The previous two matchups between Serena Williams and Simona Halep were blowouts.

This one was a thriller.

Two women — including one who was "obsessed with pressure cookers" — were arrested on charges they plotted to wage violent jihad by building a homemade bomb and using it for a Boston Marathon-type attack.

Noelle Velentzas had been "obsessed with pressure cookers since the Boston Marathon attacks in 2013" and made jokes alluding to explosives after receiving one as a gift, according to a criminal complaint. And it says in a conversation with an undercover investigator about the women's willingness to fight, she pulled a knife and asked, "Why can't we be bad b-----s?"

After securing a surprisingly broad and detailed framework agreement with Iran, President Barack Obama must now subject his signature foreign policy pursuit to the gauntlet of partisan American politics.

A blueprint finalized Thursday after marathon negotiations in Switzerland did little to ease the standoff between Obama and some lawmakers over Congress' role in a final accord. The president has vowed to veto legislation giving Congress the ability to approve or reject a deal, and he made a fresh appeal for lawmakers to give the U.S. and its international partners space to hammer out a comprehensive agreement ahead of a June 30 deadline.

You can't miss it, rising off the main highway, a mountain of toxic soot towering over the flat, sunbaked scrubland of eastern Venezuela.

The buildup of petroleum byproduct known as coke isn't just an environmental hazard polluting the air of neighboring communities. It's a potent symbol of the waste and unfulfilled promise of an oil industry more vital than ever to Venezuela's economic health.

Washington is planning to increase the number of Syrian refugees allowed to resettle in the United States, mostly for vulnerable cases, a U.S. official said Thursday.

Assistant Secretary of State Anne Richard said the numbers will still be very small compared with the nearly 4 million Syrians who have become refugees in neighboring countries, mostly Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

What a shame that Formula One's next stop is China. Because its notoriously protest-intolerant government surely wouldn't look kindly on crowds of demonstrators venting against Bernie Ecclestone's latest putdown of women drivers.

Yet people should vent. Because there's a whiff of sexual apartheid in the latest madcap suggestion from F1's billionaire boss that teams should launch a championship exclusively for women.

A group of researchers say polar bears forced off melting sea ice will not find enough food to replace their current diet of fat-laden marine mammals such as seals, a conclusion that contradicts studies indicating that bears may be benefiting from bird eggs, berries and other land food sources.

Few bears are using land food and what they find can't replace lipid-rich ringed or bearded seals, said Karyn Rode, a U.S. Geological Survey research wildlife biologist and lead author of the review paper published Wednesday in the journal, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

Engineers have come up with a motor-free device to make walking more efficient and easier — something scientists once thought couldn't be done.

The prototype exoskeleton boot runs from just below the knee to the ankle, and when you strap on a pair, you can reduce the energy it takes to walk by 7 percent. That means you won't burn as many calories.

Formula One great Jackie Stewart has bemoaned the downfall of the German Grand Prix and is urging the sport's bosses not to forsake tradition for money as the number of European races on the calendar dwindles.

The German GP was erased from the 2015 schedule because of financial problems and F1 commercial head Bernie Ecclestone hasn't guaranteed the future of the iconic Italian Grand Prix, either.

Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling is putting off contract talks with the club until the end of the season, saying "it has never been about money."

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has said the 20-year-old Sterling, one of English football's top young talents, has been made an "incredible offer."