US soldier freed from captivity in Afghanistan

US soldier freed from captivity in Afghanistan
70 years after D-Day, she hears dad's stories anew
Analysis: Shinseki exit breaks Obama's crisis mold
Hagel spars with China over territorial disputes
Obama to make statement on captured soldier
Some Kiev barricades come down; protesters balky
Warnings on 'gaming' patient waits go back years
India arrests 3rd suspect in gang rape of 2 teens
Obama makes public health pitch for carbon rules
Mickelson says he's cooperating in trading probe
Thailand's coup: Key questions answered
Security matrix prevents another Tiananmen
Report: Calif. police unaware student had firearms before killings
NBA ends dispute with Sterling's wife, will vote on Clippers sale
Norway tows Greenpeace ship out of Arctic oil rig zone
NYC council passes Cooper's Law aimed at traffic deaths
Six rare monkeys die mysteriously at Oregon Zoo
High school guard charged in abuse of boy in wheelchair
Trayvon Martin's friend fulfills promise
State orders Colorado baker to make cakes for gay weddings
White House spokesman Jay Carney is leaving post
Don't forget to lock the garage: 'Ferris Bueller' house finds owner

Posted: 31 May 2014 02:49 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan has been freed by the Taliban in exchange for the release of five Afghan detainees from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Obama administration officials said Saturday.

70 years after D-Day, she hears dad's stories anew

Posted: 31 May 2014 12:36 PM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Every night at dinner when I was young, my dad fought World War II all over again. He'd parachuted into Normandy with the 101st Airborne on D-Day, went on to fight in Holland and Belgium, and he loved to tell war stories.

Analysis: Shinseki exit breaks Obama's crisis mold

Posted: 31 May 2014 08:06 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — This was not in the Barack Obama playbook.

Hagel spars with China over territorial disputes

Posted: 31 May 2014 08:40 AM PDT

The U.S. "will not look the other way" when China and others try to restrict navigation or ignore international rules and standards, Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel says.

Obama to make statement on captured soldier

Posted: 31 May 2014 02:46 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Barack Obama will deliver a statement Saturday afternoon from the Rose Garden.

Some Kiev barricades come down; protesters balky

Posted: 31 May 2014 11:09 AM PDT

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Demonstrators on the main downtown avenue of Ukraine's capital set piles of tires ablaze on Saturday to protest authorities' call to end the encampment that began six months ago. A few hundred meters away, workers in hard hats cleared debris from torn-down barricades.

Warnings on 'gaming' patient waits go back years

Posted: 31 May 2014 09:22 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The report this week confirming that 1,700 veterans were "at risk of being lost or forgotten" at a Phoenix hospital was hardly the first independent review that documented long wait times for some patients seeking health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs and inaccurate records that understated the depth of the problem.

India arrests 3rd suspect in gang rape of 2 teens

Posted: 31 May 2014 06:20 AM PDT

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Police arrested a third suspect Saturday in the gang rape and slaying of two teenage cousins found hanging from a tree in northern India, as a top state official said he was recommending a federal investigation into a case that has triggered national outrage.

Obama makes public health pitch for carbon rules

Posted: 31 May 2014 03:11 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — As governors, businesses and environmentalists brace for new limits on power plant pollution, President Barack Obama is casting his unprecedented effort to curb greenhouse gases as essential to protect the health and wellbeing of children.

Mickelson says he's cooperating in trading probe

Posted: 31 May 2014 02:33 PM PDT

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Hall of Fame golfer Phil Mickelson confirmed that FBI agents investigating insider trading approached him this week at the Memorial Tournament. The five-time major champion said Saturday he has done "absolutely nothing wrong."

Thailand's coup: Key questions answered

Posted: 31 May 2014 08:33 AM PDT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's army seized power in a May 22 coup, the Southeast Asian nation's second in eight years. Here, four Associated Press correspondents who have been covering the crisis and the political turmoil leading up to it offer their insight into recent events:

Security matrix prevents another Tiananmen

Posted: 31 May 2014 07:00 AM PDT

BEIJING (AP) — When visiting friends in China's capital, environmental activist Wu Lihong must slip away from his rural home before sunrise, before the police officers watching his home awaken. He rides a bus to an adjacent province and jumps aboard a train just minutes before departure to avoid being spotted.

Report: Calif. police unaware student had firearms before killings

Posted: 30 May 2014 10:01 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Authorities did not know that Elliot Rodger, whose shooting rampage left six dead and more than a dozen injured in a California college town, owned firearms despite three interactions with the police within the year, the Los Angeles Times reported. Rodger had legally purchased three firearms leading up to the shooting spree, a fact that authorities could have discovered by searching law enforcement databases, the Times reported on Friday. "The issue of weapons did not come up," sheriff's spokeswoman Kelly Hoover told the Times.

NBA ends dispute with Sterling's wife, will vote on Clippers sale

Posted:

Norway tows Greenpeace ship out of Arctic oil rig zone

Posted: 30 May 2014 04:02 PM PDT

Norway's Coast Guard on Friday evening towed away a Greenpeace ship that tried to block Statoil's rig from drilling the world's most northerly oil well in the Barents Sea, the environment group said. Oil drillers in Norway are moving further north as mature fields in the south are depleted and as the Arctic ice retreats, opening new areas that were previously unaccessible. "The Norwegian Coast Guard tonight boarded the Greenpeace ship Esperanza outside of the country's territorial waters to end a high profile and perfectly legal protest against Arctic oil drilling," Greenpeace said in an emailed statement. The group said two groups of officers boarded the ship and took controls at around 2250 CET (2050 GMT) after Greenpeace crew refused to leave.

NYC council passes Cooper's Law aimed at traffic deaths

Posted: 30 May 2014 02:41 PM PDT

NYC taxi drivers who kill or seriously injure pedestrians will have their licenses suspended immediately and revoked permanently if they are found to have broken any traffic laws, after the City Council passed a bill named after 9-year-old Cooper Stock.

Six rare monkeys die mysteriously at Oregon Zoo

Posted: 30 May 2014 01:50 PM PDT

By Shelby Sebens PORTLAND Ore. (Reuters) - Six cotton-top tamarin monkeys died unexpectedly soon after their arrival at the Oregon Zoo, following the death of an orangutan that led to the firing of the zoo's director, officials said on Friday. They were in a group of nine of the squirrel-like primates that arrived at the zoo on May 22 and were placed in quarantine at its veterinarian center, which is routine procedure, officials said. Six of those nine monkeys died of unknown causes and their bodies were found by veterinarian staff two days after their arrival, officials said in a statement. Initial necropsy results were inconclusive and tissue samples have been submitted to a pathologist for analysis, said spokesman Jim Middaugh of Metro, the Portland-area regional government that owns and operates the zoo.

High school guard charged in abuse of boy in wheelchair

Posted: 30 May 2014 10:14 AM PDT

A security guard at an Oakland, California, high school was reportedly fired and charged with felony child abuse after he allegedly handcuffed, punched, and threw a student from his wheelchair, according to CBS San Francisco.

Trayvon Martin's friend fulfills promise

Posted: 30 May 2014 11:10 AM PDT

Memorable witness goes distance to earn diploma, prove critics wrong after Zimmerman trial.

State orders Colorado baker to make cakes for gay weddings

Posted: 30 May 2014 12:29 PM PDT

DENVER (AP) — Colorado's Civil Rights Commission on Friday ordered a baker to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples, finding his religious objections to the practice did not trump the state's anti-discrimination statutes.

White House spokesman Jay Carney is leaving post

Posted: 30 May 2014 12:11 PM PDT

By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After more than three years of jousting with the White House press corps, President Barack Obama's chief spokesman, Jay Carney, will step down next month to pursue yet-to-be-named opportunities, Obama announced on Friday. Carney's deputy, Josh Earnest, will take his place, the president said. Obama interrupted Carney on the podium, where he was answering questions during the White House daily news briefing, catching reporters by surprise. It was Obama's second turn on the podium on Friday.