President Barack Obama gestures as he addresses the 43rd annual Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Legislative Conference dinner in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) by Darlene SupervilleAssociated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Days after mass shootings in both of his hometowns, President Barack Obama urged his most ardent supporters Saturday "to get back up and go back at it" and help push stalled legislation out of Congress so dangerous people won't get their hands on guns.
In this Aug. 29, 2013 citizen journalism image provided by the Local Comity of Arbeen which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, a member of a UN investigation team takes samples from the ground in the Damascus countryside of Zamalka, Syria. (AP Photo/Local Comity of Arbeen) by Kimberly DozierAssociated Press Writer BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. government insists it has the intelligence to prove it, but the public has yet to see a single piece of concrete evidence produced by U.S. intelligence — no satellite imagery, no transcripts of Syrian military communications — connecting the government of President Bashar Assad to the alleged chemical weapons attack last month that killed hundreds of people.
Former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., and his wife Sandra, leaves federal court in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. was sentenced to two and a half years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to scheming to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on TV's, restaurant dinners, an expensive watch and other costly personal items. His wife received a sentence of one year.
In this June 25, 2009 photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. watches as President Barack Obama meets with members of Congress to discuss immigration, in the State Dinning Room of the White House in Washington. Obama and McCain, the Republican he defeated in his first White House campaign, have become one of Washington's most talked about odd-couple pairings. And like any successful business deal in the nation's capital, the relationship works because it has benefits for both men. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — There was no conciliatory phone call, no heart-to-heart talk to soothe the tensions. No one knows exactly when President Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain went from bitter rivals in the 2008 presidential campaign and foes over health care and national security to bipartisan partners.
Clairessa Mills looks over the main desk for help at the Labor Ready temporary employment agency in Warren, Ohio. The number of temps has jumped more than 50 percent since the recession ended four years ago to nearly 2.7 million, the most on government records dating to 1990. In no other sector has hiring come close. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, FIle) by Christopher S. Rugaber AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring is exploding in the one corner of the U.S. economy where few want to be hired: Temporary work. From Wal-Mart to General Motors to PepsiCo, companies are increasingly turning to temps and to a much larger universe of freelancers, contract workers and consultants. Combined, these workers number nearly 17 million people who have only tenuous ties to the companies that pay them — about 12 percent of everyone with a job.
Demonstrators hold flags and chant in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on the second day of gay marriage cases before the court. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) by Sam Hananel Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court's landmark ruling on same-sex marriage has private employers around the country scrambling to make sure their employee benefit plans comply with the law.
WILLIAM HERBERT GRAY, III (1941–2013) by Ron Todt PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. William H. Gray III, who rose to influential positions in Congress and was the first black to become majority whip, died Monday at 71. Gray passed away suddenly Monday while in London with one of his sons to attend the Wimbledon tennis championships, said William Epstein, a former aide to Gray.
Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., accompanied by fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus express disappointment in the Supreme Court's decision on Shelby County v. Holder that invalidates Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, June 25, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Lewis, a prominent activist in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's, recalled being attacked and beaten trying to help people in Mississippi to register and vote in the 1960's. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) by Bill Barrow ATLANTA (AP) — Across the South, Republicans are working to take advantage of a new political landscape after a divided U.S. Supreme Court freed all or part of 15 states, many of them in the old Confederacy, from having to ask Washington's permission before changing election procedures in jurisdictions with histories of discrimination.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker announces his plans to run for the U.S. Senate seat that opened with the death of Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) during a news conference in Newark, N.J. on June 8, 2013. Booker, 44, is currently serving in his second term as mayor. At center is former Sen. Bill Bradley. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz) by Angela Delli Santi NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who formally declared his candidacy for U.S. Senate on Saturday, now finds himself competing in a primary against like-minded Democratic congressmen that will be decided in mid-summer, when exceptionally low voter turnout threatens his early advantage.
