Excessive Speed Probed in Amtrak Train Crash in Philadelphia  —  At least 7 people dead after train heading from Washington to New York derails  —  PHILADELPHIA—An Amtrak train involved in a fatal crash here appears to have been traveling at more than 100 miles an hour as it entered …

Jeb Bush: Iraq Questioning Is Disservice to Slain Soldiers  —  Likely Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said Wednesday that questioning about how he would have handled Iraq War authorization “does a disservice” to military service members killed in action.

G.O.P. Seeks Strategy for Debates Amid Expanding Candidate List  —  WASHINGTON — Republican leaders, searching for a fair-minded but strategically wise way to conduct the presidential primary debates, are grappling with how to manage White House contenders in a sprawling field …

Martin O'Malley to top progressives: Warren's not running, I am  —  Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has a message for progressives clamoring for Sen. Elizabeth Warren's entry into the presidential race: she's not running, but I am.  —  As part of an effort to position himself …

Text images between Missouri House Speaker John Diehl and intern reveal sexually charged exchanges  —  Screenshots of text messages obtained by The Star  —  ›  —  ‹  —  Text messages obtained by The Star reveal a sexually charged relationship between House Speaker John Diehl …

Student Suing Misericordia University Officials After Failing to Pass Course … DALLAS TOWNSHIP — A nursing student is suing some Misericordia University officials after she failed to pass a course twice.  —  Jennifer Burbella of Stroudsburg said school officials failed to abide by federal law.

10 members of Congress took trip secretly funded by foreign government  —  The state-owned oil company of Azerbaijan secretly funded an all-expenses-paid trip to a conference at Baku on the Caspian Sea in 2013 for 10 members of Congress and 32 staff members, according to a confidential ethics report obtained by The Washington Post.

China Lashes Out Over U.S. Plan on South China Sea  —  Pentagon proposal to use aircraft and Navy vessels in region prompts swift response: ‘We are severely concerned’  —  Beijing condemned on Wednesday a proposed U.S. military plan to send aircraft and Navy ships near disputed South China Sea islands …

The Rubio Doctrine  —  Strength, globalization and core values should guide American foreign policy  —  I'd like to begin my remarks today by quoting from the closing of another set of remarks—from a speech that echoes across history due to its proximity to tragedy, but that stands more importantly …

Potty-mouthed Alan Grayson and his offshore investments  —  U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, the outspoken, populist Democrat who thunders against Wall Street fat cats,and used to to joke about Mitt Romney's low tax bill, incorporated a couple hedge funds in the Cayman Islands so investors could avoid taxes.

Oath Keepers Founder: Traitor McCain Should Be ‘Hung By The Neck Until Dead’  —  The founder of the Oath Keepers, a loose-knit group of current and former law enforcement officials and military who pledge to defend the Constitution, called for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to be “hung by the neck until dead” …

College students told to report ‘hurtful statements’ to campus authorities  —  If someone says anything mean-spirited at the University of Colorado Boulder - campus administrators want to know about it.  Not only that - they want to know the offender's name, age, email address and more.

The Great Democratic Crack-Up of 2016 … Maryland might seem a peculiar venue for a blood feud over the future of the Democratic Party.  It is the second-bluest state in the United States, after Massachusetts, according to Gallup; its registered Democrats, more than 30 percent of whom are black …

Introducing Instant Articles  —  As more people get their news on mobile devices, we want to make the experience faster and richer on Facebook.  People share a lot of articles on Facebook, particularly on our mobile app.  To date, however, these stories take an average of eight seconds to load …

USA about to get Cuba's lung cancer vaccine  —  (NEWSER) - Closer American ties with one of the world's major cigar exporters could actually be good news in the fight against lung cancer.  Cuba has developed Cimavax, an effective lung cancer vaccine, and American researchers can now finally get their hands on it, reports Wired.

Wyoming just criminalized citizen science.  —  Imagine visiting Yellowstone this summer.  You wake up before dawn to take a picture of the sunrise over the mists emanating from Yellowstone hot springs.  A thunderhead towers above the rising sun, and the picture turns out beautifully.