Eyder Peralta

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Wednesday tried to tone down Israeli claims that the Syrian government has been using chemical weapons.

Chemical weapons use is important, because the United Staes has repeatedly said their use marks a "red line" in the conflict. President Obama and the United Nations have warned ...

With all the other news demanding our attention in the past week, we missed an interesting dispatch from Nevada: Just as the state Senate began moving toward repealing a ban on same-sex marriage, a state senator surprised his colleagues with an announcement.

The Las Vegas Sun reports this happened ...

A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday threw out three out of seven murder charges against Dr. Kermit Gosnell, a Philadelphia abortion doctor being tried for "killing viable fetuses while performing abortions," The New York Times reports.

The Times adds:

"Judge Minehart also granted a motion for acquittal in five ...

Citing financial strain, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art announced that beginning in the fall of 2014, it would begin charging its undergraduate students tuition.

The college is one of the few institutions that doesn't charge students tuition.

In a press release, the board of ...

Update at 6:02 p.m. ET. Charges Dropped:

Federal prosecutors have dropped charges against a Mississippi man they accused of sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama and two other public servants, according to a court order obtained by the AP.

"In a court order calling for the charges to be dismissed, ...

(Most recent update: 8:39 p.m. ET.)

As investigators learn more about the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings and what Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, allegedly did, the initial theory is that "these two young men were working on their own," NPR's Dina Temple-Raston

The Transportation Security Administration said today that it was delaying implementation of a plan that would allow air travelers to carry small knives, golf clubs, hockey sticks and other sporting equipment onboard aircraft.

The AP reports:

John Pistole, head of the Transportation Security Administration, proposed the policy ...

Reuters announced today that it was parting ways with Matthew Keys, a social-media editor who was indicted in March of "conspiring with members of the hacker group 'Anonymous' to hack into and alter a Tribune Company website."

Keys is fighting those allegations, but he was suspended by Reuters following ...

Nicaraguan authorities say they have detained Eric Justin Toth, a former teacher at a Washington, D.C., private school accused of producing child pornography.

Back in April 2012, Toth took Osama bin Laden's place on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.

The Washington Post reports Toth has been on the ...

During a court hearing today, FBI investigators said they found no traces of ricin at the home or car of a Mississippi man suspected of sending letters laced with the poison to two public officials and President Obama.

The AP reports:

"Agent Brandon Grant said that a search ...

I'm sure many of us have had pretty bad first days — at school, at a new job, a bad first date. But this weekend, we got word of a case that may take the cake.

A.J. Clemente was making his debut as weekend anchor for KFYR in Bismarck, N.D.

...

(Most recent update: 7:00 p.m. ET.)

The surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings was charged Monday with using a weapon of mass destruction to kill three people and wound more than 200 in what FBI investigators said evidence shows was a coldly calculated attack.

With chilling detail, the criminal ...

The scene around Boston Friday was chaotic. Police were going house to house in Watertown as they searched for "suspect No. 2" in the bombings. "Suspect No. 1," known as "black hat," ...

Earlier today, President Obama led the city of Boston at an interfaith service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston.

It was an emotional tribute in which the President Obama vowed that Boston would finish the race.

The service was punctuated by a performance from Yo-Yo Ma, ...

A large storm system moving through the center of the country, has already caused major flooding in Chicago and is threatening to bring severe weather to the Tennessee Valley all the way to the Gulf Coast, tonight.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn declared a state of emergency Thursday afternoon, NBC ...

Throughout the day, we'll be updating with the latest news about the two explosions Monday near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The blasts killed three people and injured about 180. We'll also be publishing related posts as the day continues. (See this note about ...

President Obama ditched his usual diplomacy and accused Republican senators of putting politics ahead of the wants of the American people, when they voted to reject a bipartisan measure that would have expanded federal background checks for firearm purchases.

"All in all, this is a pretty shameful day in Washington," ...

A bipartisan compromise that would have expanded federal background checks for firearms purchases has been rejected by the Senate.

The defeat of the measure by a 54-46 vote — six votes shy of the number needed to clear the Senate — marks a major setback for gun-control advocates, many of ...

The United States called on the Venezuelan government to be transparent in its effort to "audit the ballots" of the presidential election held this weekend.

If you missed it, the news that Hugo Chavez's hand-picked successor Nicolás Maduro had won by a razor-thin margin unleashed protests in the streets ...

Update at 8:44 p.m. ET. Authorities Make An Arrest:

Authorities have made an arrest in connection to the suspicious envelopes sent to a senator and President Obama.

The FBI identified the suspect as Paul Kevin Curtis.

The The Clarion Ledger reports:

"The letter, received by [Sen. Roger ...