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The popular podcast "Serial" launched its second season Thursday, shining a spotlight on the mysterious disappearance of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl — and allowing him to be heard publicly for the first time since he was freed by the Taliban in May 2014. Bergdahl's dramatic rescue in eastern Afghanistan came nearly five years after he deserted his post and was captured, military officials said. Getting him back was part of a complex exchange that involved five Taliban prisoners who were being held at Guantanamo Bay — a move that drew sharp criticism from GOP lawmakers.

WASHINGTON — The married couple with a taste for exotic travel set out for Central Asia in the summer of 2012, moving as tourists through a region not normally visited by Westerners. It was a risky venture by any standards, not least because young travelers were expecting their first child. They crossed into Afghanistan where, one day, Joshua Boyle emailed relatives from an Internet cafe in a part of the country he called unsafe.

MISSOULA, Mont. - A Montana man accused of fatally shooting a German exchange student in his garage pleaded not guilty to murder Wednesday, Reuters reports. Last month, 29-year-old Markus Kaarma, of Missoula, allegedly shot and killed 17-year-old Diren Dede, of Hamburg, Germany, after the teen broke into his garage. The former U.S. Forest Service firefighter has been charged with deliberate homicide, according to the news agency.

Jerome Ersland, who is serving a life sentence for killing Antwun Parker, 16, during a robbery attempt at an Oklahoma City pharmacy in 2009, received two years more in prison Monday after he was found guilty of having fentanyl in prison.

Another day of deadly clashes between Ukraine dissidents and police drove the death toll up to 26 Wednesday, as pressure mounted on the government -- from the United States and the European Union -- to pull back security forces and start discussions with the opposition to quell the violence. Ukranian riot police clashed with protesters occupying a square in central Kiev Wednesday morning, spraying water cannons at crowds who hurled back Molotov cocktails in response, according to Reuters. The White House, hoping to reduce the escalating tensions, said it would like to see Russia become more involved and support efforts...

Barnaby Jack, a celebrated computer hacker who could force a bank ATM to spit out cash and sparked safety improvements in medical devices, has died in San Francisco. The San Francisco Medical Examiner's Office said Jack died in the city on Thursday. It gave no details. He was believed to be in his mid-30s. Jack was due to appear at the Black Hat hacking convention in Las Vegas next week, demonstrating techniques for remotely attacking implanted heart devices. He said he could kill a man from 30 feet away. His genius was finding bugs in the tiny computers embedded in...

President Hugo Chavez Has Died

security guard at the Family Research Council's headquarters in Washington, D.C. is being hailed as a hero after he stopped a gunman posing as an intern, taking a bullet in the arm before wrestling the suspect to the ground. The gunman entered the lobby of the organization's Chinatown headquarters around 10:45 and expressed disagreement with the conservative group's policy positions, Fox News has learned. When the guard, who was not identified, asked him where he was going, he opened fire, according to police.

SANTIAGO, Chile — A suspected anarchist in Chile has been seriously injured when a bomb he allegedly carried exploded outside a bank. Police say 22-year-old Luciano Pitronello Schuffeneger lost his eyesight and may lose both his arms. He's also suffering serious burns and is hospitalized in a drug-induced coma.

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JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering a public plea to the White House for the release of Jonathan Pollard, an Israeli spy jailed 25 years ago, an official said Tuesday. Pollard's wife Esther at a meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday passed on a message from her husband urging Israel to move on from the quiet diplomacy of the past quarter-century and to make a formal and public request for his release.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino and Post State Editor Fredric U. Dicker last night got into an angry confrontation -- during which Paladino threatened, "I'll take you out." It started when Dicker asked Paladino if he had any proof of his shocking allegation that Democratic rival Andrew Cuomo cheated on his former wife during their marriage. "What evidence do you have for something most people would consider a smear?" Dicker asked. Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/paladino_and_post_reporter_square_4iyR9NjmUAmEvCxgGQDz9K#ixzz111N868Fz

FLINT, Mich. -- A man suspected in a series of stabbings in Virginia and Michigan that resulted in at least 20 attacks and five deaths was arrested at the Atlanta airport as he tried to board a plane bound for Israel. Authorities said the man was taken into custody at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport at 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

Samuel Israel III, the hedge fund manager whose disappearance has sparked a manhunt for the convicted felon, has been arrested in southwestern Massachusetts, CNBC reported Wednesday morning. Mr. Israel was arrested in Southwick, Mass., near the Connecticut border, CNBC said citing law enforcement sources.

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The mystery woman who last week signed Staten Island Rep. Vito Fossella out of jail following his drunken-driving arrest gave up her own promising intelligence career at the Pentagon when she couldn't juggle the demands of raising a daughter on her own, her relatives said. Laura Fay, 45, a comely blonde with two failed marriages, kept a low profile yesterday as questions con tinued to haunt the one-time Air Force colonel over her relationship with Fossella.

Three undercover detectives involved with unleashing a 50-shot barrage that killed Sean Bell outside a strip club hours before he was to be married were found not guilty this morning on all charges by a Queens judge. Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora were tried for manslaughter, felony assault and reckless endangerment in Bell's death near Club Kalua in Jamaica. Detective Marc Cooper was tried for reckless endangerment.

Gupta the swastika salesman arrives at sunset, fires a kerosene lantern and displays his gold- painted trinkets on an Indian beach filled with hundreds of young Israelis dancing in a fog of hashish. Draped in garlands strung with jasmine blossoms, the pulsating Israelis are freshly decommissioned from the military and seeking a cheap retreat to unwind from their obligatory two- to-three years of safeguarding the Jewish state. The conscripts find sanctuary in the thousands of dilapidated wicker seaside shacks and dozens of isolated jungle ghettos that weave along a 78-mile coast and snake up treacherous dirt tracks into the impoverished...

November 12, 2007 -- The mother of rapper Kanye West died Saturday night in Los Angeles, his spokesman said yesterday. The cause of death was not released. Donda West, 58, served as chief executive of West Brands LLC, the parent company of her son's business, according to the Web site of the Kanye West Foundation, which she chaired.

<p>May 24, 2007 -- Peter Braunstein - the demented, hate-filled fashion writer who costumed himself as a firefighter to kidnap, strip and sexually torture a beautiful ex-colleague - was convicted yesterday of the terrifying Halloween 2005 attack.</p> <p>The lightning-fast verdict - after just under four hours of deliberations - capped a dramatic, four-week Manhattan trial that featured a gossip column's worth of celebrity names from fashion and entertainment, two worlds that fascinated the mad molester.</p>