Obama seeks scaled-down 'fiscal cliff' agreement

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama has scaled back his ambitions for a sweeping budget bargain with Republicans. Instead, he's calling for a limited measure sufficient to prevent the government from careening off the "fiscal cliff" in January by extending tax cuts for most taxpayers and forestalling a painful set of agency budget cuts.

Violence baked into popular culture

NEW YORK (AP) - Well aware that the television audience may be particularly sensitive, the Showtime network aired a disclaimer warning audiences of violent content in the season finales of its dramas "Homeland" and "Dexter" last weekend. It was two days after a gunman killed 26 people in a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.

Cruise goes back to what he does best in 'Reacher'

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Just turned 50, Tom Cruise is eligible for membership in the American Association of Retired Persons. Just split from third wife Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise is the object of told-you-so cynics who simply knew that romance wouldn't last. Just finished with his stab at something really different as a heavy-metal rock god in "Rock of Ages," Tom Cruise is coming off one of the lowest-grossing movies in his career.

Rebel Wilson to host springtime MTV Movie Awards

LOS ANGELES (AP) - "Pitch Perfect" star and "Bridesmaids" scene-stealer Rebel Wilson is taking center stage.

Iron Butterfly bassist Lee Dorman dies at age 70

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Lee Dorman, the bassist for psychedelic rock band Iron Butterfly, has died at age 70.

American Legion hosts an end-of-world party

Members of American Legion Post 507 gathered at their headquarters in Newhall Friday night to ensure the purported end of the world was a lively occasion.

Court blocks California law banning gay therapy

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court on Friday put the brakes on a first-of-its-kind California law that bans therapy aimed at turning gay minors straight.

Obama and family fly to Hawaii for Christmas

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama and his family are spending the Christmas holidays in Hawaii, where the president was born and raised.

Mexico frees ex-Marine jailed for bringing in gun

MIAMI (AP) - A Marine veteran jailed for months in Mexico after trying to carry a family heirloom shotgun across the border has been freed, U.S. officials and his lawyer said late Friday.

Parents hesitant about NRA armed schools proposal

MIAMI (AP) - The nation's largest gun-rights lobby called Friday for the placement of an armed police officer in every school, but parents and educators questioned how safe such a move would keep kids, whether it would be economically feasible and how it would alter student life. Their reactions ranged from supportive to disgusted.

Churches prepare Christmas packages for SD inmates

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - More than 3,000 care packages of fudge and Christmas cards will be delivered to the inmates at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, the Yankton Minimum Security Unit and the Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield on Monday as part of an annual tradition.

364 guns traded for grocery vouchers in San Diego

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Gun owners traded more than 350 weapons for grocery vouchers Friday in San Diego as authorities vowed to step up firearms exchanges after the Connecticut school shooting.

Click, print, shoot: Downloadable guns possible

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Downloading a gun design to your computer, building it with a three-dimensional printer that uses plastics and other materials, and firing it minutes later. No background checks, no questions asked.

High court asked to block morning-after pill rule

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Hobby Lobby Stores asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to block part of the federal health care law that requires it to provide insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency contraception pills.

Ashton Kutcher files for divorce from Demi Moore

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Ashton Kutcher filed court papers Friday to end his seven-year marriage to actress Demi Moore.

Poll worker shot outside LA elementary school

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A poll worker has been shot outside a Los Angeles elementary school in what police are describing as a domestic dispute.

'Sinkhole season' has only just begun in Florida

SEFFNER, Fla. (AP) - As crews entombed a man who was swallowed by a sinkhole near Tampa, the earth opened up again just a few miles away. On Tuesday, in a neighboring county, officials investigated reports of a home cracking, perhaps due to another sinkhole.

US, China propose sanctions against North Korea

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The world moved closer to punishing North Korea for its latest nuclear test Tuesday as the United States introduced a draft resolution, backed by China, with new sanctions aimed at reining in Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and preventing their export to other countries.

Late winter storm hits Midwest

CHICAGO (AP) - A late winter storm packing up to 10 inches of snow sent authorities in weather-hardened Chicago into action Tuesday to prevent a repeat of scenes from two years ago, when a blizzard stranded hundreds of people in cars and buses.

Struggling LA holds mayoral primary

LOS ANGELES (AP) - City Hall is nearly broke - and for many, is broken. The airport is an embarrassment. Freeways are clogged. And potholes, cracked sidewalks and untended trees infest many neighborhoods.

Vatican waits on 5 cardinals to arrive

VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Sistine Chapel closed to visitors on Tuesday and construction work got under way to prepare it for the conclave that will choose the next pope, but five cardinals had yet to arrive for the preparatory meetings designed to acquaint themselves with one another and discuss the state of the Catholic Church.

Coroner: Texas man, 46, died in Calif. triathlon

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - For the first time in its 33-year history, a participant in the world renowned "Escape from Alcatraz" died during the event.

Ark. Gov. Beebe vetoes 12-week abortion ban

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe on Monday vetoed what would have been the most restrictive abortion ban in the nation, telling lawmakers that outlawing the procedure as early as 12 weeks into a pregnancy would be unconstitutional.

JC Penney could wind up with empty shelves

NEW YORK (AP) - J.C. Penney, which is struggling with big losses and steep sales declines, could face another challenge: empty shelves.

CA lawmaker seeks rights for transgender students

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A California lawmaker has introduced legislation aimed at guaranteeing transgender students the right to use public school restrooms and participate on the sports teams that correspond with their expressed genders.

Meditation teacher Nancy Cooke de Herrera dies

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Pioneering meditation teacher Nancy Cooke de Herrera has died. She was 90.

Judge rejects Bulger's future immunity claim

BOSTON (AP) - Gangster James "Whitey" Bulger cannot present evidence to a jury about his claim that he was given immunity for future crimes, including murder, a federal judge ruled Monday, calling Bulger's contention that he had a license to kill "beyond the pale."

Calif. woman dies after nurse refuses to do CPR

NYPD seeks suspect in death of expectant parents and baby

NEW YORK (AP) - Police have identified a suspect being sought in the hit-and-run deaths of a pregnant woman and her husband whose baby died on Monday, a day after the Brooklyn car crash.

Pentagon to furlough teachers, cut commissary time

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon will furlough about 15,000 military school teachers and staff around the world because of the automatic budget cuts that took effect last Friday, but spokesman George Little said Monday the department will manage the process so the schools don't lose their accreditation.