WASHINGTON - South Korean President Park Geun-hye addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress Wednesday, as she continues a tour of Washington that has been dominated by talks on North Korea.
 After meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House Tuesday, Park said Seoul and Washington must not tolerate North Korea’s recent wave of […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. investigators have traveled to the Russian republic of Dagestan to interview the parents of the two suspects in last week’s bombing at the Boston Marathon.
 U.S. Embassy officials say the team of investigators is working with the Russian government.
 One of the suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, made a six-month visit to Dagestan and Chechnya last […]

WASHINGTON - Two ethnic Chechen brothers, suspected of the double bombings at the Boston marathon, attended a mosque in Cambridge Massachusetts. The bombs killed three and injured more than 170.  The older brother, now deceased, is accused of being argumentative about his religion, critical of those who weren’t conservative Muslims.
 The two bombing suspects are seen […]

WASHINGTON - Police in the northeastern U.S. state of Massachusetts are conducting a massive manhunt for one of the suspects in Monday’s Boston Marathon bombings, after killing the other one in a shootout late Thursday.
 Authorities say the “white hat” suspect from the marathon bombings, known as Suspect 2, is on the loose and is “armed […]

WASHINGTON - A massive explosion at a fertilizer plant in the southwestern U.S. state of Texas has killed several people and injured more than a 100 others.  The incident occurred Wednesday evening in the town of West, located just outside the city of Waco.
 Local firefighters were battling a fire at the plant, shown in amatuer […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the United States will defend itself and its allies amid what he calls “provocative, dangerous and reckless” threats by North Korean leader Kim Jung Un.  Secretary Kerry met with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se Tuesday, following North Korea’s announcement that it will reopen a previously […]

SEATTLE - A 1,000-foot landslide that tore off a chunk of a subdivision on Washington state’s Whidbey Island, north of Seattle, has now destroyed at least two homes and left several others in imminent danger, a county commissioner said on March 28.
 The landslide first hit the Ledgewood Beach community about 50 miles north of Seattle […]

WASHINGTON - An ancient clay cylinder credited with containing the world’s first declaration of human and religious rights, is touring the United States.
 Dating from the sixth century BCE, and smaller than an American football, the artifact is inscribed with proclamations from King Cyrus the Great of ancient Persia, present-day Iran, who ruled almost 2,600 years […]

WASHINGTON - A senior White House official is calling on China to take “serious steps” to stop cybercrimes, saying the issue is a “growing challenge” to U.S.-China relations.
 National Security Advisor Tom Donilon on Monday called on China to acknowledge the scope of the problem and engage in talks with the U.S. on acceptable behavior in […]

WASHINGTON - Former U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel was sworn in as defense secretary Wednesday, saying the United States must not dictate to the world.
 Hagel told Pentagon employees America must engage with the rest of the globe. He said no nation as great as the United States can lead alone.
 He acknowledged the challenges the Pentagon faces […]

WASHINGTON - A tank at America’s most contaminated nuclear site is leaking radioactive liquids, raising concerns about the integrity of other storage facilities at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state.
 Officials say the single-shell tank could be leaking up to 1,135 liters per year, creating a long-term threat that could impact groundwater or rivers.
 Washington state […]

WASHINGTON - Much of the northeastern United States, including the cities of New York and Boston, is digging out from a massive snowstorm, driven by hurricane-force wind gusts.
 The most severe blizzard in decades blasted New York and the six New England states Friday and Saturday, leaving vehicles stranded and residents without electricity.
 At least four deaths […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. Vice president Joe Biden says the four-year-old offer of direct negotiations with Iran is still valid, if the country’s top leader is ready for serious talks that are not held in secret. He also called on Iran to take a good faith approach in negotiations with the international contact group known as […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate has voted 94 to 3 to confirm one of its own, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, as secretary of state.  Kerry will step down from the Senate to succeed Hillary Clinton as America’s top diplomat and President Barack Obama’s chief envoy to the world.   
 
Kerry’s confirmation as secretary of state was never […]

WASHINGTON - Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to testify to Congress next week about the September terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.
 Four months after the Benghazi attack that exposed startling flaws in U.S. diplomatic security, lawmakers will have their first chance to question […]

WASHINGTON - Thousands of American activists - some carrying carrying rifles and pistols - gathered peacefully Saturday at state capitals across the country for rallies promoting gun rights, as the U.S. government considers new restrictions on firearms.
 Rallies stretched from New York and Connecticut to South Dakota, Texas, Alabama, Arizona and Oregon - in some places […]

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama nominated his White House chief of staff, Jack Lew, to replace Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary Thursday.
 Obama said he has complete trust in Lew, who has three decades of experience shaping U.S. economic policy.  
“One reason Jack has been so effective in this town is because he is a low-key guy […]

ANCHORAGE - A large drill ship belonging to oil company Shell ran aground off Alaska on Monday night after drifting in stormy weather, company and government officials said.
 The ship, the Kulluk, broke away from one of its tow lines on Monday afternoon and was driven to rocks just off Kodiak Island, where it grounded at […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate has overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan agreement to spare most Americans from steep tax hikes and delay across-the-board federal spending cuts imposed by the so-called “fiscal cliff”.
The vote of 89-8 early Tuesday came hours after the United States had technically stepped off the fiscal cliff.
 The bill still needs approval by the […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Congress looks set to miss its midnight deadline on a deal averting the so-called fiscal cliff, as members of the House of Representatives are scheduled to recess without taking a vote on the issue.
 It is not yet clear whether the Senate will vote before leaving for the night, after a day […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in a New York hospital, after doctors discovered a blood clot while performing a follow-up exam for a concussion she suffered earlier this month.
 At a news conference early Monday about the September attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate has overwhelmingly approved a five-year extension of a law allowing the government to conduct wiretapping on foreign citizens without a warrant.
 The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year, cleared the Senate Friday by a 73-23 margin with broad bipartisan support. The legislation now goes […]

WASHINGTON - Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush has been moved out of intensive care and into a regular room at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas.
 The 88-year-old former president entered the hospital last month for bronchitis and was moved into intensive care last Sunday after developing a fever.
 A Bush family spokesman says the former president’s […]

WASHINGTON - Doctors in the southern U.S. city of Houston, Texas say former president George H.W. Bush is in intensive care and in “guarded” condition at the Methodist Hospital.
 The 88-year-old Bush is battling what doctors call a “stubborn fever.” He entered the hospital last month with a severe cough.
 Bush served one term as U.S. president […]