(CNN) -- News that President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel are voluntarily surrendering a portion of their paychecks in a show of unity with furloughed federal workers has prompted other Cabinet officials to take similar steps.

This past weekend, the 25-year-old was trying to do just that -- delivering books to a school in southern Afghanistan -- when a suicide bomber smashed into her convoy Saturday. She is believed to be the first U.S. diplomat killed since the September attack in Benghazi, Libya.

If Texas lawmakers have their way -- as well as governors and legislatures in Florida, South Carolina and nearly a dozen other states -- low-income Americans like Cox may not have expanded access to Medicaid funds and healthcare

For as long as anyone could remember, students in their South Georgia community went to separate proms, and homecoming dances, too. White students from Wilcox County attend one. Black students, another. They're private, invitation-only events organized by parents and students, not the school district. Schools have long been desegregated, but in Wilcox County, the dances never changed.

A veteran, who knows the system better than almost anyone outside the Veterans Administration, says the biggest problem he sees is with the appeals system."The bottleneck is in the Appeals Management Center," says Dr. Craig Bash, who helps veterans win claims and appeals with his medical testimony. 

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama will put 5% of his paycheck back into the federal government's coffers in a show of unity with furloughed federal workers, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday.

(CNN) -- A man convicted of murdering three men who answered a Craigslist ad to work on an Ohio cattle farm was sentenced to death Thursday morning, Summit County Court Bailiff Brian Scheetz said.

(CNN) -- A handful of conservative states have been passing laws that tread heavily on abortion rights established by Roe v. Wade. Alabama and Indiana are about to join them, with fresh legislation waiting for signatures on their governors' desks.

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis speaks out on fighting school closures and the school district's plan to remove the 30-student classroom size limit, saying:

Death threats have been called into the office of Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney after she proposed legislation requiring gun owners obtain liability insurance.