May 23, 2013 — In a major speech, the president rejects the idea that the country can fight an opened-ended "global war on terror." In setting his own guidelines, he defines the standards for using drone strikes and again calls for closing the Guantanamo Bay prison.

May 24, 2013 — After a truck carrying a heavy load struck the side of a bridge that carries Interstate 5 over the Skagit River north of Seattle, the roadway collapsed. No one was killed. Dan Sligh and his wife were in a pickup. "You just hold on as tight as you can," he says of the fall they took.

May 24, 2013 — There is some political willingness, but because China is highly decentralized politically, the Communist Party has only limited influence over provincial governments and how they regulate their dirty factories. The powerful state-owned oil companies have also resisted pressure to produce cleaner-burning fuel.

May 23, 2013 — Half a dozen temporary shelters have been set up for animals lost when a terrifying tornado hit Moore, Okla. One veterinary technician says, "It's pretty amazing anything could survive what happened, but animals are pretty resilient."

May 24, 2013 — Two mothers whose sons were killed during the first Gulf War talk about how they became friends after their sons died. The past 22 years would have been tough without the friendship, because, as one tells the other, "what's in our hearts we share."