G Minus One: The G-8 conference of the world’s largest economies is now the G-7. The US and its allies met yesterday and kicked Russia out of the Group of 8 diplomatic conference. Russia had been a member for 15 …

Plane Down: Searchers found a 12-mile long oil slick between Vietnam and Malaysia today, indicating that a missing Malaysia Airlines jet went down yesterday in the Gulf of Thailand. The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing …

Ukraine:  Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov said his country will seek closer ties with the European Union, just what thousands of protesters were demanding in the fiery violence that took at least 77 lives. “We have to return to the family …

Nation: After three years of budget confrontations, the Republican-controlled House voted to raise the national debt ceiling with no fight. Only 28 Republicans voted in favor, Speaker John Boehner among them. Boehner’s decision to let the debt limit pass set …

The first American hero of the 2014 Winter Olympics is the goofy and charming Sage Kotsenburg of Park City, who won the first ever slopestyle snowboarding competition. Slopestyle is acrobatic snowboarding in which riders fly off vertical ramps to reach …

Sochi: The Olympics opened last night with pageantry on a grand scale to portray the history of Mother Russia. Islands of Russian scenery and history floated on cables over the stadium as choruses sang and appeared in native costume. A …

Econ 101: The economy added 113,000 jobs in January, a disappointment for economists who had been hoping for 180,000. Combined with a weak job showing in December the January performance suggests a slowdown in the job market, even though unemployment …

World: The US has warned airlines flying to Sochi for the Olympics that explosives could be smuggled on board inside tubes of toothpaste and other toiletries. The reason for the warning was not given and no specific threat was identified. …

Pete Seeger: The great folk singer Pete Seeger, leader of the folk revival and an agent for social change, has died at age 94 in New York. He sang and played guitar and banjo everywhere from labor rallies to college …

Syria: A new report says Syria has systematically tortured and executed 11,000 prisoners since the start of its civil war. The report from three former war crimes prosecutors is based upon 55,000 digital pictures of victims brought to them by …