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Nation and World

 
Japan conversation robot ready for outer space

The world’s first space conversation experiment between a robot and humans is ready to be launched.

 
Snowden mystery deepens: All eyes on airport

Moscow’s main airport swarmed with media from around the globe Wednesday, but the man they were looking for — National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden — was nowhere to be seen. The mystery of the former spy’s whereabouts only deepened a day after President Vladimir Putin said that Snowden was in the transit area of Sheremetyevo Airport.

 
Oregon put on probation, loses scholarship

The NCAA has taken away a scholarship for each of the next three seasons and placed Oregon’s football program on probation for three years for recruiting violations under previous coach Chip Kelly.

 
Texas abortion bill falls after challenge

AUSTIN, Texas — Despite barely beating a midnight deadline, hundreds of jeering protesters helped stop Texas lawmakers from passing one of the toughest abortion measures in the country.

THE LATEST
Men’s Wearhouse escalates battle with founder

Men’s Wearhouse escalated a public battle with its founder and former pitchman George Zimmer on Tuesday, trying to explain why it fired the man who still represents the clothier in many shoppers’ minds.

Mich. farmer with 8,000 pot plants gets probation

A southeastern Michigan farmer recovering from throat cancer was sentenced to probation instead of prison Tuesday for growing thousands of marijuana plants, due partly to many handwritten letters from supporters who described him as a modest, selfless man who helps others at every turn.

California must move inmates because of deadly fungus, judge rules

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge on Monday ordered the state to move several thousand inmates out of two California prisons because they are at a high risk of contracting a potentially deadly airborne fungus.

GOP split brings uncertainty to passage of immigration bill

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans are split over the immigration bill steaming toward approval at week’s end, a divide that renders the ultimate fate of White House-backed legislation unpredictable in the House and complicates the party’s ability to broaden its appeal among Hispanic voters.

Judge: Jesus statue can stay on Montana mountain

A Jesus statue that has for six decades been a curiosity to skiers as they cruise down a popular run at a northwest Montana ski resort will not be evicted from federal land, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Grim milestone: Texas set to execute 500th inmate

On Wednesday, barring a reprieve, Kimberly McCarthy will become the 500th convicted killer in Texas to receive a lethal injection. While some states have halted the practice in recent years because of concern about wrongful convictions, executions continue at a steady pace in many others.

 
Putin says no to U.S. request to extradite Snowden

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the first official acknowledgment of the whereabouts of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden on Tuesday and promptly rejected U.S. pleas to turn him over.

Army to cut active-duty brigades at 10 U.S. bases

In a massive restructuring, the U.S. Army is slashing the number of active duty combat brigades from 45 to 33, and shifting thousands of soldiers out of bases around the country as it moves forward with a longtime plan to cut the size of the service by 80,000.

 
Obama aims to tackle pollution, climate change

President Barack Obama declared the debate over climate change and its causes obsolete Tuesday as he announced a wide-ranging plan to tackle pollution and prepare communities for global warming.

 
Judge in Trayvon Martin case weighs police calls

Several times in six months, neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman called police to report suspicious characters in the gated townhouse community where he lived. Each time, he pointed out that the suspects were black males.