| Sunni fighters expand offensive in Iraq Posted: 21 Jun 2014 03:36 PM PDT  Insurgents seize three strategic towns and the first border crossing with Syria.
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| Ralph Reed: Those who oppose same-sex marriage can draw lessons from fight against slavery Posted: 21 Jun 2014 06:57 AM PDT  Speaking at a Faith and Freedom conference Friday, Ralph Reed drew parallels between the fight against marriage equality and the fight against slavery.
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| Pope denounces Mafia, meets father of slain boy Posted: 21 Jun 2014 10:00 AM PDT  CASSANO ALL'JONIO, Italy (AP) — Pope Francis journeyed Saturday to the heart of Italy's biggest crime syndicate, met the father of a 3-year-old boy slain in the region's drug war, and declared that all mobsters are automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church.
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| Putin backs Ukraine cease-fire plan Posted: 21 Jun 2014 10:57 AM PDT  KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin backed Ukraine's cease-fire plans Saturday and appealed to both sides to halt all military operations.
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| US, Iran, longtime enemies, now potential partners Posted: 21 Jun 2014 11:18 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — It's the fog of diplomacy.
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| Iraq militia parades as insurgents seize crossing Posted: 21 Jun 2014 08:33 AM PDT  Thousands of heavily armed Shiite militiamen paraded through Iraqi cities after Sunni militants seized a town on the Syrian border.
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| Hundreds protest alleged Afghan election fraud Posted: 21 Jun 2014 11:56 AM PDT  Afghans took to the streets Saturday to protest against alleged fraud in last week's presidential runoff.
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| Iraq, Syria conflicts merge, feed off each other Posted: 21 Jun 2014 03:17 PM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — In a reflection of how intertwined the Syria and Iraq conflicts have become, thousands of Shiite Iraqi militiamen helping President Bashar Assad crush the Sunni-led uprising against him are returning home, putting a strain on the overstretched Syrian military as it struggles to retain territory recaptured in recent months from rebels.
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| Putin backs Ukraine cease-fire, warns talks needed Posted: 21 Jun 2014 03:03 PM PDT KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support Saturday for Ukraine's unilateral cease-fire in its battle against pro-Russian separatists and appealed to both sides to halt all military operations. |
| Libya suspect a shadowy figure among militias Posted: 21 Jun 2014 12:52 PM PDT  CAIRO (AP) — A strange silence has met the U.S. capture of a Libyan militant accused in the 2012 attack that killed the American ambassador and three others. In his hometown of Benghazi in eastern Libya, there have been few threats of revenge, only speculation among supporters and opponents that Ahmed Abu Khattala was betrayed by an insider.
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| What is a slur? Redskins case forces us to decide Posted: 21 Jun 2014 09:31 AM PDT  Something is happening just beneath the fight over the name of a certain Washington, D.C., pro football team: America is working through the process of determining what is — or is not — racially offensive.
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| Off-the-books adoptees hope to find family via DNA Posted: 21 Jun 2014 01:20 PM PDT  About 30 people showed up at a Tennessee motel on Saturday to give cheek-swab DNA samples as people adopted through a nearby Georgia clinic hope to identify biological relatives before time for reconnecting runs out.
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| Without fanfare, Obama advances transgender rights Posted: 21 Jun 2014 03:23 PM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Barack Obama, who established his bona fides as a gay and lesbian rights champion when he endorsed same-sex marriage, has steadily extended his administration's advocacy to the smallest and least accepted band of the LGBT rainbow: transgender Americans.
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| NYC mayor a pirate among mermaids at zany parade Posted: 21 Jun 2014 03:01 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio portrayed himself as a man of the people in last year's election. On Saturday, he became a pirate among mermaids.
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| BRAZIL BEAT: Rooney trying to impress new manager Posted: 21 Jun 2014 04:58 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Wayne Rooney knows how to get on the right side of his new manager at Manchester United.
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| Messi scores winner, Klose ties Ronaldo's record Posted: 21 Jun 2014 03:20 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Miroslav Klose scored a World Cup goal for the record books. Lionel Messi grabbed a late winner to put Argentina into the round of 16.
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| Putin orders forces in the Urals on combat alert Posted: 21 Jun 2014 02:34 AM PDT  The Russian President ordered military forces in central Russia on combat alert as well as a drill of airborne troops.
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| S. African anti-apartheid hero awarded Tang Prize Posted: 21 Jun 2014 01:34 AM PDT  Albie Sachs, the South African judge who rose to fame for his role in the anti-apartheid struggle, was Saturday awarded the Tang Prize, touted as Asia's version of the Nobels, for his contributions to human rights and justice. Sachs, who lost an arm and the sight of one eye in a car-bombing by apartheid forces in Mozambique in 1988 and was later appointed to South Africa's Constitutional Court by Nelson Mandela, was recognised "for his many contributions to human rights and justice globally," said the Tang Prize Foundation. In particular, the foundation recognised his efforts "in the realisation of the rule of law in a free and democratic South Africa".
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| China: 13 killed in attack on police Posted: 20 Jun 2014 08:46 PM PDT  Officers in Xinjiang, China, shot dead 13 assailants who attacked a police building and set off explosives.
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| Iraqi PM under pressure from Shiite cleric, U.S. Posted: 20 Jun 2014 11:25 PM PDT  Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki faces mounting pressure to form an inclusive government or step aside.
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| More than 400 U.S. drones lost in crashes, report finds Posted: 20 Jun 2014 03:45 PM PDT  The United States has lost more than 400 military drones in major crashes worldwide since 2001, The Washington Post said.
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| New York legislature approves medical marijuana bill Posted: 20 Jun 2014 05:18 PM PDT  New York state lawmakers gave final approval on Friday to a bill that would allow limited access to medical marijuana in New York, joining 22 other states where cannabis has been legalized for therapeutic purposes. The bill, passed on a 49-10 state Senate vote, embodies a deal reached on Thursday between Governor Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers that would allow patients to inhale vaporized extracts of pot's active ingredients or to eat them in food, but prohibit smoking of marijuana itself. Exactly how medical marijuana products will be formulated in New York will be left up to the state's Health Department under the program, which the governor would have discretion to halt at any time, and which will expire after seven years, unless lawmaker reauthorize it.
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| Benghazi suspect faces criminal, not military, court Posted: 20 Jun 2014 04:32 PM PDT  A suspected leader of the attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, captured by U.S. forces and spirited out of the country, can expect to move quickly through the initial steps of the criminal justice system.
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