Former committee chairman Rep. Charles Rangel attempted a last-minute plea deal Tuesday to head off a House ethics trial that could embarrass him and damage Democrats facing potentially severe election losses.

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has postponed Thursday's hearing on the release of the man convicted for bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, because of what a senator says is "stonewalling" by British and Scottish officials who refused to testify.

Crews were working Tuesday to contain and clean up more than 800,000 gallons of oil that poured into a creek and flowed into the Kalamazoo River in southern Michigan, coating birds and fish.

Six months after a chaotic airlift to the United States, 12 Haitian children remain in a Roman Catholic institution near Pittsburgh, their fate in limbo while U.S. and Haitian authorities struggle to determine which nation should be their future home.

Despite setbacks on Capitol Hill, President Obama said Monday he still supports the need for broad climate legislation.

Louisiana lawmakers won't try to override any of Gov. Bobby Jindal's vetoes from the most recent legislative session.