Posted: 3:49 PM A judge in Texas has sentenced one of the last two defendants convicted for helping disgraced financier R. Allen Stanford bilk investors out of more than $7 billion in one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history.

Updated: 7:00 PM Atlantic City's casino and tourism industries are providing financial incentives that helped lure the Miss America pageant back to the seaside city where it started 93 years ago.

Posted: 3:36 PM New York state has suspended two Transportation Department officials amid criticism of the snow-removal effort on eastern Long Island.

Posted: 3:27 PM A federal judge has approved Transocean Ltd.'s agreement with the Justice Department to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge and pay $400 million in criminal penalties for its role in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Posted: 3:22 PM A top environmental official is warning lawmakers that automatic spending cuts due next month would jeopardize EPA's ability to protect against oil spills, air pollution, and hazardous waste.

Posted: 3:16 PM Chrysler is recalling 278,000 pickup trucks and SUVs to fix a problem that can cause the rear axles to lock up unexpectedly.

Posted: 3:13 PM The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell by 27,000 last week, an indication that hiring could improve.

Posted: 2:54 PM President Barack Obama's Democratic allies in the Senate are unveiling legislation to avoid a looming set of sharp, across-the-board spending cuts set to strike the Pentagon and domestic agencies in just two weeks.

Updated: 2:47 PM The Senate's top Democrat says Republicans are mounting a full-scale filibuster of Chuck Hagel's nomination to be President Barack Obama's secretary of defense.

Posted: 8:34 PM Gov. Rick Perry is wrapping up his high-profile recruiting trip to California without having convinced any businesses to relocate to his state - at least not yet.

Posted: 8:21 PM A San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy killed in a shootout with a man believed to be fugitive former LAPD officer Chris Dorner had gone into the search happy to help his community but wary of the dangers.

Updated: 3:08 PM American Airlines and US Airways have agreed to merge in an $11 billion deal that would create the world's biggest airline - the seventh merger sine 2005 in an industry that faces rising gas prices and stiffer competition.

Updated: 9:21 PM Apple says it has lowered the price of its 13-inch MacBook Pro laptops by $200 and updated its processors. It also launched new models with faster processors and more memory.

Posted: 5:08 PM The House has overwhelmingly approved a bill to allow houses of worship damaged by Superstorm Sandy to receive federal disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Posted: 5:04 PM The head of the U.S. Postal Services is pleading with Congress not to thwart his plan to cut Saturday mail as a way to save money.

Posted: 4:58 PM Secretary of State John Kerry says he has some ideas on how to change Syrian President Bashar Assad's calculations on remaining in power and will raise them with European and Mideast leaders on his first official overseas trip.

Posted: 4:54 PM Afghan officials are welcoming the announcement by President Barack Obama that half of America's 66,000 troops in Afghanistan will be brought home within a year.

Posted: 4:49 PM As President Barack Obama pushes for the minimum wage increase that he called for in his State of the Union address, House Speaker John Boehner is explaining why he thinks it's a bad idea.

Posted: 2:40 PM House Speaker John Boehner says "it's hard to imagine" the Republican-led House and Democratic-controlled Senate reaching a budget deal.

Posted: 1:47 PM Carnival Cruise Lines cancelled 12 additional voyages of the cruise ship Triumph after an engine fire disabled the ship and stranded thousands of passengers.

Posted: 9:57 AM An attorney for a suburban Philadelphia woman accused of fatally stabbing her husband - a member of the University of Pennsylvania's 1979 Final Four team - says her client has mental health problems

Posted: 8:09 AM WASHINGTON (AP) - Americans barely spent more last month at retail businesses and restaurants after higher taxes cut their paychecks. The small increase suggests consumer spending may be weak in the January-March quarter.

Updated: 9:33 AM Despite threatening skies, the Mardi Gras party took place Tuesday in New Orleans, with thousands of costumed revelers cheering the glitzy floats.

Posted: 8:30 PM President Barack Obama is urging a divided Congress to boost job creation and strengthen the middle class through a package of government-backed proposals.

Updated: 8:04 PM A moderate earthquake has struck in rural Nevada near the California state line.