Early vote points to close race as LA picks mayor
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An early tally of mail-in ballots and a sprinkle of returns from precincts Tuesday pointed to a close race for Los Angeles mayor that might lead to days of vote-counting to determine a winner....

Senate panel approves immigration bill
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Far-reaching legislation that grants a chance at citizenship to millions of immigrants living illegally in the United States cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a solid bipartisan vote Tuesday night after supporters somberly sidestepped a controversy over the rights of gay spouses....

FBI ID's Benghazi suspects _ but no arrests yet
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. has identified five men who might be responsible for the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year, and has enough evidence to justify seizing them by military force as suspected terrorists, officials say. But there isn't enough proof to try them in a U.S. civilian court as the Obama administration prefers....

Apple case seen as possible spur to tax action
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Now that tech darling Apple Inc. has been dragged front and center into the debate over the U.S. tax code, lawmakers are hoping that the spotlight on such a high-profile company could be the catalyst for Congress to take action to close loopholes or reform the law....

IRS official to take the 5th at House hearing
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Summoned by Congress, a key figure in the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups plans to invoke her constitutional right against self-incrimination and decline to testify at a congressional hearing on Wednesday....

Biden: Jewish leaders drove gay marriage changes
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Joe Biden is praising Jewish leaders for helping change American attitudes about gay marriage and other issues....

Policy, discretion guide media sources probes
WASHINGTON (AP) -- It was a rare moment in relations between the media and the government: In 2008, FBI Director Robert Mueller called the top editors at The New York Times and The Washington Post to apologize because the bureau had improperly obtained reporters' telephone records four years earlier....

White House: Reporters shouldn't be prosecuted
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama believes journalists shouldn't be prosecuted for doing their jobs, the White House said Tuesday, showing solidarity with First Amendment advocates alarmed by a pair of high-profile federal probes into national security leaks....

Pentagon wants $450M for Guantanamo prison
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon is asking Congress for more than $450 million for maintaining and upgrading the Guantanamo Bay prison that President Barack Obama wants to close....

Senate votes to make small cut to food stamps
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate voted Tuesday to keep a $400 million annual cut - or roughly a half of 1 percent - to the food stamp program as part of a major five-year farm bill....