Ken Stanford

The richest Powerball jackpot ever - and the second-largest top prize in U.S. lottery history - has been won. The question now becomes: Who are the lucky winners waking up to new lives as multimillionaires?

Amid increasing anxiety that the White House and top Republicans are wasting time as the government slides toward an economy-rattling "fiscal cliff," administration officials are heading to Capitol Hill for talks with congressional leaders.

A Senate bill to protect the privacy of electronic communications won't keep federal agents from combing through your inbox if they believe a crime has been committed, legal experts say.

Sen. John Kerry is angling to be the nation's top diplomat by being, well, diplomatic.

The White House and a key congressional Democrat hinted at fresh concessions on taxes and cuts to government benefit programs Wednesday as bargaining with Republicans lurched ahead to avoid the year-end "fiscal cliff" that threatens to send the economy into a tailspin.

A moderate Republican senator, vital to any White House hopes of getting U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice confirmed as secretary of state, said Wednesday she couldn't back any nomination until more questions are answered about the deadly Sept. 11 attack in Libya and Rice's State Department role during the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing in Kenya.

U.S. sales of new homes fell slightly in October and September sales were slower than initially thought.

Unemployment rates declined last month in more than half of the 372 largest U.S. cities, further evidence of steady improvement in the job market.

The first cracks are developing among Republicans over whether to accept a quick deal with President Barack Obama on allowing the top two income tax rates to expire.