PHOENIX (AP) -- When Joe Arpaio, the tough-talking Arizona law enforcement official, found himself in the awkward position of having his own words used against him in a discrimination lawsuit, the usually brash sheriff was unusually quiet.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Eight employees of the management division of the Justice Department violated laws and regulations by seeking to have their relatives hired for high-level jobs in the department, or ignored evidence of such violations, according to an inspector general's report released Thursday.

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced an initiative he said will give African-American students greater access "to a complete and competitive education from the time they're born all through the time they get a career."

(CNN) -- Two of the main companies involved in the disastrous 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill were more focused on personal injury risks than the potential for a major accident, a federal agency said in a report released Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Attorney General Eric Holder led federal and local officials Tuesday in announcing a massive overhaul of the New Orleans Police Department, which has been plagued for years by corruption, excessive use of force, illegal searches and widespread racial discrimination.

(CNN) -- Angry residents -- distressed over the fatal police shooting of a local man over the weekend - hit the streets of Anaheim, California Tuesday for a fourth day of protest marred by demonstrator vandalism and police use of force.

(CNN) -- More than two years after the U.S. military discovered horrifying abuse at an Afghan hospital it was funding, Congress will on Tuesday finally hear directly from U.S. military whistle blowers and other witnesses about the scandal.

ATLANTA (CNN) -- Georgia's Supreme Court halted Monday evening's scheduled execution of a convicted murderer on procedural grounds, but rejected a plea to spare him due to mental retardation.

(CNN) -- The White House announced on Thursday that it would grant seven additional waivers from restrictive provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The ranks of America's poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net.