Pro-Russian forces storm Ukrainian base in Crimea

Pro-Russian forces storm Ukrainian base in Crimea
China satellite finds object near jet search area
Pope appoints former child victim to church group on sex abuse
Michigan's 1st gay marriage license issued
3 Palestinians killed in clash with Israeli army
Pope announces 1st members of sex abuse commission
Turkey: Twitter does 'character assassination '
Giraffe licks dying zoo worker
Jets sign Vick to challenge Smith for QB job
NCAA upsets crush perfect bracket hopes
US first lady stresses freedom of speech in China
Shots fired at Ukrainian base in Crimea
Relatives of jet's passengers struggle to cope
Turkey seeks to tighten Twitter clampdown
G'day, baseball! Opening day goes Down Under
Officials brace for 'long haul' in jetliner search
Australia: Satellite clues to jet mystery elusive
China spots new possible plane debris in southern Indian Ocean
U.S. Iraq vet gets $4.5 million for Occupy injuries
How astronauts survive diplomatic tensions in space
Judge strikes down Michigan's ban on gay marriage
Want Warren Buffett's 1B bracket bounty? You probably already blew it

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 10:33 AM PDT

BELBEK AIR BASE, Crimea (AP) — Pro-Russian forces stormed a Ukrainian air force base in Crimea, firing shots and stun grenades and smashing through concrete walls with armored personnel carriers. At least one person was wounded, the base commander said.

China satellite finds object near jet search area

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 08:06 AM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A satellite image released by China on Saturday offered the latest sign that wreckage from a Malaysia Airlines plane lost for more than two weeks could be in a remote stretch of the southern Indian Ocean where planes and ships have been searching for three days.

Pope appoints former child victim to church group on sex abuse

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 09:35 AM PDT

By Steve Scherer VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Saturday named a woman molested by a priest as a child to be part of a core group to help the Catholic Church fight the clerical sexual abuse of minors that has haunted it for over two decades The first eight members - four women and four men - hail from eight different countries and include Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, former Polish Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka and Baroness Sheila Hollins, a British psychiatrist. The victim is Marie Collins, who was abused in her native Ireland in the 1960s and has campaigned for the protection of children and for justice for victims of clerical pedophilia. "Pope Francis has made clear that the Church must hold the protection of minors amongst her highest priorities," Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said in a statement.

Michigan's 1st gay marriage license issued

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 09:01 AM PDT

MASON, Mich. (AP) — Two women were the first gay couple to marry in Michigan on Saturday, one day after the state's ban on gay marriage was scratched from the state constitution by a federal judge.

3 Palestinians killed in clash with Israeli army

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 05:59 AM PDT

JENIN, West Bank (AP) — Israeli troops killed three Palestinians in an early morning raid that was followed by a clash with angry protesters in a West Bank town on Saturday, the military and Palestinian security officials said, in the deadliest incident in months.

Pope announces 1st members of sex abuse commission

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 08:34 AM PDT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis named the initial members of a commission to advise him on sex abuse policy Saturday, tapping lay and religious experts — and an Irish woman assaulted as a child by a priest — to start plotting the commission's tasks and priorities.

Turkey: Twitter does 'character assassination '

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 09:04 AM PDT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's government on Saturday accused Twitter of engaging in "systematic character assassinations" a day after social media users easily evaded a government attempt to block access to the network.

Giraffe licks dying zoo worker

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 09:11 AM PDT

AMSTERDAM (AP) — A giraffe gave a lick to a dying man who asked as a last wish to be taken to Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where he had done odd jobs for 25 years.

Jets sign Vick to challenge Smith for QB job

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 09:58 AM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Vick is in for the New York Jets. Mark Sanchez is out.

NCAA upsets crush perfect bracket hopes

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 08:43 AM PDT

The billion-dollar dream is over.

US first lady stresses freedom of speech in China

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 06:13 AM PDT

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. first lady Michelle Obama told students in China, which has some of the world's tightest restrictions on the Internet, that freedom of speech and unfettered access to information make countries stronger and should be universal rights.

Shots fired at Ukrainian base in Crimea

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 08:50 AM PDT

BELBEK AIR BASE, Crimea (AP) — Pro-Russian forces stormed a Ukrainian air force base in Crimea, firing shots and smashing through concrete walls with armored personnel carriers, according to an Associated Press journalist. At least one person was wounded, the base commander said.

Relatives of jet's passengers struggle to cope

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 04:42 AM PDT

BEIJING (AP) — Like other relatives of passengers of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Wang Zheng's frustration and anger over a lack of any certain information about the fate of his loved ones continues to grow two weeks after the plane went missing.

Turkey seeks to tighten Twitter clampdown

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 07:44 AM PDT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish authorities were seeking to tighten a clampdown on Twitter on Saturday after social media users easily evaded the government's attempt to block access to the service, where links to wiretapped recordings suggesting corruption have been posted, causing the government major embarrassment before local elections on March 30.

G'day, baseball! Opening day goes Down Under

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 06:52 AM PDT

SYDNEY (AP) — Bob Wardle came ready to root for the Arizona Diamondbacks on opening day Down Under, all dressed in his Paul Goldschmidt jersey.

Officials brace for 'long haul' in jetliner search

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 04:19 AM PDT

Authorities try to unlock one of the biggest mysteries in modern aviation history.

Australia: Satellite clues to jet mystery elusive

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 02:38 AM PDT

Frustration grew Saturday over the lack of progress tracking down two objects spotted by satellite.

China spots new possible plane debris in southern Indian Ocean

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 09:57 AM PDT

A Malaysian minister expressed fear a possible sighting of debris may be another false lead.

U.S. Iraq vet gets $4.5 million for Occupy injuries

Posted: 21 Mar 2014 04:38 PM PDT

An Iraq war veteran critically injured in 2011 Occupy protests in California has won $4.5 million in a legal settlement with local authorities, his lawyers said Friday. Scott Olsen, who served two tours in Iraq, suffered brain damage when riot police used tear gas to disperse protestors in Oakland on October 25. He gave an outdoor press conference not far from where he was injured, saying he had not expected to be disabled due to police action at home, having survived war-torn Iraq. "I guess I thought that I wasn't in Iraq anymore, you know, I'd be more or less safe," he said, cited by the San Francisco Chronicle.

How astronauts survive diplomatic tensions in space

Posted: 21 Mar 2014 08:34 PM PDT

While the United States and Russia traded sanctions this week in a burgeoning crisis over Crimea, astronauts from both nations rose above the discord in their sanctuary hundreds of miles from Earth. Not that talking politics is taboo aboard the International Space Station (ISS), where Americans and Russians share close quarters, orbiting at an altitude of 248 miles (400 kilometers) over the Earth. We'd talk about politics," said retired US astronaut Leroy Chiao, who commanded the ISS for six months in 2004 and 2005. American astronaut Mike Hopkins, upon returning from the ISS earlier this month after a half-year stay, said he considered his Russian counterparts "close friends" and described cooperation as "very strong."

Judge strikes down Michigan's ban on gay marriage

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 04:22 AM PDT

DETROIT (AP) — Michigan's ban on gay marriage, approved by voters in a landslide in 2004, was scratched from the state constitution by a federal judge who said the ballot box is no defense to a law that tramples the rights of same-sex couples.