MOORE, Okla. — Under a sunny sky, residents of this Oklahoma City suburb began cleaning up debris from the monstrous tornado that inflicted death and destruction — bodies of animals, overturned cars, homes reduced to rubble — as more information emerged about the human victims.  more...

WASHINGTON — In a contentious climax Wednesday to a series of congressional hearings, Lois Lerner, a key IRS manager, invoked her right to not testify about the agency's targeting of conservative groups, igniting howls from Republicans and sparking a threat to bring her back for another round.  more...

WASHINGTON — A friend of purported Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot and killed early Wednesday by an FBI special agent in Orlando, Fla., after lunging with a knife and injuring the agent during an interview about the April 15 explosion and an unrelated triple homicide,...  more...

WASHINGTON — Committee approval of a sweeping Senate immigration overhaul has put pressure on the House, where Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and top leaders have been pushing a bipartisan group of lawmakers to produce its own bill.  more...

GRAPEVINE, Texas — Protesters in Boy Scout uniforms staked out sides of a resort-lined street in this Dallas suburb where national Scouting leaders were meeting Wednesday to consider lifting the ban on gay Scouts.  more...

MOORE, Okla. — The grueling recovery from a killer tornado began Tuesday as search-and-rescue operations continued, but authorities acknowledged that the likelihood of finding anyone alive grew dimmer by the moment.  more...

MOORE, Okla. — The tornado zigzagged down the two-lane road with heartbreaking imprecision.  more...