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WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry plans on Wednesday to brief members of the House and Senate Judiciary committees about how many Syrian refugees the U.S. is willing to take in. Throughout Syria's 4½-year civil war, the U.S. has accepted only about 1,500 Syrians — a tiny percentage of the 11.6 million people who have fled the country. Usually, refugees wait around three years to find out if they can move to the United States.
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Leaders of the United Nations refugee agency are warning that Hungary faces a bigger wave of 42,000 asylum seekers in the next 10 days and will need international help to provide shelter on its border. Officials from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees say they're sending tents, beds and thermal blankets to Hungary's border with Serbia. Some frustrated migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa have been ignoring instructions from Hungary police to stay put, and instead have started walking the journey north to Budapest.
BANGKOK (AP) — Authorities in Thailand say a key suspect in the Bangkok shrine bombing that killed 20 people admits handing the bomb over to the man seen in video planting the explosive at the shrine. Police say Yusufu Mierili told them he carried the backpack from an apartment where police found bomb-making materials and handed it to a man in a yellow t-shirt outside a train station.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — An embattled Michigan lawmaker who tried to cover up his extramarital affair with another socially conservative legislator will appear before a House panel Wednesday to defend himself. Republican Congressman Todd Courser plans to testify before the special six-member committee that's weighing the recommendation from the chamber's top lawyer that he be kicked out. Courser is asking for a censure, which would limit his work but let him stay in the position.
BEIJING (AP) — China says it'll attempt the first-ever landing of a lunar probe on the moon's far side. The Chinese Academy of Sciences' moon exploration department tells state broadcaster CCTV that the mission is planned for some time before 2020. It says the objective of the mission would be to study geological conditions on the moon's far side, also known as the dark side. Radio transmissions from Earth are unable to reach the far side.
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