By IBRAHIM BARZAK and PETER ENAV (GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, AP) — Israeli troops battled Hamas militants on Wednesday near a southern Gaza Strip town as the U.S. secretary of state… Read more »

(FLORENCE, Ariz., AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Arizona to carry out its third execution in the last year Wednesday following a closely watched First Amendment… Read more »

By DAVID PITT (DES MOINES, Iowa, AP) — The years-long fight between farm organizations and animal rights activists over laws prohibiting secretly filmed documentation of animal abuse is moving from… Read more »

(ST. LOUIS, AP) — Vice President Joe Biden told veterans gathered in St. Louis on Monday that the Obama administration won’t rest until major problems at the Veterans Affairs Department… Read more »

By JULIE WATSON (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — The two Americans killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip followed in the footsteps of scores of Jews from around the world who have… Read more »

By JASON DEAREN (ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla., AP) — The Obama administration has approved the use of sonic cannons to explore for oil and gas off the Eastern Shore. The… Read more »

By JUDY LIN (SACRAMENTO, Calif., AP) — A half-dozen states with backlogs for Medicaid enrollees were facing a federal deadline Monday to create plans for getting those low-income residents enrolled… Read more »

(SAN DIEGO, AP) — A South Dakota teen may have become the youngest person to fly solo around the world. Nineteen-year-old Matt Guthmiller completed the more than 29,000-mile journey in… Read more »

By THOMAS BEAUMONT (DES MOINES, Iowa, AP) — As the nation’s midsection has grown more conservative and Republican, Democrats have sometimes had to rest their hopes on well-positioned GOP contenders… Read more »

(ST. LOUIS, AP) — Another Ashcroft has entered politics in Missouri. John Ashcroft was a two-term governor, a senator and U.S. attorney general under President George W. Bush. Now, his… Read more »