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Government and politics

Obama offers faith groups new birth control rule
Facing a wave of lawsuits over what government can tell religious groups to do, the Obama administration is proposing a compromise for faith-based ...
Dramatists liken Venezuela saga to telenovela
A president who vanishes for weeks in a mysterious battle with cancer. Supporters who chant their allegiance in the streets. And in the midst of it ...
Clinton out, Kerry in as secretary of state
Hillary Rodham Clinton formally resigned Friday as America's secretary of state, capping a four-year tenure that saw her shatter records for the ...
Scott Brown says he won't seek Kerry's Senate seat
Former Sen. Scott Brown said Friday he would not run in a special Senate election in Massachusetts, dealing a setback to Republican hopes of winning ...
Healthier schools: Goodbye candy and greasy snacks
Goodbye candy bars and sugary cookies. Hello baked chips and diet sodas. The government for the first time is proposing broad new standards to make ...
At palace, Egypt protesters, police clash
Protesters denouncing Egypt's Islamist president hurled stones and firebombs through the gates of his palace gates on Friday, clashing with security ...
33 die in Mexico oil company office building blast
A blast that collapsed the lower floors of a building in the headquarters of Mexico's state-owned oil company, crushing at least 33 people beneath ...
Film blocked in Italy during election campaign
Producers of a documentary that takes a sharply critical view of the political, economic and social trends in Italy in recent decades are protesting ...
Suicide bomber kills guard at US Embassy in Turkey
In the second deadly assault on a U.S. diplomatic post in five months, a suicide bomber struck the American Embassy in Ankara on Friday, killing a ...
Authorities release photo of accused Ala. abductor
After four anxious days, only the slimmest of details has come to light in a police standoff with an Alabama man who is accused of holding a ...
Cuba, US spar over blame for poor ties
A senior Cuban official sharply criticized U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday for suggesting Cuba was stuck in the past, saying the only ...
Syrian rebels slam Assad inaction on Israeli raid
Syrian opposition leaders and rebels on Friday slammed President Bashar Assad for not responding to a rare Israeli airstrike near Damascus, calling ...
Chicago takes leading role in national gun debate
They are counting the dead from gunfire again in Chicago, a city awash in weapons despite having one of the strictest gun-control ordinances in the ...
Review: Politics and old-style humor in 'Fiorello'
What goes around comes around. It's a key principle in politics, and apparently in musical theater, too. In the 1940s Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia saved ...
No priest, no sheik means no marriage in Lebanon
She was an English language tutor with an easy smile and an independent streak. He was a gym receptionist who wanted to better himself. They met for ...
White House: Hagel will win Senate confirmation
The White House on Friday dismissed criticism of Chuck Hagel's hesitant congressional testimony and insisted that it expects the Senate to confirm him ...
Police chief: No sign of fear from slain attorney
Authorities don't know whether a Texas prosecutor who had extensive experience with organized crime feared for his life before he was fatally shot, ...
Harkin campaign aide gave Iowa State a donor list
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin's campaign fundraiser gave Iowa State University a list of possible donors to his namesake research institute, records show, ...
Ed Koch, New York's feisty mayor, dies at 88
When Ed Koch was mayor, it seemed as if all of New York was being run by a deli counterman. Koch was funny, irritable, opinionated, often rude and ...
Clinton formally resigns as secretary of state
Hillary Rodham Clinton has formally resigned as America's 67th secretary of state, capping a four-year tenure in the office that saw her shatter ...
Obama hoping for close match in Super Bowl
President Barack Obama is hoping for a close game in this year's Super Bowl. White House spokesman Jay Carney says the president will watch Sunday's ...
Oil bottleneck gives Rockies cheaper gasoline
A boom in domestic oil drilling has helped lower U.S. gasoline prices, though the steepest drops have missed California commuters, Midwestern farmers ...
What school foods are in and what foods are out
The Agriculture Department is proposing new nutritional rules that would apply to most all foods sold in schools. The rule would apply to "a la carte" ...
APNewsBreak: Feds: Warming imperils wolverines
The tenacious wolverine, a snow-loving carnivore sometimes called the "mountain devil," could soon join the list of species threatened by climate ...
Marine survey lists concerns on women in combat
Male Marines listed being falsely accused of sexual harassment or assault as a top concern in a survey about moving women into combat jobs, and ...