Israel launches scores of airstrikes into Gaza after Hamas hits Jerusalem

Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with nearly 200 airstrikes early Saturday, the military said, widening a blistering assault on Gaza rocket operations to include the prime minister's headquarters, a police compound and a vast network of smuggling tunnels.

Petraeus: Benghazi seen as terror strike right away

In his first testimony since stepping down last week, former CIA Director David H. Petraeus told a closed Capitol Hill briefing Friday that the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya "was a terrorist attack and there were terrorists involved from the start," Rep. Peter T. King said Friday.

Justice Department: eBay violated antitrust laws

The U.S.-based internet corporation known as eBay Inc. violated federal antitrust laws when it entered into an agreement not to recruit or hire Intuit Inc.'s employees, the Justice Department said Friday in a civil antitrust lawsuit.

MOVIE REVIEW: 'Twilight: Breaking Dawn — Part 2'

I couldn't count how many characters had their heads ripped, kicked, punched, chopped or eaten off in "Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2," but the sheer volume of gleefully horrific decapitations in the movie must be meant to signal something: Everyone involved with this film – from the dutiful filmmakers to the rabid fans to Stephenie Meyer, the author of the immensely successful young-adult books on which the movie is based – clearly has lost their minds.

Hill leaders buoyed by White House talks on fiscal cliff

Congressional leaders emerged from a meeting with President Obama Friday expressing optimism about a new "framework" for an agreement that would stave off the looming "fiscal cliff" of steeper tax hikes and spending cuts for the federal government by the end of the year.

West wins request for recount of some ballots

Rep. Allen West won a full recount of early voting in St. Lucie County when the county's canvassing board voted late Friday to grant his request.

Priebus announces RNC re-election bid, majority support

Reince Priebus said Friday he will seek re-election to chairman of the Republican National Committee, and said he has enough commitments from the 168 members to win.

Al Qaeda recruit gets life for N.Y. subway bomb plot

A 34-year-old New York man who joined al Qaeda, then plotted and attempted to commit suicide terrorist attacks was sentenced Friday in federal court in New York to life in prison for multiple federal terrorism offenses.

Feds extend deadline for states to decide on health care exchanges

The Obama administration has given states more time to decide whether they will set up a virtual marketplace of health insurance plans required by the president's healthcare law or let the federal government do it for them.

Judge denies West's recount bid in bitter Florida race

A Florida judge on Friday denied Republican Rep. Allen West's plea for a full recount of early voting ballots in St. Lucie County, saying he didn't have authority to grant the request, according to the Palm Beach Post.

Gulf rig fire leaves 4 hurt, 2 missing; no leak

An explosion and fire ripped through a Gulf oil platform Friday as workers used a cutting torch, sending four people to a hospital with burns and leaving two missing in waters off Louisiana.

Republican governors seek bigger say in party messaging

The nation's Republican governors, frustrated by the mangled message and lack of coordination displayed in the 2012 campaign, will take a much more active role in shaping the party's message going forward, new Republican Governors Association chief Bobby Jindal said in an interview Thursday.

Police: 4 vets killed after train hit parade float

Four veterans were killed and 16 other people were injured when a train slammed into a parade float carrying the returning heroes to a banquet to honor them in West Texas, officials said Friday.

Guilty plea to cost BP $4B for explosion

BP Exploration and Production Inc. agreed Thursday to plead guilty to felony manslaughter, environmental crimes and obstruction of Congress and to pay $4 billion in criminal fines and penalties for its conduct in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, which killed 11 people and caused the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history.

Former spy catcher doubts classified material safe

A former head of U.S. counterintelligence is questioning President Obama's claim there has been, so far, no evidence of any release of damaging classified information from the sex scandal that prompted David H. Petraeus to resign as CIA director last week.

Inside the Beltway: Staying conservative

Though the mainstream media and certain elected officials are advising the Republican Party to gut itself and re-emerge as a spiffy, contemporary, compliant, agreeable and infinitely more charming new political entity, the majority of Republican voters essentially reject that idea. They're at home with the Grand Old Party as it is.

Commentary

ROS-LEHTINEN: Benghazi reveals heightened need for anti-terrorism

As news reports confirm linkages between al Qaeda affiliates and the extremist attack of Sept. 11, 2012, on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, the Obama administration continues to dodge the truth. The tragic deaths of four brave Americans should not derail the work of diplomacy, and we must resist the instinct to retreat.

KNIGHT: Casting blame at conservatives for Romney's defeat

Like clockwork, traditional-values voters are being blamed for the failure of a moderate GOP presidential candidate.

NORTH: Benghazi truth stranger than video game fiction

For two months, the liberal media all but ignored the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that resulted in four dead Americans. What actions the Obama administration took before, during and after the bloody assaults on the U.S. Consulate and a CIA outpost should have been a legitimate election issue.

MILLER: Pentagon cuts that make sense

Sen. Tom Coburn is bucking his own party by exposing specific items to cut in the Pentagon's $600 billion budget. As Republican leaders battle President Obama over his insistence on taking half the Jan. 2 mandatory sequestration from defense, the Oklahoma Republican on Thursday blew the lid off billions that could be saved without actually undermining our troops.

EDITORIAL: Diplomats died, Obama lied

In a closed congressional hearing Friday, former Director of Central Intelligence David H. Petraeus told lawmakers that references to al Qaeda involvement in the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, were stripped from the agency's talking points.