UNITED STATES-CUBA

WASHINGTON (AP) — A delegation of congressional Democrats begins a three-day visit to Cuba to discuss expectations for the normalization of relations between the United States and the island nation. 

REPUBLICANS-PRESIDENTIAL RACE

SAN DIEGO — Mitt Romney is offering a rare glimpse of his softer side as he marches toward an unlikely third presidential bid focused on poverty and the middle class. 

FLORIDA-MALL SHOOTING

MELBOURNE, Florida — A Florida man had "several pockets full of ammunition" when he targeted his wife in a shooting that left two people dead at a mall food court, police say. 

VENEZUELA-MADURO

CARACS, Venezuela — President Nicolas Maduro is greeted by the Venezuelan equivalent of a ticker tape parade as he returns to an increasingly stricken economy from a two-week fundraising trip. 

CANADA-POLICE SHOT

ST. ALBERT, Alberta — Two Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers are seriously wounded, with one suffering life-threatening injuries, after they are shot at a casino in central Alberta. 

MOTHER DIES-QUADRUPLETS

PHOENIX — A woman dies hours after giving birth to quadruplets at a Phoenix hospital, a close friend of the family says.

ATTORNEY GENERAL-SEX TRAFFICKING

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's top law enforcement officer says that he secretly traveled to South America to play a role in a sex-trafficking sting operation in order to help fight the crime before victims end up in Utah. 

HOUSE-RACIAL POLITICS

WASHINGTON — Some Republicans are worried that their party's near-certain candidate for a House seat in New York City could become the latest drag on efforts to attract more minority voters. 

ELEPHANT HUNT-AUCTION

DALLAS — A Texas hunting club again will auction off a chance to kill a large animal whose numbers are dwindling, a year after it faced international criticism over doing the same with a permit to shoot an endangered black rhino.