The Associated Press

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

• Irish poet and novelist Dermot Healy has died at the age of 66. Although Healy kept a low profile and was not well known outside of Ireland, he counted among his admirers Seamus Heaney and Roddy ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says the United States will support the construction of a solar power plant in Chile.

Obama was meeting in the Oval Office on Monday with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. He told reporters as the meeting got under way that they will be announcing collaboration ...

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union says the surcharges for surfing the Internet on mobile devices while traveling across the 28-nation bloc will be more than halved.

The European Commission says the new cap on the so-called roaming fees will be effective starting Tuesday, just in time for the summer ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that some corporations can hold religious objections that allow them to opt out of the new health law requirement that they cover contraceptives for women.

The justices' 5-4 decision is the first time that the high court has ruled that profit-seeking businesses ...

The United States reached the knockout stage of consecutive World Cups for the first time, just not the way the Americans wanted.

Germany beat the U.S. 1-0 Thursday in soggy Recife on Thomas Mueller’s 55th-minute goal to win Group G, but the Americans held onto second place when Portugal defeated ...

Climate change is likely to exact enormous costs on U.S. regional economies in the form of lost property, reduced industrial output and more deaths, according to a report backed by a trio of men with vast business experience.

The report, released Tuesday, is designed to convince businesses to factor in ...

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes in May posted the best monthly gain in nearly three years, providing hope that housing is beginning to regain momentum lost over the past year.

The National Association of Realtors says that sales of existing homes increased 4.9 percent last month to a seasonally ...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the fate of Iraq may be decided over the next week and is largely dependent on whether its leaders meet a deadline for starting to build a new government.

Kerry on Monday met with top officials from Iraq’s bitterly divided Shiite, Sunni and ...

Note: Here & Now is providing special coverage of the president’s remarks

President Barack Obama is sending up to 300 military advisers to help Iraqi forces stem violent sectarian fighting.

The president announced the deployment from the White House Thursday after meeting with his national security team.

Obama said ...

General Motors says it needs to change or replace the keys for about 3.4 million cars because they could cause the ignition switch to move out of position if they’re carrying too much weight.

GM said in a statement Monday that the switches can rotate out of “run” if the ...

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the amphibious transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde into the Persian Gulf as concern grows over a militant group’s advancement toward Iraq’s capital. It’s joining the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush and other U.S. naval ships.

A Pentagon spokesman says the ships’ presence ...

This Week's Tracklist

• Watermat, "Bullitt" (Promo)
• Banks, "Drowning (Lido Remix)" (Harvest)
• Rufus Du Sol, "Sundream (Classixx Remix)" (Sweat It Out!)
• Digitalism, "Wolves feat. Youngblood Hawke (RAC Mix)" (Pias)
• Kiesza, "Hideaway (Bixel Boys Remix)" (Lokal Legend)
• Lxury, "J.A.W.S." (Method Records)
• Julian Gomes, "Love Song 28 Feat. Bobby (Atjazz Galaxy Aart ...

President Barack Obama says Iraq’s government must make a sincere effort to address sectarian differences, or else U.S. military help won’t succeed in curbing the insurgency there.

He says, quote, “We can’t do it for them.”

Obama says the U.S. won’t send troops back into Iraq. But he says he’s ...

The Library of Congress has chosen Southern writer Charles Wright to serve as the nation’s next poet laureate beginning this fall.

Wright hails from Pickwick Dam, Tennessee. For years, he was a professor at the University of Virginia.

He began writing poetry while he was stationed in Italy with the ...

Police in Oregon say a gunman fatally shot a student at a high school near Portland.

Authorities said Tuesday the suspect also was dead and the situation is stabilized.

The Multnomah County sheriff’s office said there were reports of shots fired about 8 a.m. at Reynolds High School in Troutdale.

Robert Schenkkan’s “All The Way” has won the Tony Award for best play.

Starring Bryan Cranston, the play focuses on President Lyndon B. Johnson’s first year in office and explores both his fight for re-election and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Cranston, the former “Breaking Bad” ...

North Korea said Friday it has detained an American tourist for committing an unspecified crime, the third U.S. citizen being held there.

The Korean Central News Agency said authorities were investigating him for committing acts inconsistent with the purpose of a tourist visit. It did not give details.

“American citizen ...

Apple’s Mac operating system is getting a new design and better ways to exchange files, while new features in the software for iPhones and iPads include one for keeping tabs on your health.

Apple executive Craig Federighi pointed out that data from various fitness-related devices now live in silos, so ...

Apple CEO Tim Cook is promising new features for phones, tablets and Mac computers as he opened the company’s 25th annual conference for software developers. Cook says the separate systems for mobile and Mac devices have been engineered to work seamlessly together.

Apple says the next version of the Mac ...

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has resigned amid widespread troubles in the VA health care system.

President Barack Obama says he accepted the resignation with “considerable regret.” He and Shinseki met in the Oval Office on Friday morning.

Shinseki had faced mounting calls to step down from lawmakers in both ...