Nation & World

House takes up far-reaching anti-abortion bill

WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Tuesday make their most concerted effort of the year to change federal abortion law with legislation that would ban almost all abortions after a fetus reaches the age of 20 weeks.

U.S. says Taliban agrees to Afghanistan peace talks

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland — Senior Obama administration officials said Tuesday that the Taliban has agreed to participate in peace talks based in Qatar, a key step forward in the effort to jump-start a political resolution of the war in Afghanistan ahead of U.S. plans to withdraw troops.

G-8 leaders vow to go after global tax cheats

LONDON — With many of their governments strapped for cash, leaders at a summit of rich nations vowed Tuesday to crack down on tax cheats by swapping financial information and exposing companies that set up elaborate structures to hide their profits.

As economy gains, fewer disability claims filed

The number of U.S. workers filing long-term disability claims declined for the first time in at least four years in 2012 amid an improving economy and employment picture.

Alleged Utah church shooter charged with attempted murder

OGDEN, Utah — It was a quiet part of the Father’s Day Mass as about 300 people stood up in preparation for communion. A parishioner, known by many at the church as Ricky Jennings, entered through the glass doors in back, holding his wife Cheryl’s hand.

Italy top court disagrees with Amanda Knox acquittal

ROME — Italy's high court on Tuesday faulted the appeals court that acquitted American student Amanda Knox of murdering her roommate, saying its ruling was full of "deficiencies, contradictions and illogical" conclusions and ordering the new appeals court to look at all the evidence to determine whether Knox helped kill the teen.

U.S. releases list of Gitmo detainees

Lawsuit forces disclosure of four-dozen people being held indefinitely at facility

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — The Obama administration Monday lifted a veil of secrecy surrounding the status of the detainees at Guantanamo, for the first time publicly naming the four dozen captives it defined as indefinite detainees -- men too dangerous to transfer but who cannot be tried in a court of law.

G8 summit exposes deep rifts on Syria

Civil war looms large over meeting of industrial nations

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland — Deep differences over Syria's fierce civil war clouded a summit of world leaders Monday, with Russian President Vladimir Putin defiantly rejecting calls from the U.S., Britain and France to halt his political and military support for Syrian leader Bashar Assad's regime.

Obama defends surveillance of communications

President says terrorist plots have been disrupted, checks and balances adequate

President Barack Obama defended his administration's right to engage in extensive surveillance of U.S. communications in an interview with PBS host Charlie Rose, saying the programs had disrupted multiple terrorist plots and had adequate checks and balances.

To ease shortage of organs, grow them in a lab?

NEW YORK — By the time 10-year-old Sarah Murnaghan finally got a lung transplant last week, she'd been waiting for months, and her parents had sued to give her a better shot at surgery.

BioWatch faces congressional hearing this week

WASHINGTON — A decade ago, then-Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge oversaw the start of BioWatch, the nationwide system designed to detect airborne releases of anthrax or other biological weapons.

Ohio police chief takes criminals to task online

KENT, Ohio — If you're up to no good in this pocket of northeast Ohio, especially in a witless way, you're risking not only jail time or a fine but a swifter repercussion with a much larger audience: You're in for a social media scolding from police Chief David Oliver and some of his small department's 49,000 Facebook fans.