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KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is giving qualified support to the Ukrainian president's peace initiative. Putin expressed support for Ukraine's unilateral cease-fire in its battle against pro-Russian separatists and appealed to both sides to halt all military operations. But he warned that the peace effort wouldn't be viable without action to start negotiations.
BAGHDAD (AP) — Sunni militants led by an al-Qaida breakaway group have expanded their offensive in Iraq's volatile Anbar province. They've captured two strategic towns and the first border crossing with Syria to fall on the Iraqi side. Meanwhile, thousands of heavily armed Shiite militiamen marched in several Iraqi cities to show they're eager to take on the Sunni insurgents.
CASSANO ALL'JONIO, Italy (AP) — Pope Francis has made a one-day visit to a region in southern Italy that's home to a global drug trafficking syndicate. At an outdoor Mass in Calabria, the pope denounced the syndicate for what he called its "adoration of evil" and declared mobsters "excommunicated." Francis also visited with prisoners, including the father of a 3-year-old boy who was killed in the region's drug war.
KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) — U.S. women's soccer star Hope Solo has been arrested on charges of assaulting her sister and 17-year-old nephew. Police in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland say officers responded to the sister's home early today after receiving a 911 call and found Solo intoxicated and upset. Police say they arrested her when they saw injuries on her nephew and her sister and determined that she was the primary aggressor. She's expected to remain in custody until an appearance Monday at Kirkland Municipal Court.
NEW YORK (AP) — Tomorrow's U.S. World Cup match against Portugal could take a run at viewership records for men's soccer in the United States. The U.S. team is going for its second straight win. The 19.7 million people who saw the U.S. men's team get knocked out by Ghana four years ago is the biggest audience for a game involving the U.S. men's team. The best for any men's game was the 2010 championship between Spain and the Netherlands, seen by 24.7 million.
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