Benghazi questions shift to State

Republicans toned down criticism of U.N. Ambassador Susan E. Rice on Sunday, shifting the focus of their inquiries into the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, to the State Department's inaction on security requests in the days leading up to the terrorist assault and the Obama administration's handling of the aftermath.

Senators threaten to end aid to Egypt

As U.S. political leaders rebuked Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on Sunday for his decree to assume sweeping new powers, police in central Cairo fired tear gas at protesters who accused him of a blatant power grab.

Drives against gas taxes start running on empty

A backlog of proposed road projects and repairs to aging highways, bridges and transit systems has leaders in Maryland and Virginia eyeing the perennially unpopular proposal of raising their states' gas taxes to generate revenue in what has become a national challenge for states to find funds for transportation fixes.

Few female Marines step forward for infantry

Female Marine officers are unlikely to join the infantry anytime soon, in part because of a lack of volunteers for the Marine Corps' Infantry Officer Course, which was opened to women in September.

Uneasy fix to 'fiscal cliff' in works

It won't be easy and it won't be perfect, but Congress and the president will find a way to avoid having the nation's economy go over the "fiscal cliff" at the end of the year, lawmakers from both parties predicted Sunday.

Younger teens may get birth control pill

Pediatricians should actively counsel teens about "emergency contraception" and even provide them with prescriptions or products ahead of time, to ensure they have the pills if they need them, the American Academy of Pediatrics says in a policy statement released online Monday.

CURL: Postelection surprise: A slew of bad news

Breaking with tradition, this election cycle bypassed the "October Surprise," unless you count finding out that Donald Trump is a complete idiot. In the end, there wasn't even a "November Surprise." But just two weeks after the election, boy, a lot of surprises.

This Cyber Monday could be last before sales taxes hit

This could be the last year that Cyber Monday serves, for all intents and purposes, as a tax holiday for binge shoppers across the country.

Feds spent $16B since '02 on outside PR, ads

The government has spent more than $16 billion over the past decade on outside advertising, marketing and public relations contractors, feeding a cottage industry of inside-the-Beltway and Madison Avenue firms that help federal agencies burnish their images and tailor their messages, an investigation by the Washington Guardian and Northwestern University's Medill News Service has found.

Inside the Beltway: The RG3 playbook

It was inevitable that a heroic quarterback in the nation's capital gets politicized: some now say President Obama could take a few political pointers from Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III.

Playoffs no longer farfetched for Redskins to think of

Robert Griffin III spent Saturday afternoon on the sideline at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. He wore a green Baylor long-sleeved t-shirt and cheered his former teammates in their overtime victory over Texas Tech, which secured the Bears' qualification for a bowl game.

Md. mulls even higher tax rates on cigarettes

Smokers in Maryland pay one of the nation's highest tax rates on cigarettes, and they could pay even more next year if state health advocates get their way.

For Thanksgiving travelers, a smooth trip home

Travelers heading home after the long Thanksgiving weekend had yet another reason to be thankful on Sunday: favorable weather and few airport delays reported on what is traditionally the busiest travel day of the year.

Utility worker pierced pipe before Mass. gas blast

A utility worker responding to reports of a natural-gas leak in one of New England's largest cities punctured a pipe and an unknown spark ignited a massive explosion that injured 18 people, the state fire marshal announced Sunday.

Officials: 11 dead in twin suicide bombings at Nigerian army church

At least 11 people were killed and about 30 injured when twin car bombs hit a Protestant church in a major military establishment in north-central Nigeria, officials said Sunday, a month after a deadly church bombing in the same state.

Pope tells new cardinals not to be lured by power

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday told his six new cardinals to resist the allure of power and instead be like Jesus and focus their work on spreading the Christian faith.

Commentary

LEE: After fiscal cliff comes fiscal avalanche

While Washington is preoccupied with the so-called fiscal cliff, little attention has been given to the fiscal avalanche that will occur if we continue down an unsustainable, long-term path, causing markets to turn sour on U.S. debt and leading to a spike in interest rates.

KAHLILI: Iran thrilled over Obama re-election

In his first news conference after re-election, President Obama said there was still time for a diplomatic solution on Iran's nuclear program and that Iran could enjoy "peaceful nuclear power" if it meets international obligations.

ORIENT: The right not to work for Obamacare

About a century-and-a-half ago, the right not to work was established in the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. An employer could not force a person to work for him, even if he desperately needed to have his cotton picked and had paid a lot for that person at a slave auction.

EDITORIAL: Obamacare's pizza price

It's well established that Obamacare is sending the cost of health care skyrocketing. What's less known is it will make trips to the grocery store more expensive and drive up the cost of pizza. All this is happening because nanny state zealots slipped a zinger into the measure just before it came up for a vote.

GHEI: Maryland's budget turkey

The only solution liberals have to today's problems is spending money. Whether it's crime, poverty or even unemployment, the answer for them is always to create a brand new program -- never mind measuring whether similar efforts in the past yielded any positive results.