The U.S. government on Tuesday lowered to 15 the age at which girls can buy the morning-after pill without a prescription and said the emergency contraception no longer has to be kept behind pharmacy counters.

The decision by the Food and Drug Administration is an attempt to find middle ground just days before a court-imposed deadline to lift all age restrictions on the drug.

Apple Inc. sold $17 billion in bonds Tuesday in a record deal spurred by the company's plan to placate its frustrated shareholders.

The Cupertino, California-based company sold the bonds in its first debt issue since the 1990s to raise money to pass along to shareholders through dividend payments and stock buybacks. The payments are part of an effort to reverse a 37 percent drop in Apple's stock price during the past seven months amid intensifying concerns about the company's shrinking profit margins as it faces more competition in a mobile computing market that Apple revolutionized with its iPhone and iPad lines.

Jose Mourinho gave his biggest hints yet Tuesday that he is set to leave Real Madrid in the offseason and is eyeing a return to England.

After being eliminated by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semifinals, Mourinho was asked if he'll return to the club next season and simply replied: "Maybe not."

Borussia Dortmund needed every bit of its first-leg advantage to stave off a comeback attempt by Real Madrid on Tuesday and reach its first Champions League final since 1997.

Dortmund withstood a nervy finish to book a ticket to Wembley despite a 2-0 loss to Real Madrid, which fell one goal short of overturning the German team's dominant 4-1 win in the first leg.

Syria's U.N. ambassador said Tuesday that the use of chemical weapons is not only "a red line" but "a blood line" that cannot be tolerated and again demanded a U.N. investigation of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Aleppo that it blames on rebels.

Bashar Ja'afari said at a news conference that his government has bodies and other proof that chemical weapons were used in Khan al-Assad in Aleppo on March 19 and it wants this incident investigated first. The rebels blame the government for the attack.

Do you enjoy the outdoors and have strong vocal cords? If so, Norway might have a summer job for you: three weeks in the Arctic wilderness spotting polar bears.

The governor's office on the remote northern islands of Svalbard is seeking a polar bear spotter to warn researchers doing projects in the region.

Netflix's groundbreaking "House of Cards" may be the first digital series nominated for a best drama Emmy. But it will start with a Webby.

The Webby Awards are honoring "House of Cards" producers Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti with a Webby special achievement award. The political thriller, for which Netflix released all 13 episodes at once, proved that digital media can produce cable-quality drama. Netflix also won for best streaming media site.

Bodies tense and noses twitching, the dogs sniff the fertile hunting ground before them: a lower Manhattan alley, grimy, dim and perfect for rats. With a terse command — "Now!" — the chase is on.

Circling, bounding over and pawing at a mound of garbage bags, the four dogs quickly have rodents on the run.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured stunning views of a monster hurricane at Saturn's North Pole.

The eye of the cyclone is an enormous 1,250 miles (2,010 kilometers) across. That's 20 times larger than the typical eye of a hurricane here on Earth. And it's spinning super-fast. Clouds at the outer edge of the storm are whipping around at 330 mph (531 kph).

Despite significant improvements since the hard-line Taliban ruled Afghanistan, religious freedom remains poor, especially for minorities, and Afghans still can't debate religion or question prevailing Islamic orthodoxies without fear of being punished, a U.S. commission said in a new report on Tuesday.

As the country braces for next year's presidential election and the planned withdrawal of most foreign combat troops by the end of 2014, the panel urges the U.S. government and its allies to work harder to promote religious rights in the war-torn nation.