The financially struggling U.S. Postal Service says it plans to stop delivering mail on Saturdays, but continue delivering packages six days a week.

New Orleans' mayor has defended the city's role as host after a power outage plunged the Super Bowl into 34 minutes of darkness, baffling authorities who are bringing in a consultant to help find the cause.

The Boy Scouts of America's policy excluding gay members and leaders could be up for a vote as soon as Wednesday, when the organization's national executive board meets behind closed doors under intense pressure from several sides.

The classic Monopoly game is set for its most significant change in decades after fans of the game designed nearly 80 years ago voted to add a new token to replace the shoe, wheelbarrow or iron after they received the least support in an online contest.

The CIA conducts lethal drone strikes against al-Qaida militants inside Yemen from a remote base in Saudi Arabia, including the strike that killed the U.S.-born al-Qaida operative Anwar al-Awlaki.

The National Weather Service says there is no threat of a tsunami in Hawaii, Alaska or the U.S. West Coast after a powerful earthquake struck in the South Pacific.

U.S. officials say Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is poised to extend some benefits to the same-sex partners of military members.

A Labrador retriever named Kentucky is being credited with helping authorities find the body of its owner, who died hiking in a nature preserve in northern New Jersey.

Two target shooters have taken a plea deal for igniting a major wildfire southeast of Salt Lake City last summer using explosive targets.

Several schools in Yuma in western Arizona have been locked down and are being searched by police in response to an unconfirmed report of a person possibly having a gun.

School officials in Alabama say they plan to have a party to celebrate the sixth birthday of the boy who was rescued yesterday after being held hostage for nearly a week in an underground bunker.

Federal officials say they have broken up one of the nation's largest credit card fraud rings.

A publisher says a former top Navy SEAL sniper and best-selling author who was fatally shot at the weekend had a second book in the works.

A new government report is predicting the budget deficit will drop below $1 trillion for the first time in President Barack Obama's tenure in office.

Opponents of New York City's plan to crack down on supersized, sugary drinks have asked a judge to keep it from taking effect next month.

White House officials say President Barack Obama will ask Congress to come up with tens of billions of dollars in short-term spending cuts and tax revenue to put off the automatic across the board cuts that are scheduled to kick in March 1.

San Diego is struggling with a stinky problem - the smell from bird poop at a scenic cove

Federal regulators say they are evaluating a Boeing request to conduct test flights of its 787 Dreamliners, which were grounded nearly three weeks ago after a battery fire in one plane and smoke in another.

An upstate New York college plans to establish a new education center in honor of Sandy Hook Elementary School Principal Dawn Hochsprung, who was a doctoral candidate in the college's educational leadership program.

The nation's commuters are adapting to increasing traffic congestion by building delays into their schedules, but at a cost of $121 billion in wasted time and fuel, according to an annual study of national driving patterns released Tuesday.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is in San Diego to trumpet what she calls dramatic improvements in border security.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and David Letterman have shared some laughs about the many fat jokes the comedian has made about the lawmaker's ample girth.

Authorities say they continue to send food, medication and other items into a bunker where a man is holed up with a 5-year-old hostage.

A law enforcement official says a 5-year-old has been safely released after a days-long standoff between police and the boy's abductor.

Keeping a campaign promise, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has named a special deputy to oversee an inquiry into the handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal.