WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of senators are pushing for a new round of penalties on Iran, determined to cripple the regime's economy and thwart any nuclear ambitions.

The legislation unveiled on Wednesday would essentially penalize any financial institution around the world that helps Iran in a non-local currency. It would block Tehran's access to foreign exchange reserves and limit its ability to deal in foreign currencies, including euros.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate rejected an effort Wednesday to expand the use of firearms on some of the nation's most frequently visited federal lands, handing gun control advocates a modest success.

The measure, backed by the National Rifle Association, represented one of two efforts Wednesday by gun rights supporters to take the offensive in Congress. Across the Capitol, a Republican-run House committee voted to make it easier for some veterans with mental difficulties to get firearms.

CLEVELAND (AP) — A Cleveland man faces a string of charges for allegedly kidnapping two teens and a young woman and holding them for nearly a decade at his home. They were rescued Monday after one of them broke a screen door and screamed for help.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's slowly improving jobs picture hides problems like stagnant wages and fewer working hours that strike directly at President Barack Obama's base of support — young people, racial minorities and the less affluent.

As the president launches a new focus on jobs, his traditional allies contend Obama has put too much of an emphasis on a deficit-cutting grand bargain with Republicans at the expense of creating jobs.