Qusair is a strategically important town that lies between Homs, where the Syrian uprising began two years ago, and the Lebanese border. If President Bashar Assad's troops – reportedly backed by Hezbollah fighters — regain the town, they would control an important route from the coast to the capital, Damascus.

The government of President Nicolas Maduro announced this week that it would import 50 million rolls of toilet paper to meet the growing demand. The oil-rich country already suffers from a shortage of medicine, milk and sugar.

He was convicted of second-degree murder for the shooting spree that left a mother of 10 dead and two others wounded. Prosecutors are expected to seek life without parole.

Lt. Col. Darin Haas was arrested in a domestic dispute and has been relieved of his post. The report comes on the heels of recent allegations of sexual assault in the military.

The Arizona woman was found guilty last week of killing her ex-boyfriend in a fit of rage. In testimony Wednesday, prosecutors had to prove Arias killed him in an especially cruel and heinous manner.

The Army sergeant, who faces accusations of pandering, abusive sexual contact, assault and maltreatment of subordinates, was suspended from all duties, but hasn't been charged. The accusations come just days after a similar case involving an officer in the Air Force's sexual assault response office.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell was spared the death penalty after he agreed to give up his right to an appeal. Gosnell, 72, was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder in three illegally performed late-term abortions.

He takes over from Jimmy Fallon, who's tapped to replace Jay Leno on the Tonight show. Meyers, the longtime SNL cast member who anchors the show's "Weekend Update" segment, will take the 12:35 a.m. segment from Fallon.

The stencil of a young boy sewing the Union Jack is the centerpiece of an exhibition in London, after which it will head to the U.S. where it is to be part of a private collection. Organizers say Slave Labour is not being put up for sale, but residents of the London neighborhood from which it disappeared want it back.

Officials said 1,021 bodies had been pulled from the rubble. It's unclear what the final toll will be from the April 24 collapse of the Rana Plaza building that houses several garment factories.

The physicist said his decision as based on the advice of his Palestinian contacts. Hawking is one of the most prominent figures to join the academic boycott of the Jewish state. His decision has been criticized and labeled hypocritical.

Skilling was sentenced in 2006 for his role in the collapse of the energy trading giant and handed a 24-year prison sentence. Under the deal announced Thursday, he may see as much as a decade cut from that sentence.

Margaret Groening was born a Wiggum, a name familiar to fans of The Simpsons. She died in her sleep on April 22. She was 94.

The blaze is burning in the rugged foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains about 50 miles west of Los Angeles and less than a dozen miles from the Pacific Ocean. It has forced evacuations of hundreds of homes.

Hanneman was one of the most influential guitarists in thrash metal. He died Thursday in Southern California of liver failure. He was 49.

Stuart Hall is the latest British TV personality who has been linked to sexual abuse. His arrest is part of an operation that followed revelations about the beloved Jimmy Savile, who died in 2011.

The administration's decision came a day after the FDA lowered the age for which the emergency contraceptive pill can be purchased without a prescription from 17 to 15. A U.S. district court ruling had ordered it to end all age restrictions on Plan B.

News reports say that workers at the factories housed in the building that collapsed last week were paid about $50 a month. More than 400 people were killed in the collapse, and some of those who couldn't be identified were given a mass funeral on Wednesday.

He accused the organization of undermining his leftist government. In 2008, Morales expelled the Drug Enforcement Administration from Bolivia.

Officials are still trying to determine the reason for the crash north of Kabul, but they say there's no indication of hostile fire. There's no word yet on the nationalities of the dead.