By David Ingram and Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than a dozen FBI agents are assigned to a criminal probe into Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of conservative political groups, FBI Director Robert Mueller said on Wednesday. "It's a high-priority investigation and it needs to be handled with care, but it also needs to be pushed aggressively," he told the Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing. Mueller spoke as Tea Party conservatives rallied outside the U.S. ...

NEW YORK (AP) — A car rocketing down an avenue in Manhattan's dense East Village swerved out of control, plowed down a sidewalk and smashed through a storefront flower stand Wednesday morning, injuring eight people, witnesses and officials said.

NEW YORK (AP) — The FBI has found possible human remains in a dig at the New York City house once occupied by a famous gangster.

By Francesca Trianni NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo struck a deal with state lawmakers to license new resort-style casinos, in an effort to help revive a stagnant economy in upstate New York, the governor said on Wednesday. The agreement would amend the state constitution to legalize public, non Native American casino gambling with an initial four Las-Vegas style casinos in the Hudson Valley, the Binghamton area and the Albany region. Until now, New York has allowed table gambling only on Native American tribal land or slot machine gambling at horse racing tracks. ...

"World War Z" — Might there be a real zombie apocalypse one day? The way zombies have invaded our pop culture the last several years, it's maybe a bit less implausible than it once was. What IS increasingly quite plausible, alas, is a global pandemic, and "World War Z," the long-awaited Brad Pitt thriller, cleverly melds that real-life threat into the more fanciful zombie premise. Talk about more bang for your buck: Once you've settled back into your seat after a good snarling zombie chase, there's nothing like the thought of a SARS outbreak to get the blood racing again. Despite the much-discussed production delays and budget overruns, this movie, based on the 2006 novel by Max Brooks (son of Mel), is pretty much what you'd want in a summer blockbuster: scary but not-too-gross zombies, a journey to exotic locales, a few excellent action scenes, and did we mention Pitt? As Gerry Lane, a former U.N. investigator called upon to save the planet, Pitt is a calm, intelligent presence amid the insanity. The most impressive scene is at the beginning, as the streets of Philadelphia are suddenly overrun by packs of wild, raging zombies. For an hour, the action is swift: North Korea, Israel, a harrowing plane crash. The final act takes place on a dramatically smaller scale, and at a slower pace. Oh, a reminder: Turn off those cellphones. After all, it's not just your movie-going partner you'll annoy here. Cellphones also happen to awaken zombies. Consider yourself warned. PG-13 for intense frightening zombie sequences, violence and disturbing images. 116 minutes. Three stars out of four.

By Stephanie Simon (Reuters) - Students at all Boston public high schools may soon be able to obtain free condoms at the front office - as long as they sit through a few minutes of counseling about safe sex - under a policy due to be voted on Wednesday by the school board. Condoms are already available in 19 high schools with on-site health centers. The policy, up for a vote by the Boston School Committee, would expand distribution to all 32 high schools in the system. Parents would have the right to exempt their children. Several U.S. ...

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The excavation of a field in suburban Detroit has failed to turn up the remains of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa, the FBI announced Wednesday, adding another unsuccessful chapter to a nearly 40-year-old mystery.

FALFURRIAS, Texas (AP) — On an October afternoon in 2009, a Dallas man arrived at a highway checkpoint about an hour north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Inside the gas tank of his pickup truck, agents found 99 pounds of marijuana.