TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Rep. Gabrielle Giffords can stand with assistance, the latest milestone in her recovery as her family prepares to move her to Houston for extensive mental and physical rehabilitation from a bullet wound to the brain.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of people who bought previously owned homes last year fell to the lowest level in 13 years. But home sales in December jumped to fastest pace in seven months.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wal-Mart, the nation's largest grocer, says it will reformulate thousands of products to make them healthier and push its suppliers to do the same, joining first lady Michelle Obama's effort to combat childhood obesity.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao declared Wednesday that "a lot still needs to be done" to improve his country's record on human rights, a rare concession that came after President Barack Obama asserted that such rights are "core views" among Americans.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A 15-year-old high school student who was shot in the head when a smuggled gun went off in her classroom opened her eyes Wednesday but remained in critical condition while a wounded boy also continued to improve, a doctor said.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Almost a year after Democrats hailed passage of historic health insurance legislation, Republicans now in control of the House closed in Wednesday on the first big step to repeal the law.

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) -- R. Sargent Shriver, the exuberant public servant and Kennedy in-law whose career included directing the Peace Corps, fighting the War on Poverty, ambassador to France and, less successfully, running for office, died Tuesday. He was 95.

ATLANTA (AP) -- The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy as a preacher of peace and tolerance was lauded Monday as Americans marked his memorial day just over a week after the shootings in Arizona that killed 6 people and seriously wounded a congresswoman.

SEATTLE – Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs, the charismatic frontman for the company that overturned the smart phone industry and invented a new category of tablet computers, is taking his second medical leave of absence in two years

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Virginia's Department of Education plans to press the publisher of two error-filled elementary history textbooks to correct the issues the books have caused for school divisions that use them.