KIEV, Ukraine – The Ukrainian parliament has given preliminary approval to allowing foreigners to serve in its army. A military conflict between Russia-backed separatist rebels and Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 6,100 lives. Thousands of Russians have been fighting along with the rebels since the …

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine military says troops overran a bomb factory of Abu Sayyaf militants after a firefight that killed three insurgents and a soldier in the country’s restive south. Military commander Rear Adm. Reynaldo Yoma said troops clashed with 25 militants who also included one Malaysian on Basilan …

BRUSSELS – Germany, France and Italy have pledged cooperation to jointly develop a “Euro-drone” for intelligence-gathering and surveillance of the skies. The three on Monday committed to a two-year study to have a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System ready within a decade. They said in a statement that “once operational, the …

WASHINGTON – Taxpayer funds are being used for school sexuality education programs that subvert the idea of abstinence for teens and targets children as young asnine years oldwith lessonson masturbation, condom use and homosexuality, say opponents of the courses. TheCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (search)came under heavy fire last …

The FBI said early Wednesday it had taken a suspect into custody in connection with a series of shooting incidents in suburban Maryland this week, including one in which gunfire damaged a building on the National Security Agency’s campus. The Baltimore Sun, citing an FBI spokeswoman, reported that authorities believe …

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Virginia says it has offered to house Iraqi artifacts to protect them from destruction by the Islamic State group. The foundation says its president, Mitchell Reiss, made the offer to a team of Iraqi archeologists and museum experts who visited earlier this …

SAN FRANCISCO – Trembling and with their tails between their legs, the dozens of dogs rescued from a South Korean meat farm were in rough shape both physical and mentally when they arrived in Northern California this week to start new lives. Fifty-seven dogs and puppies were rescued from a …

LOS ANGELES – In a town where you’re only as tough as your last box-office total, aging action heroes are trying some new tricks. With their latest big screen choices, tough guys likeBruce Willis (search),Sylvester Stallone (search)andHarrison Ford (search)have traded action dramas forfilms that sharply contrast with their previous track …

SPARTA, N.J. – Authorities say a newspaper carrier concerned about an elderly customer’s well-being alerted police, who entered the woman’s home and found she apparently had suffered a heart attack several days earlier. Douglas MacRae delivers The New Jersey Herald. He told the newspaper (http://bit.ly/1yg6KdR ) that he contacted Sparta …

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The wreckage of a plane that crashed in September off the coast of Jamaica and the remains of the couple aboard have been recovered from water almost two miles deep, the couple’s family said Wednesday. Larry and Jane Glazer, both 68-year-old experienced pilots and prominent business owners, …