U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday he is directing the Pentagon to carry out a thorough and unstinting investigation of the weekend killings of 16 Afghan civilians, allegedly by a U.S. soldier. “The United States takes this as seriously as if it was our own citizens, and our children, who were murdered. We’re heartbroken over [...]

The Syrian army recaptured the northern rebel stronghold of Idlib near the Turkish border, a major base that military defectors had held for months, a pro-government newspaper and an activist group reported Tuesday. An international rights group, meanwhile, said the regime was planting landmines along the border with Turkey. Also Tuesday, Syrian officials responded to [...]

People exit the polling station at Hillwood Baptist Church after voting on Tuesday in Huntsville, Ala. (The Huntsville Times, Eric Schultz/Associated Press) Rick Santorum won the Alabama primary Tuesday night and clung to a lead over Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney in Mississippi, deeply conservative Southern crossroads in the struggle for the Republican presidential nomination. [...]

Lightning 6, Bruins 1 Steven Stamkos scored twice to reach 50 goals this season, and the Tampa Bay Lightning jumped out to a big early lead and beat the Boston Bruins 6-1 on Tuesday night. Tampa Bay scored three times in the first five minutes and coasted from there to help rookie goalie Dustin Tokarski [...]

Sidney Crosby could be about to become the NHL’s most-watched No. 3 line centre. The Pittsburgh Penguins star will end his second extended concussion-related playoff Thursday against the hometown New York Rangers (7 p.m. ET). The team believes he’s ready to make even more of an impact than he did during his first comeback in [...]