• Putin rebuffs Obama as Ukraine crisis escalates

    After an hour-long phone call, Putin says Russia and the U.S. are still far apart.

    Reuters
  • Religious conservatives facing off at conference

    OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — The early auditions for the Republican Party's next presidential contest are in full swing at the nation's largest annual gathering of conservative activists, where some of the GOP's most prominent religious conservatives are facing off.

    Associated Press
  • Opening statements to begin in general's sex trial

    FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — Opening statements were set to begin Friday in the court-martial of an Army general accused of sexually assaulting a captain under his command with whom he had a three-year affair.

    Associated Press
  • Senate blocks change to military sex assault cases

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Bowing to the Pentagon, the Senate agreed after impassioned debate Thursday to leave the authority to prosecute rapes and other serious crimes with military commanders in a struggle that highlighted the growing role of women in Congress.

    Associated Press
  • Half of millennials more likely to lean Democratic

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Young adults like to think of themselves as independent, but when it comes to politics, they're more likely than not to lean to the left.

    Associated Press
  • AP PHOTOS: Women brick-makers in debt in Pakistan

    MANDRA, Pakistan (AP) — Amna Bhatti has spent half a century shaping mud into bricks in a huge kiln south of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. She started by paying off her parents' debt and now she's on to her late husband's. She'll probably spend the rest of her life here.

    Associated Press
  • International court convicts Congo rebel leader

    THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court has convicted a rebel leader of charges including murder and pillage during a deadly attack on a village in eastern Congo, but acquitted him of rape, sexual slavery and using child soldiers.

    Associated Press52 mins ago
  • Here comes El Nino; good news for US weather woes

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Relief may be on the way for a weather-weary United States with the predicted warming of the central Pacific Ocean brewing this year that will likely change weather worldwide. But it won't be for the better everywhere.

    Associated Press
  • Darren Sharper returns to court seeking release

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Darren Sharper will return to court on Friday where his attorneys will argue that the former NFL All-Pro safety should be released from a Los Angeles jail.

    Associated Press
  • Pistorius neighbor: Bangs too quick to be bat

    PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — A neighbor of Oscar Pistorius testifying in his murder trial said Friday that the bangs he heard after a woman's screams on the night of Reeva Steenkamp's shooting were likely too quick to be the sounds of a cricket bat on a door, as the star athlete's defense team claims.

    Associated Press
  • Crimea to vote to split from Ukraine, join Russia

    SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine lurched toward breakup Thursday as lawmakers in Crimea unanimously declared they wanted to join Russia and would put the decision to voters in 10 days. President Barack Obama condemned the move and the West answered with the first real sanctions against Russia.

    Associated Press
  • Doctor testifies in Pistorius trial

    PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — A doctor who said he saw Oscar Pistorius weeping over his dead or dying girlfriend after he shot her has resumed testimony in the murder trial of the double-amputee runner.

    Associated Press
  • General admits guilt on 3 counts; denies assault

    FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — An Army general accused of sexual assault is pleading guilty to three lesser charges, but maintains his innocence on five remaining counts.

    Associated Press
  • APNewsBreak: Many NYC inmates report 'head shots'

    NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly a third of Rikers Island inmates who said their visible injuries came at the hands of a correction officer last year had suffered a blow to the head, a tactic that is supposed to be a guard's last resort because it is potentially fatal, according to an internal report obtained by The Associated Press.

    Associated Press
  • Obama: West won't let Kremlin carve up Ukraine

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama ordered the West's first sanctions in response to Russia's military takeover of Crimea on Thursday, declaring his determination not to let the Kremlin carve up Ukraine. He asserted that a hastily scheduled referendum on Crimea seceding and becoming part of Russia would violate international law.

    Associated Press
  • Recruit describes being quizzed by bin Laden

    American testifies about safe house encounter with terror leader in spring of 2001.

    Associated Press
  • Sports medicine pioneer Frank Jobe dies at 88

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dr. Frank Jobe, a pioneering orthopedic surgeon who was the first to perform an elbow procedure that became known as Tommy John surgery and saved the careers of countless major league pitchers, died Thursday. He was 88.

    Associated Press
  • Man revealed in report as bitcoin creator denies story

    A reclusive Japanese American man thought to be the father of Bitcoin emerged from his Southern California home and denied any involvement with the digital currency, before leading reporters on a car chase leading to the headquarters of the Associated Press. Satoshi Nakamoto, a name known to legions of bitcoin traders, practitioners and boosters around the world, appeared to lose his anonymity on Thursday after Newsweek published a story that said Nakamoto lived in Temple City, California, just east of Los Angeles, and included a photograph. In the afternoon, Nakamoto stepped outside and told reporters he had nothing to do with bitcoin but was looking for someone who understood Japanese, to buy him a free lunch. According to a Los Angeles Times reporter, who followed his car, Nakamoto was driven to the Associated Press offices in downtown Los Angeles, where he again denied any involvement with bitcoin.

    Reuters
  • Why the SAT had to change

    Earlier this week, high school students were given a surprise gift — the dreaded essay portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test would be going optional in spring 2016.

  • Despite the name calling, Putin is not crazy

    The Russian president may be calculating, sources say, even miscalculating.