Scott Neuman

Ukrainian troops have retaken the key stronghold of Slovyansk from pro-Russian forces in a sign that Kiev may be regaining control over the country's east, months after insurgents swept through the region establishing a self-proclaimed independent republic.

The country's president, Petro Poroshenko, and a spokesman for the rebels confirmed ...

Atlanta-based SunTrust Mortgage Inc. has agreed to pay up to $320 million to resolve criminal allegations that it mishandled applications from homeowners seeking loan modifications under a federal program.

The deal with the Justice Department follows a similar settlement last month with SunTrust Mortgage over its mishandling of federally ...

In a sign that China and South Korea are moving closer together, possibly at North Korea's expense, Beijing and Seoul have said they are close to a free-trade deal and issued a joint statement that they firmly oppose nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula.

The announcement on Thursday comes amid ...

A 19-year-old Denver-area woman has been charged with conspiring to help a foreign terrorist organization after she was arrested in April boarding a flight that would ultimately land her in Syria, where she hoped to wage jihad, according to newly unsealed court documents.

According to the FBI, Shannon Maureen Conley ...

Amid reports that Saudi Arabia has deployed some 30,000 troops to its border with Iraq, President Obama has called King Abdullah to discuss the developments in the region.

Reuters quotes Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television as saying the kingdom has deployed forces to its border after Iraqi troops abandoned their positions amid ...

Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who later survived the brutality of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp after his bomber crashed in the Pacific, has died at age 97. Zamperini's life story was chronicled in the best-seller Unbroken, and a film based on the book is set to be released in December.

...

Legendary soul singer Bobby Womack, who rose to prominence with such hits as "Lookin' For A Love" and "That's The Way I Feel About Cha," died Friday at age 70, his publicist says.

Womack began putting out records in the early 1960s as the lead singer of The Valentinos. ...

I woke up Thursday to see a river washing down our street in Recife, Brazil.

Brown water washed in waves by tire-deep cars slowly fording the streets. Rain bucketing down while pedestrians in flip-flops cautiously made their way knee-deep over deluged sidewalks.

Normally, I might be concerned for my safety ...

A federal appeals court has granted a stay on a lower court ruling striking down Indiana's same-sex marriage ban ahead of a planned appeal.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller was granted a stay by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which will hear an appeal of a ruling Wednesday ...

The Ukraine government today extended a weeklong cease-fire with pro-Russia separatists for another three days.

The announcement on President Petro Poroshenko's website said that Ukraine forces would stand down for an additional 72 hours, until 10 p.m. Monday.

The Associated Press says:

"The announcement came shortly after Poroshenko returned ...

The Pentagon says armed U.S. drones are in the skies over Baghdad, protecting American forces deploying there to assess the security situation amid a Sunni insurgency.

Unarmed reconnaissance drones have been flying 30 to 35 sorties per day for the past week or so.

The decision to begin arming some ...

To put a literary spin on the Supreme Court's recent decision to limit warrantless cellphone searches, author Craig Morgan Teicher turns to A.R. Ammons' book of poetry, Tape for the Turn of the Year.

After a two-year trial for Internet voting, Norway is pulling the plug.

The country's Office of Modernization said in a statement that there's no evidence that online voting, tested in elections in 2011 and 2013, improved turnout. It also said that "political disagreement" over the issue, along with ...

"I'm not predicting that it's entirely impossible that we would at any point act collaboratively with Iran," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff tells NPR.

General Motors has issued an order to stop selling 2013 and 2014 model years of the Chevrolet Cruze compact car because of air bags that might not inflate properly. The automaker has identified 33,000 vehicles, mostly in the U.S. and Canada, with the potential problem and is expected to recall ...

President Obama has asked Congress for $500 million to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels who are seeking the ouster of Bashar Assad.

If Congress approves the plan, it would supplement a covert training and assistance program already being run by U.S. intelligence agencies, The Associated Press says.

The White ...

Marijuana use in the United States has gone up as the public perception of the drug's risk has gone down, according to a new United Nations report. The potency of the drug has also increased,

The World Drug Report 2014, put out by the U.N. Office on Drugs and ...

Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker, who served as Senate majority leader in the 1980s and chief of staff under President Ronald Reagan, has died at 88, his law firm said Tuesday.

Baker died at his home on Thursday due to complications from a stroke he suffered on Saturday, according to ...

While it's hard to imagine Seth Rogen and James Franco being the proximate cause of World War III, the stars of Pineapple Express have prompted the latest round of blustery threats from North Korea.

Pyongyang has promised "merciless" retaliation if the duo's latest comedy, The Interview, is released as scheduled ...

When Karen Wisinska finally got around to trying on a pair of pants she bought three years ago in her native Northern Ireland, what she says she found in a pocket was a handwritten "cry for help" from a Chinese prison sweatshop.

The BBC says she posted pictures of ...