Politics

Experts back NYC's link of gun laws, lower crime
In his nationwide effort for tighter gun control, Mayor Michael Bloomberg attributes historic crime lows in New York to strict gun laws that are ...
Sandy helps shore town reach deal on bar closings
A nasty dispute over how much responsibility bars in a popular Jersey shore town have to keep their patrons quiet and well-behaved after last call has ...
Witness describes killings by Malian army
Malian soldiers killed people accused of ties to radical Islamists at a bus stop around the time the French-led military intervention began, a witness ...
Gay activists laud Obama speech, now want action
President Barack Obama's emphatic gay-rights advocacy in his inaugural address thrilled many activists. Yet almost immediately came the questions and ...
US Afghan commander cleared in Petraeus email case
A Pentagon investigation has cleared Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, of professional misconduct in exchanging emails with a ...
NRA criticizes Obama's reference to 'absolutism'
A top National Rifle Association official on Tuesday accused President Barack Obama of seeking to redefine the rights of gun owners, telling a hunting ...
Man charged in Houston shootings
A 22-year-old man has been charged in the shootings at a Houston-area community college campus that left him and two others wounded. A statement from ...
NJ senator takes digs at mayor's interest in seat
Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, at age 88 the oldest sitting U.S. senator, said Tuesday that the mayor of the state's largest city is surely ...
Biden meets with Democrats, stoking 2016 chatter
Joe Biden in 2016? The inauguration is barely over but the vice president already is dropping plenty of hints that he might have another political act
UN condemns North Korea's rocket launch
The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution condemning North Korea's rocket launch in December and imposing new sanctions ...
Army general defers plea at hearing on sex charges
An Army general brought back from Afghanistan to face court-martial on a series of sexual misconduct charges deferred entering a plea Tuesday. Brig.
NC woman sues NYPD over Empire State shooting
A North Carolina college student hit by police gunfire during a shooting outside the Empire State Building argued in a lawsuit Tuesday that the police ...
Obamas, Bidens attend Cathedral prayer service
President Barack Obama began the first full workday of his second term with a rousing, spiritual appeal for unity and strength from church leaders of ...
Woman miraculously survives getting hit by boulder
A southern Utah woman is badly injured but grateful to be alive after a boulder the size of a small car broke free from a cliff above her house, ...
White House: Obama wouldn't block GOP debt bill
The Obama administration says it won't oppose a House Republican proposal to increase the nation's $16.4 trillion borrowing authority for only three ...
Recognition sought for church bombing victims
Nearly 50 years ago, white supremacists planted a bomb in a Birmingham, Ala., church that killed four young girls preparing to worship, an act of ...
Feud over budget for diplomatic security escalates
A long-running feud over whether Congress provides enough money for protecting U.S. diplomats escalated Tuesday as the chairman of a Senate ...
Rival Conn. casino tribes forge alliance
At sunrise one day last spring, the leaders of the Connecticut tribes that own two of the world's largest casinos stood together at the site of a 1637 ...
US pays tribute to King as Obama begins new term
The youngest daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. hailed the inauguration of the nation's first black president to a new term as one of the ...
Study: High school grad rate highest since '76
The nation's high school graduation rate is the highest since 1976, but more than a fifth of students are still failing to get their diploma in four ...
The inaugural do-over: chomping gum, savoring view
Let's hear it for the do-over. Inaugurations are always moments of great ceremony and pageantry. But, hey, everybody can rel-a-a-a-ax a little the ...
Inauguration watch: a special dress ends a big day
AP journalists fanned out across the capital to cover Inauguration Day as part of a running feed of content and analysis. Here are their reports.
Inauguration-goers find tight DC security, delays
The hundreds of thousands of spectators at President Barack Obama's second inauguration Monday encountered strict security screening, slow-moving ...
Time to act, Obama declares, taking oath 2nd time
Turning the page on years of war and recession, President Barack Obama summoned a divided nation Monday to act with "passion and dedication" to ...