Iowa Governor Terry Branstad declared a state of emergency on Friday due to a rapidly expanding avian flu outbreak, soon after state agriculture officials announced four new poultry farms had initially tested positive for the virus.
While U.S. policy bans federal officials from doing business with kidnappers, the FBI for years has used a secret exemption to government rules to communicate with hostage-takers and sometimes send money to them, U.S. government sources said.
Japan's military is considering joining the United States in maritime air patrols in the South China Sea in response to China's increasingly assertive pursuit of territorial claims, a Japanese and a U.S. source familiar with the discussions said.
Convicted Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was once a bright, hardworking child who won the adoration of his teachers and classmates alike, his former instructors testified on Wednesday for defense attorneys trying to spare him the death penalty.
The U.S. Supreme Court was set on Wednesday to hear arguments in a case brought by three death row inmates challenging Oklahoma's method of execution by lethal injection as a violation of the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The defense attorney for a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc programmer accused of stealing the investment bank's high-frequency trading code has asked a Manhattan judge for a mistrial.
The British trader fighting extradition to the United States on charges that he illegally contributed to the 2010 Wall Street "flash crash", appeared in court on Wednesday and was ordered to be kept in custody after failing to meet his bail conditions.
Baltimore's mayor came under criticism on Tuesday for a slow police response to some of the worst urban rioting in the United States in years with shops looted, buildings burned to the ground and 20 officers injured.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Japanese leaders on Monday that Washington's treaty commitments to Japan's security remain "iron-clad" and cover all territories under Tokyo's administration, including tiny islands in the East China Sea that China also claims.
Nine drug traffickers were being held in isolation cells at an Indonesian maximum security prison awaiting execution by firing squad, after Indonesian authorities notified them they had no hope of reprieve.
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments this week on whether a drug used in Oklahoma's lethal injection mix should be banned in a case that comes as a shortage of execution chemicals has sent some states scrambling for alternatives.
Armenia marked the centenary on Friday of a mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks with a simple flower-laying ceremony attended by foreign leaders as Germany became the latest country to respond to its calls for recognition that it was genocide.
An 88-year-old South Korean woman forced to become a sex slave in Japanese military brothels during World War Two on Friday called on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to apologize and restore her "honor" when he visits Washington next week.
The United States has asked for access to Philippine military bases in eight locations to rotate troops, aircraft, and ships as Washington shifts its forces to Asia and as China expands its military presence in the South China Sea.
The killing of an American who directed al Qaeda's media campaign from his Pakistani hideout is likely to be a big blow for the militants, especially as they wage a propaganda war with Islamic State.
The U.S. drone strike that accidentally killed two hostages in Pakistan exposes intelligence shortfalls that former and current U.S. officials say appear to be growing more frequent as militants expand their safe havens and as Washington gathers less on-the-ground human intelligence.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is due to unveil an updated cyber strategy on Thursday that will stress the military's ability to retaliate with cyber weapons, a capability he hopes will help deter attacks.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plans to expand Japan's non-combat role in armed conflicts beyond "areas around Japan" could see Tokyo becoming dragged into action in the South China Sea in support of U.S. forces, government and ruling party sources say.
The timing and scope of sanctions relief are among crucial sticking points as Iran and the six major world powers resume talks in Vienna on Wednesday to discuss a nuclear agreement aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear activities by June 30.
Filipino activists denounced China's coast guard on Tuesday for turning water cannon on Philippine fishing boats in disputed waters, near where hundreds of Filipino and American Marines landed on a beach in a mock assault.
Republican Jeb Bush will visit three U.S. allies, Germany, Poland and Estonia, in early June to get a first-hand view of European economic and security challenges as he explores a run for his party's presidential nomination in 2016, a Bush aide said on Monday.
