Nation and World news from Boise, ID

Nation/World News

The Boy Scouts of America on Thursday ended its longstanding policy of forbidding openly gay youths to participate in its activities, a step its chief executive called "compassionate, caring and kind."

Scouts OK gay youths, not leaders

The decision is framed as a compromise but one that could lead to thousands of defections.

Read story

Archive by category ''Nation/World News

NATIONAL POLITICS

A long-ago war, a missing plane and an enduring mystery

Maj. Derrell Jeffords bounced his roaring Spooky 21 down and off the runway at Da Nang Air Base in Vietnam. It was just before 7:30 a.m., on Christmas Eve 1965. The big camouflaged belly of his twin-prop AC-47 was easily visible against a blue sky as he banked west.
E-READER

I-5 bridge collapse may point to bigger problems

The 58-year-old span wasn't built to carry the number of vehicles it does today.
WORLD

Female suicide bomber injures 11 in Russian region

Police in the southern Russian region of Dagestan say a female suicide bomber has injured at least 11 police officers and civilians.

9 minutes ago
WORLD

Jordan king says extremism 'grown fat' on conflict

Jordan's King Abdullah II says extremism has "grown fat" off of the longstanding conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

9 minutes ago
NATIONAL POLITICS

After failure on gun legislation, Obama learning limits of his power

Six months after his triumphant re-election, President Barack Obama has run into the hard reality of the modern presidency.
WORLD

2-child limit for Muslims in parts of Myanmar

Authorities in Myanmar's western Rakhine state have introduced a two-child limit for Muslim Rohingya families in an effort to ease tensions with the Rohingya's Buddhist neighbors after a spate of deadly sectarian violence, an official said Saturday.

54 minutes ago
WORLD

Kerry makes sub-Saharan Africa visit

Making his first official trip to sub-Saharan Africa, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday demanded that Nigeria respect human rights as it cracks down on Islamist extremists and pledged to work hard in the coming months to ease tensions between Sudan and South Sudan.

3 hours ago
WORLD

Radiation leak at Japan lab; small impact expected

A nuclear research lab in northern Japan has reported a radiation leak that may have affected 55 people, though none were hospitalized and no impact was expected outside the facility.

39 minutes ago
WORLD

Balloons bring smiles in war-weary Afghan capital

Artists and activists have handed out 10,000 pink balloons to residents in Afghanistan's war-weary capital, bringing smiles to surprised Kabul residents a day after a major Taliban siege on an international compound in the city.

44 minutes ago
MOVIE NEWS

Seen and heard at the Cannes Film Festival

Associated Press journalists open their notebooks at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.