In the news

Robert Gates, 70, who served as defense secretary under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, was confirmed as the Boy Scouts of America's new president.

O.J. Simpson, 66, submitted an appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court, seeking release from prison and a new trial in his 2007 Las Vegas armed-robbery case, claiming the trial was tainted by his fame and notoriety after his 1995 acquittal in the deaths of his ex-wife and her friend.

Michael Bloomberg, the former New York mayor, said in Jerusalem that he is honored to be the first recipient of the $1 million Genesis Prize, dubbed the "Jewish Nobel," and said he will hold a global competition to award the money to good causes.

Alfonso Portillo, 62, Guatemala's president from 2000 to 2004, was sentenced in New York to nearly six years in prison for accepting bribes as a U.S. judge rejected leniency and said government corruption must be stamped out worldwide.

Wolfgang Schareck, the rector of the University of Rostock in Germany, where academics voted to award National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden an honorary doctorate, is trying to have the decision reversed, arguing that his actions don't fulfill the required criteria.

Kimberly Ray and Barry Beck were fired by WBZA in upstate New York over their on-air comments about Rochester's decision to cover gender-reassignment surgery for city employees, which included Ray having referred to someone seeking such surgery as "a nut job."

Eric Holder, the attorney general, announced in a video message that agents from the FBI and some other federal law enforcement agencies will soon begin recording interviews of suspects in custody under a new Justice Department directive that reverses long-standing policy.

David Bastar was charged with criminal possession of stolen goods and driving without a license, accused of stealing a New York City bread truck wearing only his underwear and beginning deliveries of savory baked goods to random businesses before being arrested at LaGuardia Airport.

Alexander Lukashevich, the spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, criticized Prince Charles' reported comparison of President Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler with regard to the annexation of Crimea, as Russian Embassy officials protested the matter in a face-to-face meeting with their British counterparts.

A Section on 05/23/2014

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