Sen. John Kerry, President Barack Obama's pick for secretary of state, will need no introduction with the world leaders vital to American interests.

President Barack Obama says his administration has received an outpouring of support for stricter gun laws following last week's elementary school massacre in Connecticut. He says in response to an online petition: "We hear you."

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy is asking people across the state to observe a moment of silence at 6:30 this morning (PST), which will mark a week since the school shooting massacre.

State lawmakers and governors have wasted little time proposing new laws or offering opinions about existing gun regulations in the days after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn.

The White House says President Barack Obama is willing to continue bargaining for a bipartisan solution to avert the "fiscal cliff" after House Republicans abandoned efforts to pass an alternative plan.

The sentencing of Bernard Madoff's brother for crimes committed in the shadow of his notorious sibling has begun in a New York court.

Seven people who sued Ohio over its new law cracking down on exotic animals say they're disappointed a federal judge has upheld it.

A sudden dump of snow in southern Oregon closed a 33-mile section of Interstate 5 on Thursday, stranding untold numbers of motorists.

The guardian of a northern Idaho fifth-grader is upset with a school's response after she says a man entered a classroom, harassed and assaulted children and put her grandson in a chokehold.

A private funeral has been held in New Hampshire for the woman whose son shot her dead at their Connecticut home and then drove to an elementary school and killed 20 children.

About 1,000 flights have been canceled as a winter storm bears down on the Midwest.

A Marine court-martialed for urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters and posing for pictures with them in Afghanistan has been sentenced to 30 days confinement, reduced in rank, fined and ordered to forfeit part of his pay for six months.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is assuring Pentagon workers they will not face layoffs immediately if the government cannot avert the year-end federal tax increases and spending cuts known as the "fiscal cliff."

Hailed as heroes for their response to the Connecticut school shooting, some first responders are now struggling with emotions stirred by last week's massacre.

Dozens of schools in two Michigan counties have canceled classes for the rest of the week amid rumored threats of violence and problems related to doomsday scenarios based on the Mayan calendar.

An adoptive father in Ohio who could spend the rest of his life in prison for raping three boys in his care has pleaded guilty to another child rape charge and agreed to testify against a man he allegedly allowed to rape one of his adopted sons.

Rap star "Fat Joe" has pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion.

The Internal Revenue Service says up to 100 million taxpayers - about two-thirds of all filers - won't be able to file their 2012 tax returns until late March if Congress doesn't adjust the alternative minimum tax by the end of the year.

The U.S. Army is seeking the death penalty against a soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers in a predawn rampage in March, a punishment some experts say could be hard for prosecutors to obtain given that he was serving his fourth deployment at the time.

Members of Congress are demanding to know why security at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya was "grossly inadequate" when militants stormed the facility on Sept. 11, killing the ambassador and three other Americans.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week by 17,000, reversing four weeks of declines.

General Motors is recalling nearly 119,000 pickup trucks in the U.S. because the hoods can fly open unexpectedly and block the driver's vision.

One early focus of new gun regulations by President Barack Obama and some lawmakers would reinstate a federal ban on assault weapons, a law widely regarded as imperfect.

When it comes to making coins, the Mint isn't getting its two cents worth. In some cases, it doesn't even get half of that. A penny costs more than two cents and a nickel costs more than 11 cents to make and distribute. The quandary is how to make coins more cheaply without sparing our change's quality and durability, or altering its size and appearance.

The Midwest's first major snowstorm of the season was sweeping across several states early Thursday, shuttering schools, creating treacherous roadways and threatening to slow down one of the nation's busiest airports ahead of the holiday weekend