He's been one of the most powerful figures in the news business for nearly a decade -- not just in the United States, but around the world. Now, after rising from the company's lowest ranks to become president of CNN Worldwide, Jim Walton is leaving the building. Friday is his last day.

Connecticut-School-Shooting

The National Rifle Association responded Friday to a chorus of voices calling for gun control in the wake of last week's horrific mass shooting in Connecticut by doubling down on its own position: more guns, not fewer, provide true security.

Military Style Weapons iReport

Why would someone own a military-style rifle? Here are five reasons why.

POLITICS

POL-Hagel-Controversy

Calls of concern and support over President Obama's possible pick to be the next secretary of defense are piling up as former colleagues and special interest organizations take aim at and defend the independent-thinking former senator.

POL-Kerry-Nomination

President Barack Obama on Friday nominated Sen. John Kerry, the former presidential candidate who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to be the next secretary of state. The senior senator from Massachusetts is noted for the experience, gravitas and relationship-building skills that could help him succeed Hillary Clinton, the outgoing top U.S. diplomat.

POL-Fiscal-Cliff

President Barack Obama spoke separately Friday with Speaker John Boehner and the top Senate Democrat to try to salvage a fiscal cliff deal by the end of year, after Republican disarray in the U.S. House put the negotiations in limbo.

POL-Boehner-Plan-B

House Speaker John Boehner suffered a major political setback Thursday when he failed to garner enough votes to pass his back-up plan to a fiscal cliff deal, also known as "Plan B." But what happened?

POL-Boehner-Survive-Fiscal-Cliff-Plan-B

Roughly six weeks ago, Rep. John Boehner was reelected unanimously by his colleagues as speaker of the House of Representatives. They cheered and applauded him in an ornate hearing room on Capitol Hill. But on Thursday, many of those same Republicans abandoned Boehner in droves, rejecting his Plan B to avert the fiscal cliff and raising questions about his future. Thursday night's epic meltdown in the House GOP conference came at a defining moment for Boehner.

POL-Gun-Policy-Two-Different-Worlds

For National Rifle Association Vice President Wayne LaPierre and many other pro-gun Americans, the task is clear: The best way to protect children from becoming victims of a slaughter like the one seen last week in Newtown, Connecticut, is to make sure every school in America has "qualified armed security." For President Barack Obama, many Democratic leaders and a slight majority of the American public, the solution starts with tougher legislation on assault weapons, universal background checks and limits on high-capacity magazines, the first steps needed to begin to make it harder to get at the kinds of firearms that kill thousands of Americans each year. Both sides are so vested in intractable arguments that there is little room for political common ground.

POL-Menendez-Foreign-Relations-Committee

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, is expected to become the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee if and when the current chairman, Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, is confirmed as secretary of state, two Senate Democratic aides told CNN.

POL-Senate-Sandy-Funds

Senators showed broad support Friday for $60.4 billion in emergency funding for victims of Superstorm Sandy, voting overwhelmingly to bring it up for final passage next week.

POL-Obama-Inouye

President Barack Obama praised Daniel Inouye as perhaps his "earliest political inspiration" while delivering remarks at a memorial service for the late senator on Friday.

MONEY