Detroit explosive common, easily detectible
7:52
The explosive device used by the would-be Detroit bomber contained a widely available _ and easily detected _ chemical explosive that has a long history of terrorist use, according to government officials and explosive...
US condemns violence in Iran
7:00
The Obama administration on Sunday strongly condemned the Iranian government's crackdown on protesters, offering its support to civilians "seeking to exercise their universal rights." National Security Council...
Sounds of firecrackers mark failure of terror plot
6:11
A popping noise, an odor, then flames. What sounded like firecrackers was the climax of a failed attempt by a suspected terrorist to blow up a U.S. jetliner on Christmas Day. Northwest Flight 253 passengers and law...
Officials say man on Sunday flight posed no threat
5:26
The same Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight that was attacked on Christmas Day saw another security scare Sunday during a confrontation with a sick passenger from Nigeria, officials said. Security and airline...
3:10
Obama stresses heightened airline security in call with officials, orders another briefing. ...
Democrat eyeing Kennedy seat avoids family legacy
1:35
Attorney General Martha Coakley may be the front-runner in the race to fill the late Edward Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat, but she is crafting a campaign largely free of the Kennedy mystique. Although she shares Kennedy's...
Airliner-attack investigation moving on 2 fronts
10:00
The Obama administration is moving forward on two fronts in response to the failed bombing on a Detroit-bound airliner. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says investigators are looking at the system for placing...
Napolitano: No indication of larger terror plot
9:39
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says there is no indication that the man who attempted to destroy an airliner in Detroit on Christmas Day is part of a larger terrorist plot. Napolitano refused to say...
Homeland security head: The security system worked
9:13
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says investigators did not have enough information to keep a terror suspect from boarding a flight bound for Detroit and that the system worked as it should have. The father...
Father of Detroit would-be bomber warned US
2:11
U.S. government officials tell The Associated Press that the Nigerian man charged with trying to destroy a jetliner came to the attention of U.S. intelligence in November when his father went to the U.S. embassy in...
AP source: US knew of terror suspect
11:49
The person accused of the attack on a Detroit-bound airliner had been added to a government list of people with terror ties in November. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's name was added to a list that includes names of...
Travel of man charged in airline attack probed
5:18
A key Congress member says the man charged with trying to take down a Detroit-bound plane had travel patterns that triggered concerns, but officials are still working to confirm his claims of al-Qaida training. ...
Alleged Christmas Day terrorist is charged
4:52
A 23-year-old Nigerian man was charged Saturday with trying to destroy a Northwest Airlines flight with a powerful explosive device attached to his body as the jetliner approached the Detroit airport on Christmas Day. ...
Failed Christmas attack raises new concerns
4:26
U.S. counterterrorism officials are scrambling to assess a potential new threat from an explosive mixture that evaded detection aboard a Detroit-bound airliner but failed to bring down the plane. Multiple law...
AP source: US knew of terror suspect
12:58
An official briefed on the attack on a Detroit airliner said Saturday the U.S. has known for at least two years that the suspect in the attack could have terrorist ties. The official told The Associated Press that the...
Pregnant soldiers in war zone won't be punished
6:19
A controversial policy that put pregnant soldiers in war zones at risk of discipline will be rescinded under an order from the top U.S. commander in Iraq. Gen. Raymond Odierno has drafted a broad new policy for the...
Obamas salute military in their Christmas message
9:08
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama offered Christmas wishes to the nation on Thursday, including a special thanks for the U.S. military. They urged Americans to help support military families this...
Obama makes Christmas calls to US troops
9:03
President Barack Obama says he personally delivered a holiday message to a few members of the U.S. military. Obama says he wanted to wish the troops a merry Christmas and thank them for their service in Iraq and...
Senate 'Liberal Lion' remembered in health debate
8:56
The memory of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy loomed over the Senate on Thursday when his weary colleagues moved his life's work, health care reform, to the brink of reality. "He's having a merry Christmas in heaven," said an...
GOP congressman: Remember military, less fortunate
6:00
Americans should take time to think about the less fortunate and the members of the military who are serving the country during the holiday season, Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter of California said Thursday. Hunter, who...
A comparison of House, Senate health care bills
7:51
A comparison of the health care bills passed by the Senate and House: ___ The Senate Democratic bill (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act): WHO'S COVERED: About 94 percent of legal residents under age 65 _...
Obama prepares for family holiday
5:16
After working hard to push a massive health care overhaul plan through the Senate, President Barack Obama will finally get to take a vacation with his family. The Obamas are to fly off Thursday morning to Hawaii, where...
Guantanamo prison may have to stay open until 2011
4:52
President Barack Obama's commitment to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by next month may be delayed until 2011 because it will take months for the government to buy an Illinois prison and...
Battle against al-Qaida stepped up in Yemen
3:08
The Pentagon has poured nearly $70 million in military aid to Yemen this year, a massive financial infusion aimed at eliminating the expanding al-Qaida safe havens in that country. Airstrikes Thursday in Yemen's Shabwa...
Guests for the Sunday TV news shows
9:53
Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows: ___ ABC's "This Week" _ White House press secretary Robert Gibbs; Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. ___ CBS' "Face the Nation" _ Gibbs; Reps. James Clyburn, D-S.C., and Peter...
Obama vents frustration at Senate delays
9:48
President Barack Obama on Wednesday expressed frustration with the way the Senate does business, saying the use of delaying tactics there harms the nation's ability to "deal with big problems in a very competitive...
Health care bill on brink of Senate passage
8:46
Democrats pushed sweeping health care legislation to the brink of Senate passage Wednesday, crushing a year-end Republican filibuster against President Barack Obama's call to remake the nation's health care system. The...
Obama: climate change disappointment justified
5:50
President Barack Obama says the public is justified in its disappointment with the outcome of the United Nations climate change summit. Despite statements from his advisers proclaiming the summit's nonbinding agreement...
Judge allows wild horse roundup in Nevada
5:49
The Obama administration said Wednesday it is going forward with a contentious plan to round up about 2,500 wild horses in Nevada. A spokeswoman for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said herds in the Calico Mountains...
Long hours not bad for senators
5:26
Yes, they've been in session every day for a month. They're sick of Christmas cookies and each other. But don't feel bad for the senators stuck working overtime. They're dining on catered food in gilded suites and cloak...
US criticizes Sudan parliament on referendum law
3:37
The United States is worried that a peace agreement between Northern and Southern Sudan could be jeopardized by a law passed by Sudan's parliament. A 2005 agreement established peace after a decadeslong war and...
US blasts trial of Chinese dissident
3:32
The United States is sharply criticizing China's trial of a prominent Chinese dissident as being "uncharacteristic of a great country." Liu Xiaobo was detained a year ago before the release of an appeal for more civil...
$1.4 billion grants will help fight homelessness
3:29
The Housing and Urban Development Department announced Wednesday nearly $1.4 billion in grants to help fund a record number of programs for the homeless. The grants will assist 6,445 existing programs around the...
US anti-drug effort in Afghanistan criticized
3:16
The State Department's internal watchdog on Wednesday criticized the agency's nearly $2 billion anti-drug effort in Afghanistan for poor oversight and lack of a long-term strategy. The department's inspector general...
Obama plans interviews ahead of Senate vote
5:03
President Barack Obama takes some time to chat with the media Wednesday on what will probably be his last full day in Washington before he heads west for the holidays. Obama was taping interviews with National Public...
Lawmaker urges NATO to consider arms for Georgia
9:47
A senior Republican senator is urging the Obama administration and European allies to consider rearming Georgia, an action that would inevitably upset Russia. The recommendation comes from Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, a...
No longer coy, Giuliani won't run for NY office
9:25
After months of playing it coy and flirting with a bid for statewide office, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday that he won't return to the campaign trail next year, leaving a wide-open field for New...
Ala. Dem defects to GOP over health care, policy
9:25
A U.S. House Democrat who opposes the health care overhaul announced Tuesday he is defecting to the GOP, another blow to Democrats ahead of the midterm elections. U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith spoke to reporters at his...
Obama surprises Va. gov. on radio show
8:35
Outgoing Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine got a surprise on his radio show Tuesday _ a phone call from President Barack Obama. Kaine was taking calls during his final appearance on his "Ask the Governor" program when a producer...
Report: Campaign finance laws full of loopholes
7:39
Politicians across the country keep finding ways to skirt campaign-finance laws, using ballot-measure committees and other avenues to raise millions in unregulated contributions, according to a report issued Tuesday by...
No peeking: Obama getting Christmas 'sports stuff'
7:32
President Barack Obama is getting "sports stuff" for Christmas. But the president, an avid golfer and basketball player, will have to wait until Dec. 25 to find out exactly what it is. First lady Michelle Obama gave...
White House prods Iran over nuclear deadline
6:45
The White House is warning Iran's leader to take seriously a year-end deadline over its nuclear program, responding sternly to defiant language by the Iranian president. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...
White House confident of health overhaul enactment
6:37
A White House spokesman says health care overhaul legislation has progressed to the point that its enactment is no longer in question. Spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Tuesday that passage of a historic revamping...
FAA reminds employees to act with decorum
5:30
The Federal Aviation Administration is reminding its employees to behave with decorum after hidden television news cameras filmed FAA employees partying while they were in Atlanta for a $5 million training program. The...
AP ENTERPRISE: Vets wait for GI Bill payments
5:14
Universities and colleges are still waiting for tuition payments for thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who attended school last fall under the new GI Bill, leaving the veterans panicked that they'll be unable...
Obama: No vacation until Senate passes health bill
4:51
President Barack Obama won't leave Washington for his Hawaii vacation until the Senate finishes work on the health care overhaul, even if that means staying in town for Christmas Eve. "My attitude is that if they're...
Pain before gain in health care overhaul
4:04
Americans will feel the pain before the gain from the health care overhaul Democrats are close to pushing through Congress. Proposed taxes and fees on upper-income earners, insurers, even tanning parlors, take effect...
US freezing assets of Iraq-based insurgent group
3:58
The Treasury Department is freezing the assets of an Iraq-based insurgent group that has conducted or supported violent raids against U.S. and coalition forces. The department said Tuesday that since April, the group,...
Obama to get 'sports stuff' for Christmas
3:27
President Barack Obama is getting "sports stuff" for Christmas. First lady Michelle Obama would reveal only that much during a visit to Children's National Medical Center in Washington on Tuesday. Mrs. Obama read...
Keep IRS auditors away: earn less than $200,000
1:39
Want to keep IRS auditors away? Keep your earnings under $200,000 and they won't bother you 99 percent of the time. IRS enforcement numbers, released Tuesday, show that returns under that amount have a 1 percent chance...