Recently in National News Category

The U.S. Congress approved a plan Friday to eliminate the sequestration-cuts to the nation's air traffic control system, reported multiple news sources.

The bill moves $253 million from other parts of the Transportation Department to the Federal Aviation Administration, reported The New York Times.

Democratic Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland chastised fellow lawmakers for anxiously pushing the bill through just before their week-long recess, making their upcoming travels easier, reported The Chicago Tribune. "They will pat themselves on the back and say job well done," said Van Hollen, who wanted to address more than just FAA furloughs.

The Congressional approval of the plan, which President Obama agreed to sign, angered many who saw the cuts in the air traffic control system as the only cut impacting many Americans and a means to negotiate an agreement, reported The Chicago Tribune.

Two powerful bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon, killing three people and injuring more than 140, reported multiple news sources.

The blasts were 50-100 yards apart from each other and went off seconds apart, reported The New York Times.

"We will get to the bottom of this. We will find out who did this and we will find out why," said President Obama Monday evening, according to CNN News. "They will feel the full weight of justice"

The FBI has taken over the case, and no suspect has been name, reported CNN News.

Pandemonium ensued after the blasts as runners and spectators rushed to one another in a state of panic. A 15 block radius has been cordoned off from the public as investigators comb the area for evidence, reported The New York Times.

Several Senate Republicans on Tuesday said they oppose filibustering the first major gun-control legislation before it was even brought up for debate on the Senate floor, reported multiple news sources.

With backers of the legislation increasingly confident they can garner the 60 votes needed to consider the measure, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader said he would schedule a showdown vote for Thursday, reported The New York Times

Earlier Tuesday Senator Reid in a speech referenced his father's suicide by gunshot to beseech consideration of the legislation, which would expand background checks for gun buyers, strengthen school safety and punish those who illegally purchase firearms, reported The New York Times.

But even if the legislation passes through the Senate, it doesn't mean it wont be filibustered later down the line, reported The Washington Post.

American employers increased their payroll by 88,000 last month, compared to 278,000 for the month of February, according to a Labor Department report released Friday, reported multiple news sources.

It was the slowest rate of growth since last June, and less than half of what economist predicted, reported The New York Times.

The displeasing job growth is a consequence of weak performance by critical industries and the repeated decrease in the government workforce, reported The Washington Post.

Unemployment clicked down from 7.7 percent to 7.6 percent largely because of people dropping out of the labor force, reported The New York Times.

"The drop in the participation rate has been centered on younger workers," said Joshua Shapiro, chief economist at MFR Inc., "many of whom have given up hope of finding a decent job and are instead continuing in school and racking up enormous amounts of student debt, which has contributed to the recent surge in consumer credit outstanding," reported The New York Times.

In March's results, nearly half a million people left the labor force , which brought down the percentage of people in the labor force to the lowest number since 1979, reported The Washington Post.

The nation's top business and labor groups were close to an agreement Friday on a guest worker program for low-skilled immigrants, nearing a deal that would clear away one of the last significant obstacles to a new proposal for a broad overhaul of immigration laws, reported multiple news sources.

The group of eight senators working on an immigration bill, which stalled late last week, remain optimistic. They will return in the second week of April unveil their bill, report The Washington Post.

The intense talks between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the A.F.L.-C.I.O.--two groups deeply divided on the issue--to try to reach an agreement, was an indication of how much the situation has changed on overhauling the nation's immigration laws, report The New York Times.

The guest-worker issue halted the last serious attempt at reform in 2007. The current immigration bill is being led by a bipartisan group of eight senators, reported The Washington Post.

A speeding race car veered off the track into pit row during practice laps at a California raceway, killing a 14-year-old boy and a 68-year-old man, officials said, reported multiple news sources.

The 68-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene at Marysville Raceway Park, and the 14-year-old boy was pronounced dead either at the hospital or in an ambulance, reported USA Today.

The two were part of a crew and were allowed in the pit, but no more has been said about their roles, reported The New York Times.

Neither the 17-year-old driver nor anyone else was injured, reported The New York Times.

Steven Blakesley, the announcer watching the race from the stands, told the Associated Press the sprint cars were running warm-up laps an hour before the race car, driven by Chase Johnson, moving at about 90 mph, couldn't make a turn, reported USA Today.

Harvard University officials secretly searched through the emails of 16 resident deans last fall after an email about a cheating scandal on campus was leaked to the news media, reported multiple news sources.

In August, an administration memo to the resident deans, on how to advise students caught cheating was leaked to news organizations, but no one was disciplined on the matter, reported The New York Times.

The Harvard deans, who were not notified of the search, serve on the administrative board, the committee addressing the cheating, reported USA Today.

Most companies say upfront that they routinely monitor workers, Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute, said, "but Harvard's policy is that it does not monitor except under very specific circumstances," reported USA Today.

"Somewhat more than half" of the cheating cases resulted in students being required to withdraw, putting the number of students who left at roughly 70, said Michael D. Smith, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, reported The New York Times.

Citing the looming fiscal cuts, federal immigration officials have released hundreds of detainees from immigration detention centers around the country, reported multiple news sources.

The timing has struck both critics and supporters as unusual because the sequester won't begin until March 1, reported the Washington Post.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which promotes more restricted immigration, said for conservatives "it's a scare tactic -- 'Look, we're going to release illegal aliens, they're coming for your family!" At the same time, it's a concession to pro-immigration advocates "that are objecting to the very idea of deporting aliens," reported the Washington Post.

Under supervised release, defendants in immigration cases have to follow a strict monitoring schedule that might include attending appointments at their regional immigration office as well as electronic monitoring, reported The New York Times.

Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security secretary, said at a White House briefing Monday "I'm supposed to have 34,000 detention beds for immigration. How do I pay for those?," reported The New York Times.

Rapper Kenneth Cherry Jr., known as Kenny Clutch, was killed Thursday in a drive by while driving down Las Vegas Boulevard, reported BBC News.

Cherry's Maserati, after being fired upon by a black Range Rover, careened out of control, colliding with a taxi, which then exploded, killing the taxi driver and passenger, reported ABC News.

In addition to the Maserati, four other cars were included in the crash, reported BBC News.

The passenger in the Maserati was taken to the hospital and sustained minor injuries, reported ABC News.

Authorities have launched a multi-state manhunt for the Range Rover, reported BBC News.

The charred body of former LAPD officer Christopher J. Dorner was found inside the burned-out cabin in Big Bear Lake where police officers had been caught in a deadly shootout, reported The New York Times.

The cabin, believed to be harboring Dorner, was set ablaze after police shot pyrotechnic teargas, commonly referred to as burners, to flush Dorner out, reported BBC News.

Dorner began his alleged rampage Feb. 3 when he killed the daughter of a former police captain, and her fiance, reported ABC News.

Dorner had not been spotted since Tuesday; authorities believe he had been hiding out in an unoccupied cabin steps away from where they had set up a command center, reported The New York Times.