WASHINGTON (AP) -- A showdown looming, Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Congress to cancel a costly alternative engine for the Pentagon's next-generation fighter jet Wednesday and vowed to explore "all available legal options" to stop production if lawmakers won't.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Black lawmakers say funding public schools and infrastructure projects at Mississippi's historically black universities is among their priorities as budget-writing moves into its final phases this session.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- In a city where there are twice as many identified gang members as there are police officers, the announcement this week that seven Kansas City residents are facing federal gang-related charges might not seem like much.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's $3.7 trillion budget for 2012 was quickly dismissed Tuesday by House Republicans for taking a pass on tackling historically huge federal deficits.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) -- An Ecuadorean judge ruled Monday in an epic environmental case that Chevron Corp. was responsible for oil drilling contamination in a wide swath of Ecuador's northern jungle and ordered the oil giant to pay $8.6 billion in damages and cleanup costs.

PHOENIX (AP) -- Rep. Gabrielle Giffords can walk while holding onto a cart, mouth the lyrics to easy songs and have simple conversations, according to family, staff and her doctors.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The era of falling clothing prices is ending.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama sent Congress a $3.73 trillion budget Monday that holds out the prospect of eventually bringing deficits under control through spending cuts and tax increases

The numbers are disturbing. There are more than half a million children in the foster care system in the United States, and African-Americans make up nearly 40 percent of that number. U.S. Census data shows Black children in foster care, especially older ones, are less likely than White children to be adopted.

The first truly controversial act of the new Texas Legislature came last week with the passage of SB 14, a new voter identification bill that would require any voter to present a state-issued photo ID - typically a driver's license - in order to vote. Proponents of the bill argue that such legislation is needed in order to protect the integrity of elections. Opponents, including some traditional civil rights organizations, fear that any such law will have a disproportionate impact on minorities, the elderly and disabled.