(CNN) -- In an effort to stem gun violence across the United States, President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed 23 executive actions, which don't require congressional approval -- some of which called for tougher enforcement of existing laws and required federal agencies to provide data for background checks.

DENVER (CNN) -- The university psychiatrist who treated the accused gunman in last year's deadly Colorado theater rampage could face more than a dozen lawsuits that blame her and the school for not properly handling James Holmes' treatment.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- For the first time since 1979, New York City school bus drivers went on strike Wednesday -- a protest that is affecting more than 150,000 students.

With a day to go before the world learns exactly what Lance Armstrong said to Oprah Winfrey about his involvement in doping as a professional cyclist, the cancer charity he founded urged the fallen star to come clean.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who led the response to the 2010 BP oil spill and administered a moratorium on offshore drilling, announced Wednesday that he is stepping down.

Senate Democratic leadership sources say that passing any new legislation will be extremely difficult because more than a dozen vulnerable Democrats from conservative states will probably resist much of what the president is pushing.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo beefed up New York's gun-control laws on Tuesday by signing into law a new package of firearm and mental health regulations that mark the nation's first since last month's massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Some construction firms expect to hire more workers in 2013, but don't call it a comeback just yet.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- It was just a few words and a joke at that. But Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas broke his seven-year long silence on Monday when he spoke at oral arguments.

(CNN) -- A California judge ruled Monday that a then 10-year-old boy committed second-degree murder -- and knew what he was doing was wrong -- when he fatally shot his father, a local neo-Nazi leader.