Sandy is being retired from the list of tropical storm names because of the catastrophic damage its massive size and strength caused along the East Coast last year.

Authorities say two people were killed and many more injured after a chartered bus overturned on a North Texas highway.

Gun control supporters have won the first Senate showdown over restricting firearms, rejecting an effort by conservatives to derail a package of gun curbs before debate could even begin.

New foreclosure data show that the number of U.S. homes repossessed by lenders fell to the lowest level in more than five years last month.

A police official in suburban Atlanta says SWAT officers had no choice but to take out a gunman who had been holding four firefighters for hours.

Toyota, Honda and Nissan are recalling more than 2 million vehicles globally for an identical problem with air bags on the passenger side whose inflator may burst, sending plastic pieces flying.

Authorities say a gunman holding four firefighters in suburban Atlanta has been shot dead by SWAT members and that all the hostages are slightly injured but should be OK.

Two pivotal senators have announced a bipartisan deal on expanding background checks to more gun buyers. The agreement could build support for President Barack Obama's drive to curb firearms violence.

President Barack Obama is sending Congress his long-awaited budget, an effort to achieve an elusive "grand bargain" to tame runaway deficits that have soared above $1 trillion for each of the past four years.

The couple accused of kidnapping their two young sons and fleeing by boat to Cuba has been booked into a Florida jail after being handed over to U.S. authorities.

More than a dozen people were wounded in the Tuesday attack on the Lone Star Community College System's campus in Cypress.

The Air Force is grounding about a third of its active-duty combat aircraft because of automatic spending cuts.

NATO says two international service members have been killed in a helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan.

With time running out on the chance to pass gun control legislation, President Barack Obama on Monday warned Congress not to use delaying tactics against tighter regulations.

Actress, singer and former Mouseketeer Annette Funicello has died at age 70, The Walt Disney Company confirmed in a statement Monday.

Virginia State Police say the tractor-trailer went out of control and struck the bridge Monday morning.

Former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died from a stroke.

Everything went to script Sunday night at the Academy of Country Music Awards until the end -- when Luke Bryan pulled off an amazing upset and won entertainer of the year.

The calls in Washington to rein in the rising costs of Social Security and Medicare ignore a major and expensive entitlement program -- the military's health care system.

For all his on-camera carousing, "BUCKWILD" reality TV star Shain Gandee was a Christian, and his mother says she'll see him again.

The top U.S. military officer says the Pentagon has bolstered its missile defenses and taken other steps because he "can't take the chance" that North Korea won't soon engage in some military action.

A kayaker is being credited with helping to save a family of five after their SUV had veered off a road and ended up in a Northern California river.

The Southern California church headed by popular evangelical Pastor Rick Warren says his 27-year-old son has committed suicide.

Seeking an elusive middle ground, President Barack Obama is proposing a 2014 budget that embraces tax increases abhorred by Republicans as well as reductions, loathed by liberals, in the growth of Social Security and other benefit programs.

Authorities say a Georgia man unleashed his two pit bulls on a neighbor's pet pig that got loose in a mobile home park, then stabbed the animal 15 to 20 times in front of children and other onlookers.