Parading across a desert base, hundreds of Sunni tribesmen who graduated a crash-training course stood ready to take on the Islamic State group on behalf of a government that many believed left them to die at the hands of the extremists.

Among them were tribesmen who watched as Iraqi forces abandoned Ramadi a month ago to the Islamic State group. Their suspicions toward the Shiite-led government in Baghdad could be seen as they pushed forward to receive their first government salary in 18 months, with one brandishing a Kalashnikov assault rifle as he neared the front.

An appearance by Kim Kardashian on the National Public Radio show "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!" has angered among some listeners.

NPR received hundreds of complaints about last week's episode of the humorous quiz show. Kardashian was in a segment called "Not My Job," in which she answered questions about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. She answered two of three questions correctly.

Tensions between the U.S. and China are growing over its island-building in the South China Sea and over suspicions that Beijing was behind a massive hack into a federal government server that resulted in the theft of personnel and security clearance records of 14 million employees and contractors.

But both powers have incentives to calm the waters ahead of the Chinese leader's visit to Washington in the fall.

Heavy storms that swept through several southern Chinese provinces this past week have killed 18 people and left four more missing, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The storms have dumped more than 20 centimeters (nearly 8 inches) of rainfall in 48 hours on some towns, toppled thousands of homes, and dislocated tens of thousands of residents, the ministry said Friday.

The more oil and gas companies pump their saltwater waste into the ground, and the faster they do it, the more they have triggered earthquakes in the central United States, a massive new study found.

An unprecedented recent jump in quakes in America's heartland can be traced to the stepped up rate that drilling wastewater is injected deep below the surface, according to a study in Thursday's journal Science that looked at 187,570 injection wells over four decades.

After NBC's decision to remove Brian Williams as "Nightly News" anchor and reassign him to MSNBC, the embattled news reader faces a quest to rebuild his credibility and dignity in a role that is a marked comedown from his old one.

Step No. 1 is Friday, when he faces old colleague Matt Lauer for an interview that will be aired on the "Today" show and "Nightly News." It will be Williams' first time speaking publicly since being suspended in February for telling tales about his reporting experiences.

Lady Gaga turned up in a black bra and dark panties before switching to a zebra-striped suit. Tony Bennett stuck to old-fashioned blue, while Stephen Colbert looked at home in denim and a cowboy hat.

Bennett, Colbert, Lady Gaga and Van Morrison were among the featured singers and speakers Thursday night at the 46th annual Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony, a three hour journey through the vast and unpredictable range of American music. New inductees included country stars Toby Keith and Bobby Braddock, the late Chicago bluesman Willie Dixon, the Grateful Dead songwriting team of Robert Hunter and the late Jerry Garcia, pop and stage star Cyndi Lauper and rock composer and performer Linda Perry.

One Utah university is giving students glued to their cellphones a place to call their own: a designated lane for texting while walking.

The neon green lanes painted on the stairs to the gym at Utah Valley University were intended as a lighthearted way to brighten up the space and get students' attention, spokeswoman Melinda Colton said Thursday.

Brazil will carry a significant edge in experience and a remarkable record of defensive impregnability into Saturday's final against Serbia at the Under-20 World Cup.

Five-time champion Brazil will be playing in its ninth final, trying to match Argentina's record of six World Cup titles, while Serbia are first-time finalists as an independent country, although the broader nation of Yugoslavia made it in 1987.

A 72nd-minute goal by veteran striker Claudio Pizarro gave Peru a 1-0 victory over 10-man Venezuela on Thursday, leaving the four teams of Group C in the Copa America exactly even going into the last games of the round-robin stage.

The Bayern Munich forward scored on a left-footed shot that was tipped by Venezuela goalkeeper Alain Baroja but still went in off the underside of the crossbar.