Desmond Butler

Had anyone noticed, the deal would have prompted questions ahead of his confirmation, a period when most nominees lie low and avoid potential controversy.

In the backwaters of Eastern Europe, authorities working with the FBI have interrupted four attempts in the past five years by gangs with suspected Russian connections that sought to sell radioactive material to Middle Eastern extremists, The Associated Press has learned.

A midday explosion rocked the Turkish city of Suruc near the Syrian border on Monday, killing 28 people and sending nearly 100 others to the hospital in what appears to be a suicide bombing, Turkish authorities said.

The U.S. government masterminded the creation of a "Cuban Twitter" -- a communications network designed to undermine the communist government in Cuba, built with secret shell companies and financed through foreign banks, The Associated Press has learned.