U.S. News

Japanese officials scrambled Wednesday for ways to cool overheated elements at a damaged nuclear plant that can emit potentially lethal radioactive steam, after aborting a risky mission to use a helicopter to douse part of the plant with water.

Libya's rebels are a movement under siege and desperate for international recognition, assistance and a no-fly zone.

Former Virginia governor Timothy M. Kaine says it is "increasingly likely" he will run for the U.S. Senate seat left open by Democrat James Webb, who is not seeking reelection.

The earthquake in Japan has disrupted production of automobiles, computer chips and other goods and has created the risk of prolonged shutdowns in a key node of the global economy.

Turmoil in the Middle East l libya: When Secretary of State Clinton meets with the rebel leadership, she will hear from a movement of high ideals, under siege and desperate for recognition. A15

Former D.C. mayoral candidate Sulaimon Brown had had six run-ins with law enforcement, including three charges in the District and an attempted-murder charge in Chicago, at the time he received a $110,000-a-year job in the administration of D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray, said city officials and sources...

Two months after the shooting rampage in Tucson renewed a debate over gun violence, President Obama is still searching for a way to take on the issue without touching off a battle with the powerful gun rights lobby.

A photo caption with the Backstage column in the March 9 Style section transposed the identifications of the late radio personality Bob Davis and his husband, Henry Schalizki. The photo appears here with a corrected caption.

Among government workers, one group enjoys lifetime health benefits virtually unmatched in the United States: military retirees.

A sniper-like gunman hiding behind a tree on a hillside in southwest Virginia killed two sheriff's deputies from long range with a high-powered rifle, and wounded two other officers during a shootout.

A pair of prominent conservative Republicans declared their opposition to the latest short-term budget bill on Monday, increasing the uncertainty about Congress's ability to maintain support for stopgap measures to avoid a government shutdown .

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday ratcheted up his condemnation of the fatal stabbing of five members of a family in a Jewish settlement on Friday, calling it a "despicable act" that was "inhuman and immoral."

KABUL - A suicide bomber targeting an army recruiting center in northern Afghanistan killed at least 37 people Monday afternoon, Afghan authorities said.

BEIJING - Declaring reform "an eternal theme of history," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Monday that his country needs to pursue "political restructuring" alongside economic growth to combat rising inequality and rampant corruption.

IN SOMA, JAPAN The second his mother takes her eyes off him, the 3-year-old boy darts across the room, a gymnasium near city hall that serves as a temporary home to about 500 newly homeless Japanese. He weaves around the older evacuees and leaps over small stacks of blankets. Yurie Tanaka quickly...

When it comes to the nuclear power disaster unfolding in Japan, there is far more to fear than fear itself. But fear is one of the biggest - and could turn out to be the most potent - dangers.

TOKYO - As bodies washed ashore by the hundreds and an emergency deepened at a coastal nuclear plant, millions in Japan on Tuesday faced an unabating sense of apprehension, mourning and astonishment over the emerging scope of this nation-changing catastrophe.

IN SENDAI, JAPAN Outside the Rigoletto Tapas Lounge, an eatery that normally offers fine wines and Spanish delicacies, the bourgeoisie of this quake-crippled northern Japanese city lined up for hours Monday.

Since General Electric supplied the design four decades ago for all six nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in northeastern Japan, some regulators and critics have questioned whether the system - which was supposed to be smaller and less expensive than others - can withstand a...

CAIRO - If it's true that Egypt pulled off a so-called Facebook revolution, then the nation is about to confront a status change in its relationship with democracy: "It's complicated." Very.