maleficent,” witnesses and police said, though Pitt was apparently unhurt
PHOENIX (AP) — Navy veteran Ken Senft turned to the Department of Veterans Affairs for medical care in 2011 after his private insurance grew too costly. It could have been a fatal mistake, he now says. A few years ago,
Sacramento is known as a Democratic Party stronghold, both locally and in state politics. Yet the River City has adopted adopted a rather conservative measure” requiring all taxi drivers in the city to speak English on the job. In a
