Krishnadev Calamur

President Obama today [Tuesday] defended the deal under which Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was freed in exchange for high-level Taliban prisoners, saying his administration had consulted with Congress over a possible trade. And, he dismissed questions about how Bergdahl was captured by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan in June ...

Tammy Boudreaux was uninsured in December, and not sure that she wanted any part of HealthCare.gov. Ultimately she persevered to sign up for a health plan. We checked back to find out why.

President Obama said today [Tuesday] that he wants to boost the U.S. military presence in Europe amid simmering tensions with Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

"Today I'm announcing a new initiative to bolster the security of our NATO allies here in Europe," he said in Warsaw, Poland, ...

On this edition of All Songs Considered, we highlight music that reflects on the passage of time, with special premieres from Jenny Lewis, My Brightest Diamond, Elephant Stone and more.

We open with "Time Forgot," a beautiful and moving cut from Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), ...

The release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for five senior members of the Taliban has been both welcomed as well as criticized.

Here's a look at why the release of a prisoner of war, usually a cause for unalloyed celebration, is proving so divisive.

Who is ...

Narendra Modi looks almost certain to be India's next prime minister as his Bharatiya Janata Party headed toward a landslide victory Friday in India's just-concluded parliamentary elections.

Modi is praised for the strong economic growth in Gujarat state, where he has been chief minister since 2001. But religious riots ...

Updated at 2:33 p.m. ET

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki told a Senate panel today [Thursday] that he hoped to have a preliminary report within three weeks on the problem of delayed treatment and preventable deaths at VA facilities across the nation.

His testimony came amid allegations that such conditions ...

This story was updated at 6:30 p.m. ET.

The New York Times is replacing Executive Editor Jill Abramson with Dean Baquet, the paper's managing editor.

Abramson, who took the top spot at the newspaper in 2011, was the first woman to hold that job.

The move was unexpected, and ...

We don't typically pity the French, what with their pantries full of fine cheese, meats and wine.

But France is changing quickly. It's the No. 2 market for McDonald's and it's fighting a tough battle against the creeping influence of English. And now there's another unkind cut: A ...

A judge in Arkansas has struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage, a move that clears the way for gay couples to wed.

Here's the judge's order, via Chris Johnson, chief political and White House reporter for the Washington Blade.

The Associated Press reports that Pulaski County Circuit ...

When Ana Maria Moreta Folch had issues with her neighbors, she did what most of us would. Scratch that. She had their mobile home demolished.

The Florida Times-Union reports that the 62-year-old St. Johns County, Fla., resident "told a heavy equipment operator she owned the trailer on Dusty Road ...

The National Basketball Association has named a new interim CEO for the Los Angeles Clippers: It's Richard Parsons, the former Time Warner CEO who was also a chairman of Citigroup.

David Aldridge of NBA.com first reported on the appointment.

And if you're just catching up with this ...

Think your love life is complicated?

A 62-year-old Turkish man went on a dating show and stunned the host and audience when he revealed that he'd killed his first wife. Not just that: He also revealed that he'd killed his former lover with an ax. But Sefer Çalınak told Flash ...

Ford has issued two recalls, each covering about 700,000 vehicles in North America.

The Associated Press reports:

"The first case covers 692,500 Escape SUVs and C-Max hybrids from the 2013 and 2014 model years.

"Ford says a software glitch can stop the side curtain air bags from inflating ...

Update at 1:03 p.m. Boehner Names GOP Members

House Speaker John Boehner on Friday named the Republican members of a committee that will investigate the 2012 Benghazi attacks: Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Peter Roskam of Illinois, Martha Roby of Alabama, Susan Brooks of Indiana, Mike Pompeo of Kansas and ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Crimea's "return to the motherland," in his first appearance in the territory since Russia annexed the Ukrainian region in March.

The visit was ostensibly to mark Victory Day, Russia's most important secular holiday that honors the 1945 Soviet victory over the Nazis. And it came ...

There's an interesting story out of Kentucky where the former accountant for the nation's oldest operating monastery was indicted Wednesday for allegedly stealing more than $1 million from the Abbey of Gethsemani.

But John Hutchins, the man at the center of the allegations, says he was targeted because he ...

The story you thought was long over is back: Monica Lewinsky, the former White House intern whose affair with President Clinton eventually led to his impeachment and made her the object of punch lines and scorn, has written an article in Vanity Fair in which she says, "It's time ...

The Beverly Hills City Council voted Tuesday night to ask the government of Brunei to divest itself of the famed Beverly Hills Hotel.

At issue: Shariah, or Islamic, law. Last week, Brunei, a tiny oil-rich kingdom in southeast Asia, adopted Shariah as part of its penal code. The law, which ...

The radical Islamist group Boko Haram isn't new. The group has been around for more than a decade and has waged a bloody insurgency in northeastern Nigeria for the past five years. But it has suddenly achieved international notoriety by kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls who have now been missing ...