(JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., AP) — Missouri’s newest congressman has been appointed to the U.S. House committees on natural resources and the judiciary. Republican Jason Smith, of Salem, won a special… Read more »

By SARAH BRUMFIELD (WASHINGTON, AP) — A massive storm system originally forecast to affect one in five Americans from Iowa to Maryland surged Thursday toward the Mid-Atlantic after causing widespread… Read more »

By MIKE SCHNEIDER (SANFORD, Fla., AP) — George Zimmerman’s lead attorney will be walking a fine line as he tries to convince jurors that his client didn’t murder Trayvon Martin:… Read more »

By KATHY MATHESON, MARYCLAIRE DALE and MICHAEL RUBINKAM (PHILADELPHIA, AP) — A heavy equipment operator who is accused of being high on marijuana when a downtown building collapsed onto a… Read more »

By JULIE WATSON (SAN DIEGO, AP) — Japanese troops will converge on California’s southern coast in the next two weeks as part of a military exercise with U.S. troops aimed… Read more »

By TAMI ABDOLLAH (SANTA MONICA, Calif., AP) — Investigators trying to determine why a gunman planned a shooting spree that killed four people, were focusing on a deadly act of… Read more »

By DANNY ROBBINS and NOMAAN MERCHANT (TEXARKANA, Texas, AP) — A pregnant Texas actress who first told the FBI that her husband sent ricin-tainted letters to President Barack Obama and… Read more »

By DAVID DISHNEAU and PAULINE JELINEK (FORT MEADE, Md., AP) — Sitting almost motionless, Pfc. Bradley Manning listened to his attorney argue that the soldier was young and naive and… Read more »

By SEAN MURPHY (OKLAHOMA CITY, AP) — Emergency officials set out Saturday morning to see how much damage a violent burst of thunderstorms and tornadoes caused as it swept across… Read more »