WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite all the hot fiscal cliff rhetoric, the differences between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner seem relatively narrow. So why haven't they shaken hands already? One answer: Both sides need to keep - or get - their own troops behind them.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) - While the people of Newtown do their best to cope with loss and preserve the memories of their loved ones, another class of residents is also finding it difficult to move on: the emergency responders who saw firsthand the terrible aftermath of last week's school shooting.
NEW YORK (AP) - Will Santa's sleigh be late? A record number of Americans took to the Web to order holiday gifts after retailers flooded their inboxes with offers of extra discounts, free shipping and easy returns. But a storm bringing heavy winds and snow to much of the Midwest on Thursday - the heaviest shipping day of the year - could mean that some packages might not make it under the tree in time ...
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Security Council on Thursday authorized military action to wrest northern Mali from the control of al-Qaida-linked extremists but demanded progress first on political reconciliation, elections and training African troops and police.
NEW YORK (AP) - Midwesterners aren't the only ones who could get slammed by the storm that's expected to bring heavy snow, winds and rain to the middle of the country over the next couple of days. Stores could get hit too.
MERIDA, Mexico (AP) - Doomsday hour is here, at least in much of the world, and so still are we.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite all the hot fiscal cliff rhetoric, the differences between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner seem relatively narrow. So why haven't they shaken hands already? One answer: Both sides need to keep - or get - their own troops behind them.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week by 17,000, reversing four weeks of declines. But the number of people seeking aid is consistent with a job market that continues to grow modestly.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The first widespread snowstorm of the season crawled across the Midwest on Thursday, with whiteout conditions stranding holiday travelers and sending drivers sliding over slick roads - including into a fatal 25-vehicle pileup in Iowa.
HARROLD, Texas (AP) - In this tiny Texas town, children and their parents don't give much thought to safety at the community's lone school - mostly because some of the teachers are carrying concealed weapons.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a $633 billion defense bill for next year despite Pentagon complaints that it spares outdated but politically popular weapons at the expense of the military's ability to fight.
CHICAGO (AP) - About 1,000 flights have been canceled as a winter storm bears down on the Midwest.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown says he is wary of expanding Medi-Cal as the state implements federal health reform because it could put California's budget "right out of whack" by adding up to $4 billion a year in costs.
NEW YORK (AP) - The brother of imprisoned financier Bernard Madoff was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for crimes committed in the shadow of his notorious sibling.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Police at California State University, Northridge, have held a training exercise involving a simulated shooting spree - a scenario made more poignant and timely by last week's deadly attack at a Connecticut elementary school.
MOORE, Okla. (AP) - The principal's voice came on over the intercom at Plaza Towers Elementary School: A severe storm was approaching and students were to go to the cafeteria and wait for their parents to pick them up.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate voted Tuesday to keep a $400 million annual cut - or roughly a half of 1 percent - to the food stamp program as part of a major five-year farm bill.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Here's a rule that only applies to dog beaches: they are all clothing optional.
PHOENIX (AP) - Jodi Arias begged jurors Tuesday to give her life in prison, saying she "lacked perspective" when she told a local reporter in an interview that she preferred execution to spending the rest of her days in jail.
These are just a few of the images from the Oklahoma City area which was devastated Monday by a huge tornado.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Wind, humidity and rainfall combined precisely to create the massive killer tornado in Moore, Okla. And when they did, the awesome amount of energy released over that city dwarfed the power of the atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima.
Editor's Note: Oklahoma City-based AP photographer Sue Ogrocki was at the elementary school destroyed by a tornado and saw rescuers pulling children out of the rubble. This is her account of what she witnessed.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Los Angeles have made some unusual seizures, including elephant meat, a dead primate and hundreds of handbags made from the skin of snakes, lizards and crocodiles.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - After falling woefully out of fashion, Yahoo wants to be cool again while catering to the capitalistic demands of its shareholders. That goal led CEO Marissa Mayer to make a $1.1 billion bet on online blogging forum Tumblr in a risky acquisition that revolves around the vision and instincts of a 26-year-old entrepreneur who dropped out of high school to pursue his dream of bringing more beauty and creativity to the Internet.
MOORE, Okla. (AP) - Emergency crews combed the sticks and rubble remains of an Oklahoma City suburb Tuesday morning less than a day after a massive tornado slammed through the community, flattening homes and demolishing an elementary school. At least 24 people were killed, including at least seven children, and those numbers were expected to climb.
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) - Federal investigators probing the hantavirus outbreak blamed for three deaths at Yosemite National Park recommended on Monday that design changes to tent cabins and other privately run lodging first be reviewed by National Park Service officials.
NEW YORK (AP) - Monday's powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the region in May 1999.
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Antonio Banderas will play the charismatic miner known as "Super Mario," who in 2010 became the public face of 33 Chilean miners trapped deep underground for 69 days.
ST. LOUIS (AP) - A van carrying church members returning from a California gathering careened off of a southern Illinois freeway and overturned several times Monday, killing five people and sending six others to hospitals, authorities said.
Ray Manzarek, a founding member of The Doors whose versatile and often haunting keyboards complimented Jim Morrison's gloomy baritone and helped set the mood for some of rock's most enduring songs, has died. He was 74.