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Changes to gun laws require working with Congress. But the president might do such things as bolster the federal database on gun buyers and order stepped-up prosecution of felons and others barred from buying weapons.

The Obama administration spent more money on immigration enforcement last year than it did on all other major federal law enforcement agencies combined, according to a new report. Host Michel Martin discusses that budget and unsettled immigration issues with the report's author Doris Meissner.

Three more fiscal cliff-type deadlines are fast approaching. They involve: 1) raising the debt ceiling 2) imposing automatic spending cuts and 3) funding the federal government to avert a partial shutdown.

In Afghanistan, governors are not elected, they are selected — and more often than not due to family or political connections. But in an attempt to curb graft, the country has just sworn in a batch of governors — including the first female district governor — selected through a new merit-based program.

Junior Seau, the former NFL linebacker whose suicide last May at age 43 shocked fans and former teammates, suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease associated with repetitive head injuries, according to research by the National Institutes of Health.

The president has nominated his chief of staff. Jack Lew is also a former budget director in both the Clinton and Obama administrations. He would replace Timothy Geithner, who plans to step down soon.

At a news briefing Thursday afternoon, Kern County Sheriff Don Youngblood said that a science teacher helped convince the gunman, a 16-year-old student at the school, that he should put his weapon on the ground. The teacher was joined by a campus supervisor in talking to the gunman.

What started as a horrible week for Harly and Courtney Forbes — a thief stole their tandem bicycle, their only way of getting around — has brightened considerably. After a flood of support from their community the thief returned the bike, with a note attached.

Florida and Virginia have adopted new academic standards setting different performance goals for subgroups of students in low-performing schools. In a Miami Herald piece, syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts argues that lowering the bar is not the way to fix the education system.

Major League Baseball will expand its effort to fight performance enhancing drugs to include tests for human growth hormone during the regular season, under an agreement with the players union. The testing program also calls for establishing "baseline testosterone readings" for all players.