The jury that convicted her of first-degree murder earlier this month in the brutal killing of her ex-boyfriend were unable to decide whether to give the death penalty.

The partisan war over judicial nominees has accelerated in recent years. It took nearly a year to win Senate confirmation for Sri Srinivasan to the important federal appeals court for the District of Columbia, though he had no formal opposition.

The National Council of the Boy Scouts of America has voted to allow gay Scout members, but to continue a ban on openly gay adult Scout leaders. The policy change would take effect Jan. 1, 2014.

Lois Lerner has been at the center of a scandal over the tax agency's targeting of conservative groups.

The congressman says he will step down in August to take a senior position at the University of Alabama.

Rep. Marcia Fudge, the head of the Congressional Black Caucus, says any immigration overhaul significantly boosting the numbers of highly skilled immigrants could negatively affect African-Americans with similar skills.

The Supreme Court justice and noted Yankees fan showed her baseball acumen Wednesday while presiding over a re-enactment of the 1972 case that challenged the sport's antitrust exemption.

In a major speech, the president rejects the idea that the country can fight an opened-ended "global war on terror." In setting his own guidelines, he defines the standards for using drone strikes and again calls for closing the Guantanamo Bay prison.

The tornado that devastated Moore, Okla., Monday destroyed some 12,000 homes, according to Oklahoma City Police. And for one family, it was the second house they've lost to a tornado in the past 14 years. Rena and Paul Phillips say that the recent loss won't make them move.

Forecasters predict as many as six major hurricanes in the Atlantic this year due in part to warmer-than-average ocean temperatures.