Nation News

A district attorney in Colorado has decided no criminal charges are warranted against the sheriff who disclosed that child welfare workers were involved in the inquiry in the runaway balloon case. Read More

A fifth foreign mission to the United Nations has received an envelope with a suspicious white powder inside, police say. Read More

Sniper John Allen Muhammad is meeting with relatives in the hours before his execution and one of his attorneys described the convicted killer as fearless. Read More

A man opened fire with a rifle Tuesday at a drug-testing laboratory in suburban Portland, killing one woman and wounding two other people before fatally shooting himself, police said. No names were immediately released. Read More

A Marine reservist accused of attacking a Greek Orthodox priest with a tire iron after apparently calling him a terrorist was actually defending himself after being sexually attacked by the cleric, his defense attorney said Tuesday. Read More

Virginia's governor refused to spare the life of John Allen Muhammad and cleared the way for his execution Tuesday night for the sniper attacks in 2002 that left 10 dead and spread such fear people were afraid to go shopping, cut grass or pump gas. Read More

After weeks of uncertainty and pleas for action by Gov. David Paterson, New York's Senate wasn't expected to vote on a bill legalizing same-sex marriage during Tuesday's special session. Read More

Dozens of wild bison from Yellowstone National Park would be relocated to a Montana ranch owned by billionaire Ted Turner, under a recommendation made by state and federal officials Tuesday. Read More

Fort Hood officials say that 15 of 29 people wounded in last week's shooting rampage remain hospitalized. Read More

It was a heartwarming story: A 200-year-old general store suffers a fire, the owner can't afford to rebuild it and the town's historical society steps in to buy the building, hoping to make it the commercial and social hub of town once again. Read More

Somberly reciting 13 names and 13 stories, President Barack Obama saluted the Americans killed at this Army post as heroes who died for their country _ and promised a nation demanding answers that "the killer will be met with justice." Read More

A former Bush administration lawyer is asking a federal court to toss a lawsuit by a convicted terrorist who accuses him of drafting the legal theories that led to his alleged torture. Read More

Police say a carpenter who brought a shotgun to an upstate New York middle school and held a principal hostage for more than two hours was upset by the treatment of U.S. soldiers. Read More

The families of three Americans accused of espionage in Iran are attempting the delicate feat of keeping a spotlight trained on the plight of their loved ones while trying to avoid the tangled politics of the tense U.S.-Iran relationship. Read More

Attorney General Jerry Brown has relied on a stealth fundraising campaign and his near universal name recognition to wipe out the field seven months ahead of California's Democratic primary for governor. Read More

Pentagon worker on terrorism task force assessed Fort Hood shooting suspect months ago Read More

Vice President Joseph Biden says seven Fort Lewis soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan last month were extraordinary young men to whom the nation owes more than it can repay. Read More

An anti-abortion opponent says he's the one who killed a Kansas abortion provider _ and did it because it was necessary to save lives. But one of his attorneys says there's no such thing as a "necessity defense" in state law, and that is not the strategy the defense team plans to present at his trial. Read More

One worker was killed and another injured Tuesday when a crane tipped over at the construction site of a Kansas City, Mo., performing arts center, police said. Read More

A federal appeals court has rejected a lawsuit challenging the training and competence of Missouri's execution team in a decision that could move the state closer to resuming executions, but likely not for months. Read More