Politics
Latest Stories
aba8a462c5cd18064c0f6a7067005784.jpg
In this photo taken on Sunday Feb. 16, 2014, and provided by the anti-government activist group Aleppo Media Center (AMC), which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Syrian citizens pack their furniture on a mini pickup as they flee their home in Aleppo, Syria. The Western-backed Free Syrian Army has appointed a new military chief, opposition groups announced Monday as they try to restructure a rebel movement that has fallen into disarray as it faces rampant infighting and declining international support for its fight to topple President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center, AMC)
e5deb369c5cd18064c0f6a7067004dfd.jpg
This photo provided by the anti-government activist group Aleppo Media Center (AMC), which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian men helping a survivor out of a destroyed building after a Syrian forces warplanes attacked Masaken Hanano neighborhood, in Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Feb. 17, 2014. The Western-backed Free Syrian Army has appointed a new military chief, opposition groups announced Monday as they try to restructure a rebel movement that has fallen into disarray as it faces rampant infighting and declining international support for its fight to topple President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center, AMC)
de771962c64d1a064c0f6a706700cca4.jpg
In this photo taken in 2013 and provided by the anti-government activist group of the Media Office for the Revolutionary Command Council in Quneitra and Golan, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Brig. Gen. Abdul-Ilah al-Bashir, the new military chief of the Free Syrian Army, posing for a picture in Jordan. The Western-backed Free Syrian Army has appointed a new military chief, opposition groups announced Monday as they try to restructure a rebel movement that has fallen into disarray as it faces rampant infighting and declining international support for its fight to topple President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Media Office for the Revolutionary Command Council in Quneitra and Golan)
0989337a5a4bd3064b0f6a706700b86e.jpg
Sen. Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, and president of the Kansas Senate talks to a reporter in her office at the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka, Kan., Friday, Feb. 14, 2014. The Kansas Senate will not pass a bill in its current form that would prevent lawsuits against someone who refuses, for religious reasons, to provide services to gays and lesbians, Wagle said Friday. Wagle said the bill, which was approved Wednesday in the Kansas House, goes beyond protecting religious freedom. She raised concerns about discrimination and how it could impact businesses that would refuse services to gay couples. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
df2bbe227d30e5064b0f6a7067001c2b.jpg
Sen. Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, and president of the Kansas Senate talks to a reporter in her office at the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. on Friday, Feb. 14, 2014. The Kansas Senate will not pass a bill in its current form that would prevent lawsuits against someone who refuses, for religious reasons, to provide services to gays and lesbians, Wagle said Friday. Wagle said the bill, which was approved Wednesday in the Kansas House, goes beyond protecting religious freedom. She raised concerns about discrimination and how it could impact businesses that would refuse services to gay couples. "A strong majority of my members support laws that define traditional marriage," she says. "However, my members also don't condone discrimination." (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
acf4624a5a4cd3064b0f6a706700e3c9.jpg
Sen. Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, and president of the Kansas Senate talks to a reporter in her office at the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka, Kan., Friday, Feb. 14, 2014. The Kansas Senate will not pass a bill in its current form that would prevent lawsuits against someone who refuses, for religious reasons, to provide services to gays and lesbians, Wagle said Friday. Wagle said the bill, which was approved Wednesday in the Kansas House, goes beyond protecting religious freedom. She raised concerns about discrimination and how it could impact businesses that would refuse services to gay couples. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
78bb69745a4dd3064b0f6a70670029e6.jpg
Rep. Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell, and the Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives looks over papers during Friday's session at the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka, Kan., Friday, Feb. 14, 2014. Senate President Susan Wagle said the bill, which was approved Wednesday in the Kansas House, goes beyond protecting religious freedom. She raised concerns about discrimination and how it could impact businesses that would refuse services to gay couples. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
93c0c6c25a4ed3064b0f6a706700dcf9.jpg
Rep. Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell, and the Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives looks at the vote board during today's session at the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka, Kan., Friday, Feb. 14, 2014. Senate President Susan Wagle said the bill, which was approved Wednesday in the Kansas House, goes beyond protecting religious freedom. She raised concerns about discrimination and how it could impact businesses that would refuse services to gay couples. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
311047f25a16d2064b0f6a7067001dae.jpg
This Feb. 9, 2014 file photo shows Chelsea Clinton between singer Bono, center, and his wife Ali Hewson, co-founders of the Edun line, in the front row of the Edun runway show during New York Fashion Week in New York. (AP Photo/Leanne Italie, File)
d7fab90259fdd1064b0f6a706700a50c.jpg
Russian President Vladimir Putin shows handmade mittens presented to him at Canada House during the 2014 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 14, 2014 in Sochi, Russia. At left is Chairman of the Canadian National Olympic Committee Marcel Aubut. (AP Photo / RIA-Novosti, Mikhail Klimentyev, Presidential Press Service)
09fac84d5a44d2064b0f6a706700a4f1.jpg
FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2013 file photo, marijuana is displayed at the River Rock dispensary in Denver. The federal government takes another step toward enabling a legalized marijuana industry to operate in the U.S., announcing that it will allow banks to do business with legal marijuana sellers. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)
Nationals Spring Baseball.JPEG-008ce.jpg
Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams, left, talks with relief pitcher Ryan Mattheus during a spring training baseball workout, Monday, Feb. 17, 2014, in Viera, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
9a299cb27da9e7064b0f6a7067000887.jpg
FILE - In this Dec. 10, 2013 file photo, legalization of marijuana activists gather outside the Congress building, as senators vote on a law to legalize the drug, in Montevideo, Uruguay. The activist are in support of the Washington and Colorado recreational laws that were passed 2012 to regulate the growth and sale of taxed pot at state-licensed stores. Sales began Jan. 1, 2014 in Colorado, and are due to start later this year in Washington. Twenty states and the District of Columbia also have medical marijuana laws. The. Uruguay's Senate gave final congressional approval Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013 to create the world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana, an audacious experiment that will have the government oversee production, sales and consumption of a drug illegal almost everywhere else. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico, File)
0ad58cf17dace7064b0f6a706700d11a.jpg
FILE - In this July 31, 2013 file photo, a man smokes a marijuana joint, while Senators debate a bill at the Senate to legalize marijuana and regulate production and distribution in Montevideo, Uruguay. From the Americas to Europe to North Africa and beyond, the marijuana legalization movement has unprecedented traction, a nod to successful efforts in Colorado, Washington, and the small South American nation of Uruguay, which in Dec. 2013, became the first country to approve nationwide pot legalization. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico, File)
d1b927877dabe7064b0f6a706700c8b5.jpg
FILE -This Dec. 10, 2013 file photo shows, activists smoking marijuana, as they pose for photos in front of the Congress in Montevideo, Uruguay. Uruguay's Senate approved the world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana. From the Americas to Europe to North Africa and beyond, the marijuana legalization movement has unprecedented traction, a nod to successful efforts in Colorado, Washington and the small South American nation of Uruguay, which became the first country to approve nationwide pot legalization. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico, File)
31bf3c737d3be5064b0f6a706700f4d4.jpg
FILE - In this March 23, 2009, file photo, Army Gen. William "Kip" Ward, Commander, United States Africa Command, speaks with The Associated Press during an interview at the Pentagon. The number of U.S. soldiers forced out of the Army because of bad conduct or crimes has soared in the last several years, as the military comes out of a decade of war that put a greater focus on battle competence than character. Data obtained by The Associated Press shows that the number of officers who left the Army due to misconduct tripled in the last three years. And the number of enlisted soldiers forced out for drug, alcohol, crimes and other misconduct shot up from about 5,600 in 2007 as the Iraq war peaked, to more than 11,000 last year. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)