Tensions over Iran’s nuclear program have escalated in recent weeks as the US and Europe ramp up sanctions against the Islamic Republic. The country’s currency took a nosedive after President Obama signed legislation on Dec. 31 targeting Iran’s Central Bank. Tehran has responded with threats to cut off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for international oil shipments.

Workers unemployed 27 weeks or more declined to 5.588 million, and the average stay on unemployment declined to 40.8 weeks.

A leading newspaper in Iran says the country has begun enriching uranium at a new underground site, ratcheting up Western concerns about Iran's nuclear program.

AP - Bells rang out across Tucson on Sunday to mark exactly one year since a bloody morning when a gunman's deadly rampage shook a community and shocked a nation.

AP - A combative Newt Gingrich accused Mitt Romney of "pious baloney" Sunday and charged him with hiding behind inaccurate attack ads aired by allies in the increasingly rancorous race for the Republican presidential nomination.

AP - Iran has begun uranium enrichment at a new underground site built to withstand possible airstrikes, a leading hard-line newspaper reported Sunday in another show of defiance against Western pressure to rein in Tehran's nuclear program.