NY Times US News

Virginia’s attorney general has appointed an outside prosecutor to investigate Gov. Bob McDonnell’s financial disclosures, in a widening scandal over a political donor.    

Lois Lerner, the official who disclosed that the Internal Revenue Service had targeted conservative groups, on Wednesday appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.    

The authorities said they had likely found all the bodies beneath the rubble left by this week’s giant tornado.    

Even as their student bodies have become poorer, many community colleges are “receiving minimal federal support,” said a senior fellow at the group publishing a new report.    

President Obama will travel to Oklahoma on Sunday to inspect the damage from Monday’s deadly tornado, which left two dozen people dead, and meet with victims from the ravaged communities, the White House announced on Wednesday.    

Ibragim Todashev was fatally shot after the authorities said he tried to attack two officers who were interviewing him about links to the deceased Boston bombing suspect.    

Patterns of barium in the fossil tooth of a child indicate that breast-feeding ended after 1.2 years, researchers say — much sooner than in modern nonindustrial populations.    

The suspect, Sgt. First Class Michael McClendon, sometimes videotaped West Point cadets when they were in the shower, officials said.    

Analysis of buildings that were severely damaged or destroyed.    

Political coverage over the last week has focused on a series of stories that reflect negatively on the executive branch, but President Obama’s approval ratings have held steady.    

The National Weather Service said on Tuesday that the tornado was a category EF5, the most powerful category of tornado.    

With low voter turnout, City Councilman Eric Garcetti beat City Controller Wendy Greuel, and takes over a city facing myriad problems.    

First, the jet stream caused a cold snap by bringing Arctic air farther south than normal, but when it shifted north, it allowed tornado-causing moist air to move into the Midwest    

In states like Oklahoma and Missouri, tornadoes are a seasonal threat, but government regulation and the expense of shelters rankle.    

Leaders of the Tea Party movement hope outrage over the I.R.S. inquiry will rekindle grass-roots activism that in many places went dormant after Republican electoral defeats in 2012.    

In an address on Thursday, President Obama will attempt to lay out his justification for drone strikes, which have been in decline since 2010, and what they have achieved.    

Kaitlyn Hunt is being prosecuted for sex crimes because of encounters with a 14-year-old girl who was her high school basketball teammate.    

Parents say the Chicago Board of Education’s plan to shut 53 elementary schools is uprooting the personal and academic lifelines of the city’s neediest communities.    

A year ago, when the current Internal Revenue Service scandal that has swirled around President Obama first emerged, Washington — and, apparently, the White House — shrugged.    

While federal firefighters explore the use of drones to map a wildfire’s size and speed, safety requirements of the F.A.A. is holding up testing and implementation.