Obama refocuses terror threat to pre-9/11 level

Some call it wishful thinking, but President Barack Obama has all but declared an end to the global war on terror.

Obama: Nation must do more for fallen heroes

President Barack Obama says the nation must do more than just remember its fallen heroes on Memorial Day.

Obama's speechwriter: from intern to top wordsmith

When President Barack Obama decided to attend a memorial service in Arizona for victims of a deadly mass shooting that severely injured then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, he needed a speech. And fast.

Obama's drone rules provide limits, ambiguity

President Barack Obama left plenty of ambiguity in new policy guidelines that he says will restrict how and when the U.S. can launch targeted drone strikes, leaving himself significant power over how and when the weapons can be deployed.

Hagel: Cadets must stamp out sex assault scourge

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Saturday that they must stamp out the scourge of sexual assault in the military.

Community outreach key to Obama counterterror plan

Within hours of the Boston Marathon blasts, government officials and Boston Muslims called each other to offer assistance, calls that were the fruits of years of cultivating such relationships in an effort to ultimately prevent the very type of attack Boston experienced April 15.

Key senators tightly control immigration debate

For all the soothing words she heard from fellow Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii never had a chance to win a relatively modest change to far-reaching immigration legislation.

Calif. plastic ocean debris bill dies in committee

A California bill that would have required manufacturers to figure out how to keep the most common plastic junk out of state waterways died in the state Assembly without a vote Friday.

Md. suspect is son of Bush White House official

The 20-year-old son of a former aide to President George W. Bush was charged in a Washington, D.C., suburb on Friday, accused by police of killing a man with a hatchet.

Furlough Friday: Unpaid day off for many in gov't

No one answered the tax-help hotline at the IRS on Friday. And you could forget about getting advice on avoiding foreclosures at the 80 Housing and Urban Development field offices nationwide.

Obama OKs honor for Birmingham bombing victims

President Barack Obama signed legislation Friday to award Congress' highest civilian honor to four girls killed in an Alabama church bombing during the civil rights movement. He called it a tragic loss that "helped to trigger triumph and a more just and equal and fair America."

Top 10 items found during 2012 coastal cleanup

The Ocean Conservancy, a Washington D.C.-based environmental organization, released its 2012 list of trash collected during its International Coastal Cleanup. More than 10 million pounds of debris was collected globally, with more than 769,000 pounds collected in California alone. The most common items found during the cleanup: