(Continued from page 34)

criminal charges hanging over his head.
• The defining moment of the election occurred three weeks earlier in a courtroom. Federal prosecutors say Gray knew about an illegal $668,000 slush fund that helped him defeat incumbent Adrian Fenty in 2010. Five people involved with his previous campaign have pleaded guilty to felonies and the new allegations surfaced as part of a plea deal for the businessman who provided the illegal funds.
• Gray has denied all wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime. But his attorney has said he is preparing for a possible indictment, and U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen said the charges thus far represent "the tip of the iceberg."
• Bowser pounced on Gray's weakness earlier than most. She launched her campaign little more than halfway through the mayor's term, knocking on doors around the city with a determination similar to Fenty, her political mentor.
• ___

• BRUSSELS (AP) -- NATO foreign ministers moved Tuesday to beef up the defenses of front-line alliance members feeling menaced by a more assertive Russia, with Secretary of State John Kerry proclaiming the U.S. commitment to their security is "unwavering."
• The ministers from NATO's 28 member nations also ordered suspension of all "practical civilian and military cooperation" with Vladimir Putin's Russia, though they made sure a line of communication with the Kremlin remains open at the ambassadorial level.
• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, keystone of U.S. and European security since the end of World War II, is facing its most acute geopolitical crisis in years: the fallout from Moscow's unilateral annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, which the Obama administration and its allies condemn as a brazen, illegal land grab.
• On Tuesday, an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 Russian troops equipped with tanks, other armored vehicles and fixed and rotary wing aircraft remained positioned near the border with Ukraine, a NATO military official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.
• The military official described the Russian buildup as "a complete combat force" that was highly threatening to Ukraine.
• ___