Final Frontier: After a series of failures, SpaceX took a big step for private space exploration last night, successfully launching a Falcon 9 supply rocket from Cape Canaveral to the International Space Station and safely landing the booster stage on …

Russian Jet: CBS News reports that a US satellite detected a heat flash when the Russian airliner was going down over the Sinai desert, but Reuters reports according to sources with access to the plane’s black boxes that it was …

Permawar: President Obama is expected to announce today that he is stopping the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and keeping 9,800 soldiers in the country through most of 2016. The number is expected to drop to 5,500 by 2017. …

Greece: Banks opened today after three weeks of closure and Greeks woke up to a stiffly higher Value Added Tax of 23 percent on goods and services. The daily cash withdrawal limit of $65 has been raised to a weekly …

Changing the Guard: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has resigned after less than two years on the job. Appearing with the president and vice president this morning, Hagel stood by while President Obama described him as a friend and heaped him …

Ferguson: As Ferguson, Mo. braces for the report of a grand jury, the officer who shot an unarmed black teenager last summer is expected to resign, according to several reports. After months on administrative leave, Officer Darren Wilson has indicated …

Outbreak: Four states are now requiring 21-day quarantines for travelers returning from dealing with Ebola-affected countries. Florida has joined New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. Volunteer aid workers say the quarantine will only add a three-week time commitment and may …

Call Security: A man who jumped the White House fence and entered the building made it further inside than previously reported, according to stories in the Washington Post and NY Times. The Secret Service first said Omar Gonzalez made it …

Food Fight: Russia is hitting back at the West with economic sanctions of its own, banning the importation of all American food and European produce. It will hurt Western farmers, suppliers, and food companies, but it cuts both ways. Russia …

Ukraine: NATO says Russia has massed 20,000 troops on the Ukraine border in a position to invade. The fear is that as Ukraine slowly defeats pro-Russian separatists, Russia will step in on the pretext of a humanitarian or peacekeeping mission.Russia …