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BAGHDAD (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Iraq, a nation that saw the departure of American troops just three years ago and now faces threat of a civil war. Kerry's scheduled to meet today with Iraq's Shiite prime minister and top Sunni and Kurdish leaders. He wants to help foster a power-sharing agreement in Baghdad in hopes of diluting an insurgency fueled by widespread Sunni anger at the Shiite-led national government.
BEIRUT (AP) — Human Rights Watch says rebel factions in Syria are recruiting teenagers as young as 15 to fight in the country's civil war. The international rights group says rebel groups across the ideological spectrum have used children as fighters, snipers, guards, spies, medical aides and logistical helpers. HRW says the al-Qaida breakaway known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant sometimes sends children on suicide missions.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official says the Taliban have released 33 university professors and students abducted nearly two weeks ago in the country's east. The deputy governor of Ghazni province says the hostages were released following mediation by tribal elders in the region and the staff from the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ghazni. There's no word if a ransom was involved.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane will release a report today that's expected to offer new details about the Jerry Sandusky child molestation investigation. Sandusky was convicted two years ago of sexually abusing 10 boys and he's serving a 30- to 60-years prison sentence. But it took nearly three years for charges to be filed against the former Penn State assistant football coach after authorities fielded a complaint in late 2008.
PINE HILL, Ala. (AP) — Wilcox County, Alabama has the state's highest unemployment rate, but it's getting help from a company in China. The Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group in Henan Province has opened up a plant in Pine Hill, Alabama, and the company will employ more than 300 people. What's happening in Pine Hill is starting to happen across America. The research firm the Rhodium Group says more than 70,000 Americans work for Chinese companies who've invested in the U.S.
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