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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will make a statement on Syria at 1:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) on Thursday, the State Department said. _0"> Kerry just returned from travel in Europe and the Middle East where discussions focused on a peace conference in Switzerland next week to end the Syrian civil war. Donors pledged more than $2.4 billion in Kuwait on Wednesday for U.N. aid efforts in Syria. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

The administration of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has hired a high-powered legal firm to help his office as federal prosecutors investigate whether any laws were broken when a top aide ordered seemingly politically motivated traffic jams. Christie, a likely 2016 Republican White House contender, turned to a former deputy of ex New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, another Republican with presidential aspirations, after revelations that a former aide called for "traffic problems" at the George Washington Bridge in apparent retribution against a local Democratic mayor. About 20 subpoenas were issued in the case on Thursday, according to Democratic state Assembly member John Wisniewski. They included some 17 people and three organizations, he said, but no names would be disclosed until subpoenas are served. He said Christie was not among those subpoenaed. The governor's office said it retained the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP to help with an internal r

Drawing on their own stories as kids from families of modest means who used education to succeed, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama enlisted colleges and universities on Thursday to do more to help low-income students get into college. "I'm doing this because that story of opportunity through education is the story of my life," Michelle Obama said. The first lady, whose parents did not go to college, said she felt "a little overwhelmed and a little isolated" when she landed at Princeton. "I didn't know anyone on campus except my brother. I didn't know how to pick the right classes or find the right buildings. I didn't even bring the right size sheets for my dorm room bed," she said, drawing laughs from the crowd of more than 80 college and university presidents and chancellors. The event was part of the president's pledge to try to narrow the gap between rich and poor, a politically popular theme expected to dom

Two senior U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on Thursday that would expand to all countries the "Magnitsky" act passed in late 2012 to penalize Russia for alleged human rights abuses. Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, who championed the original law, and Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona said their "Global Human Rights Accountability Act" would ensure human rights abusers from anywhere in the world are denied entry to the United States and barred from using U.S. financial institutions. "This is a major human rights initiative," Cardin told Reuters in a telephone interview. "What it does is really put a spotlight on human rights violators," he said. The Magnitsky Act was named for Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian whistleblower lawyer who died in his jail cell in 2009. Under the act, the White House designated a list of human rights abusers tied to Magnitsky's death who are subject to visa bans and asset freezes in the Uni

The first real test of the damage to Chris Christie's chances of being the Republican nominee for president in 2016 from the "Bridgegate" scandal could come during the next few days. Christie is scheduled to attend a $1,000-per-ticket reception for New Jersey Republican House candidate Steve Lonegan on Thursday. He then will head to Florida for a series of weekend events aimed at raising money for Republican Governor Rick Scott's re-election campaign, plus a meeting with wealthy Republican donors from all over the United States. Interviews with a half-dozen Republican strategists, donors and operatives indicate that if Christie is interested in a bid for the White House, as many suspect, he has some work to do. He needs to reassure big-money donors - even those who have seen him as the party's best hope of winning the race to be Democratic President Barack Obama's successor - that the scandal in which his aides apparently created massive traffic jams to g

China fined acclaimed film director Zhang Yimou 7.5 million yuan ($1.24 million) on Thursday for having three children in violation of its country's strict one-child policy. _0"> The family planning agency in the eastern city of Wuxi - where Zhang's wife, Chen Ting, is from - told Zhang last month he would be fined, but did not say how much. Zhang appealed. Online reports surfaced last year that Zhang, who dazzled the world in 2008 with his Beijing Olympic ceremonies, had at least seven children and could be liable for a 160 million yuan ($26.3 million) fine, Xinhua news agency said. Those reports sparked a hunt for Zhang. The agency said last November they were unable to locate Zhang. In December, Zhang apologized for having three children and said he would accept any punishment. In a statement posted on the microblog account of the Binhu district's government in Wuxi, the family planning authorities said they would give Zhang 30 days to pay up. The author

Amiri Baraka, a controversial playwright, poet and activist who set a new path for fellow African-American artists by bringing militancy and verve to works about race in America, died on Thursday at age 79 at a hospital in his native New Jersey, a representative said. Baraka had been in failing health and passed away at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, surrounded by family, said his booking agent Celeste Bateman. Baraka had associated with Beat Generation poets in the 1950s and he published his first collection of poems in 1961. In 1964, he won fame in some circles, notoriety in others and an Obie award for his explosive play "Dutchman." In the play, a white woman sexually teases and taunts a black man named Clay on a subway, they clash venomously and he speaks of seething anger at whites. The work ends with the woman stabbing Clay in the heart, then eyeing another black rider. The New York Times, in a 2007 review of a new production of the play, called it the "s