The head of the IRS office that oversees nonprofit groups refused to testify Wednesday at a congressional panel probing abuse at the U.S. tax agency, but defiantly declared she had done nothing wrong.

Farmers wearing bulletproof vests and toting assault rifles ride in pick-up trucks emblazoned with the word “self-defense” to protect this rural western Mexico town from the Knights Templar drug cartel.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Wednesday said for the first time that he was “very sorry” about a growing expenses scandal that threatens to derail his Conservative government after seven years in power.

A friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev implicated himself and the Boston bombing suspect in an unsolved triple homicide before FBI agents killed him in a violent altercation Wednesday, local media reported.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, pointing to resilience in the labor market despite belt-tightening by Washington.

President Barack Obama will seek to draw attention away from a series of domestic scandals with a speech on Thursday that defends the U.S. use of drones abroad and lays out a vision for closing the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

An FBI agent shot and killed a Florida man who turned violent while being questioned about the Boston Marathon bombings early on Wednesday, the bureau said.

Txicology tests on the body of the Newtown school shooter did not turn up any alcohol, illegal drugs or prescription medications, an official close to the investigation said Tuesday.

Three former Ford Motor Co. executives were charged Tuesday with crimes against humanity for allegedly targeting Argentine union workers for kidnapping and torture after the country's 1976 military coup. All three men are now in their 80s.

In a significant move, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he plans to let key sanctions legislation against Myanmar lapse because of the country's progress toward democracy. McConnell made the announcement after meeting the nation's President Thein Sein.