Scott Neuman

The U.S. says Iran's potential nomination of a new United Nations ambassador who was a hostage-taker during the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran is "extremely troubling," but stopped short of saying it would deny him a visa.

"We're taking a close look at the case now, and ...

Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted after asking Russian troops into Crimea, admits that his decision was wrong, calling Moscow's annexation of the Black Sea peninsula "a major tragedy."

In an interview with The Associated Press and Russian channel NTV, he said he made a mistake when ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife of 30 years, Lyudmila, are now divorced, the Kremlin confirmed Wednesday.

The divorce was finalized months after the couple announced on national television in June that they intended to end the marriage. At the time, Putin said: "It was a joint decision: we ...

In nine months the human brain grows from a single cell to more than 80 billion. Mapping how genes are activated gives scientists clues to the origins of mental disorders like autism.

The Columbian mammoth is facing extinction as South Carolina's proposed state fossil unless the elephant-sized Ice Age mammal can survive the efforts of creationist lawmakers.

South Carolina is one of only 10 states that doesn't currently have an official state fossil, something an 8-year-old South Carolinian girl suggested the ...

With no wreckage found yet that can be linked to Flight MH370 and time beginning to run out for a homing beacon on the 'black box' flight data recorder, Malaysia's police chief says the mystery of the missing airliner may never be solved.

Khalid Abu Bakar says the criminal ...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down an overall cap on the amount that large campaign donors can give to parties and candidates in a two-year election cycle.

In a 5-4 decision split between conservatives and liberals on the high court, the court said the limits were a ...

The birth mother of Amber Marie Rose, the teen whose 2005 death was the first linked to an ignition switch problem that's triggered a massive recall of General Motors vehicles, says that through a Facebook group for families of victims, she's identified at least 29 fatalities due to the defect. ...

At a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, senior officials of Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar Inc. defended the company against accusations that it had used an affiliate in Switzerland to avoided paying some $2.4 billion in taxes over a 12-year period.

"Americans pay the taxes they owe and not more. And, as ...

The head of an international airline group wants a new and better way to track passenger aircraft in flight after the disappearance of Flight MH370, saying: "We cannot let another aircraft simply vanish."

Tony Tyler, the director general of the International Air Travel Association, a global industry group, ...

China's anti-corruption campaign has expanded its reach to the country's military, with a former top general being charged and news that widespread wrongdoing had been uncovered at key units of the People's Liberation Army.

Former Gen. Gu Junshan, who served as the PLA's deputy logistics chief, has been charged of ...

A day after Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly promised that the Kremlin would withdraw some troops from near the border with Ukraine, the head of NATO says he's seen no movement as yet.

As we reported, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office said on Monday that Putin had told her ...

General Motors is recalling an additional 824,000 small cars in the U.S., adding to the 1.37 million it recalled domestically last month, citing possible faulty ignition switches.

Worldwide, the latest announcement affects a total of 971,000 vehicles, on top of the 1.6 million recalled globally in February.

The automaker ...

Washington state, with its many steep slopes, streams and rivers and some of the heaviest annual rainfall in the country, is a mudslide waiting to happen. Add in soil erosion from logging, as was reportedly the case near the community of Oso before last week's tragedy, and the ...

Jens Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway, has been appointed to succeed Anders Fogh Rasmussen as NATO secretary-general, a post he will assume in October.

In an address in Oslo after he was selected by NATO ambassadors, Stoltenberg on Friday called the crisis over Ukraine "a brutal reminder of ...

The U.N. General Assembly has approved a strong rebuke of Moscow, calling the referendum leading to the annexation of Crimea illegal by a substantial margin of members voting, despite Russia's lobbying against the resolution.

The "Draft Resolution on Territorial Integrity of Ukraine" passed with 100 countries voting for it, ...

The Air Force has announced the firing of nine midlevel nuclear missile commanders and the disciplining of dozens of junior officers involved in cheating on ICBM proficiency exams.

The measures come after an extensive investigation into a string of security lapses and failed safety inspections at Malmstrom Air Force Base, ...

The House and Senate approved $1 billion in loan guarantees for Ukraine and sanctions on Moscow for Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Thursday's voice vote in the Senate and a 399-19 vote in the House for a different version of the bill came just hours after the International Monetary Fund pledged ...

James R. Schlesinger, who served three presidents from both parties in top Cabinet-level posts, has died at the age of 85. The Washington Post says he died Thursday at a hospital in Baltimore of complications from pneumonia.

Schlesinger, a Republican economist described by The Associated Press as "hawkish and ...

Authorities in Turkey are reportedly going ahead with a ban on access to YouTube days after a similar move in the country to block Twitter.

The Turkish telecommunications authority TIB is quoted in Turkish state media as saying it has taken an "administrative measure" against YouTube.

The news follows earlier ...