POLITICS

POL-House-Committee-Reassignments

Three Republican lawmakers who say they were removed from committee assignments without explanation fired off a letter to House Speaker John Boehner on Friday demanding answers.

POL-Weekly-Addresses

President Barack Obama and Sen. Marco Rubio addressed the importance of the middle class during their weekly addresses Saturday, but each offered different prescriptions for prosperity.

POL-Crist-Democrat

Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who served his state as a Republican, then sought office as an independent, indicated late Friday he had signed papers switching his party affiliation to Democrat.

POL-Fiscal-Cliff

In the Groundhog Day world of fiscal cliff posturing, with both sides repeating the same arguments over and over, what isn't said often tells more than the spoken word. House Speaker John Boehner on Friday criticized President Barack Obama for the umpteenth time for not responding to the latest Republican proposal, saying White House inaction wasted time with the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts of the fiscal cliff looming.

POL-Cliff-Negotiations-Boehner

High-level negotiations between the White House and Capitol Hill in times of divided government tend to follow a script.

FEATURES

Syria-Marriage

Ayat Al-Qassab carefully slipped the beaded satin wedding gown over her small frame. She peered at herself in the rusted mirror and cautiously smiled. For a moment, her war-torn world was transformed and she was a beautiful bride -- free, safe and happy. Boom! A mortar shell exploded somewhere near her Syrian home in Homs, waking her from a daydream. She quickly wrapped a white headscarf tightly around her hair and prepared to leave for her wedding.

US-PTSD-Vietnam-Journey-Home

I feel unexpectedly calm on the drive back to my hometown, Honaker, Virginia, tucked deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. From my house in Atlanta, it's a 6½-hour trip -- but it's also almost two decades in the making. I'm going home to tell my truth.

SPORT

US-Pacquiao-Marquez-Fourth-Fight

Ali-Frazier. Leonard-Duran. Gatti-Ward. Zale-Graziano. Most of boxing's great rivalries produced three memorable fights, trilogies of spectacular action. They were entertaining fights that demanded sequels, then sequels that demanded sequels. Rare is the case when it takes a fourth fight to satisfy the fighters, the fans and the press.

SPORT-Boxing-Pacquiao-Marquez-Weigh-In

Manny Pacquiao will take a slight weight advantage into his fourth fight with Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas Saturday.

SPORT-european-olympics-baku-sport

Europe will stage its own "Olympics" in 2015, the region's 49 member committees voted on Saturday. The Azerbaijan capital of Baku will host the first European Games, with around 15 sports to be on the program for the event -- which will be held "in spring or early summer" according to the European Olympic Committees website.

SPORT-Netherlands-Soccer-Death

Amateur football games across the Netherlands have been canceled this weekend in tribute to a volunteer soccer official whose beating death allegedly by teenage players has shocked the country.

SPORT-european-tour-japan-golf

The European Tour is continuing its global expansion by targeting what it calls "one of the world's biggest golf markets." It has launched a Japanese version of its official website -- the first in a non-European language following French, German and Spanish ones.