World: The Syrian civil war is dominating talks at a meeting of the G8 leaders in Northern Ireland. Seven countries are pressuring Vladimir Putin to ease Russian support for the regime of Bashar al Assad.

➢Representatives of the Taliban in Doha, Qatar say they are ready to engage in peace talks with the Afghan government. This comes while government troops are struggling to step up as American units withdraw.

➢As many as 200,000 people marched in Brazilian cities yesterday protesting bus fares that more than doubled, as well as lavish government spending for the World Cup and Olympics to be hosted in that country.

➢Police all across Turkey raided homes and arrested nearly 100 people for their participation in three weeks of anti-government protests.

Dig This: The FBI is searching a field in Oakland Township, north of Detroit, for the remains of missing Teamster’s Union president Jimmy Hoffa. Hoffa became one of the most famous missing person cases in history when he was last seen in 1975 getting into a car outside a Detroit restaurant. They’ve dug for Hoffa before. The FBI is also digging for a body at the former Queens home of NY mobster “Jimmy the Gent” Burke, made famous by Robert De Niro in “Goodfellas”.

Anchors Aweigh: Three members of the naval academy football team face rape charges stemming from an incident at an off-campus party in April, 2012. A female cadet woke up after heavy drinking and later learned from friends and social media that the three football players claimed they’d had sex with her. The players were allowed to stay with the football team and the investigation went dormant until the accuser went public.

National: NSA leaker Edward Snowden said yesterday in a live Internet chat on The Guardian newspaper website that, “Truth is coming, and it cannot be stopped.” Asked why he exposed the massive government collection of telephone and Internet data he said, “The public needs to know the kinds of things a government does in its name, or the ‘consent of the governed’ is meaningless.” On being called a traitor by former Vice President Dick Cheney he said, “Being called a traitor by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give an American.”

The Obit Page: Bernie Sahlins, co-founder of Chicago’s Second City comedy theater, 90; Bob Meistrell, co-founder of Body Glove and developer of the neoprene wetsuit, 84; Gene Mako, a tennis player who was among the top 10 in the world in the 1930s, 97.

Tweet That: The word “tweet” has been designated a real word both as a noun and a verb by the Oxford English Dictionary.

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