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'Red line' _ US says Syria used chemical weapons

By ROBERT BURNS and JULIE PACEAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. intelligence has concluded with "varying degrees of confidence," that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons in its fierce civil war, the White House and other top administration officials said Thursday. However,

US hospitals send hundreds of immigrants back home

By DAVID PITTAssociated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Days after they were badly hurt in a car accident, Jacinto Cruz and Jose Rodriguez-Saldana lay unconscious in an Iowa hospital while the American health care system weighed what to do with the two immigrants from Mexico. The men had health

AP IMPACT: Congress slows military efforts to save

By LOLITA C. BALDORAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Parked around the airstrip at Lackland Air Force Base are more than a dozen massive C-5A Galaxy transport planes. There is no money to fly them, repair them or put pilots in the cockpits, but Congress rejected the Air Force's bid to retire

Hagel on first trip to Mideast as Pentagon chief

By ROBERT BURNSAP National Security Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Saturday began a weeklong trip to the Middle East to consult with Israeli leaders on Syria's civil war and Iran's nuclear program and to discuss a set of U.S. arms deals with Israel and two Arab