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VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Later this year, a ship the size of an aircraft carrier will arrive at Lithuania's port of Klaipeda on the Baltic Sea. The 300-meter (984-foot) vessel is not a warship, but a floating natural gas import terminal — aptly named "Independence" — that will be key to the Baltic region's plan to reduce its reliance on Russia's energy supplies.

By Linda Sieg and Matt Spetalnick TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama wrapped up a state visit to Japan on Friday during which he assured America's ally that Washington would come to its defense, but failed to clinch a trade deal key to his "pivot" to Asia and to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's reforms. Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had been seeking to display the alliance was strong in the face of a rising China, but their success in putting recent strains behind them was partly marred by a failure to reach a trade deal seen as crucial to a broader regional pact. Obama and Abe had ordered their top aides to make a final push to reach a trade agreement after the leaders met on Thursday, but Economy Minister Akira Amari told reporters that gaps remained despite recent progress.

MOSCOW (AP) — The Standard & Poor's credit agency on Friday cut Russia's credit rating for the first time in more than five years, raising the financial stakes flowing from the crisis in Ukraine as tensions rise and the United States and its allies are contemplating further economic sanctions.