WASHINGTON/CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers demanded more answers on the Boston Marathon bombing on Wednesday, unsatisfied with the FBI reaction to warnings about one suspect and expressing doubt about the other suspect’s claims that he and his dead brother acted alone.

Some on Capitol Hill questioned whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other U.S. security agencies failed to share information about suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011, even after reforms enacted to prevent information-hoarding following the September 11 hijacked plane attacks 12 years ago.

BOSTON/CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (Reuters) – Thousands of law enforcement agents from around the United States were to attend a memorial on Wednesday for a university police officer who authorities say was shot dead by the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, with Vice President Joe Biden to speak at the ceremony.

The service at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology honours Sean Collier, 26, who police say was killed by brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on campus on Thursday night. Tamerlan, 26, was killed in a separate shootout with police. Dzhokhar, 19, was captured and criminally charged from a hospital bed where he is recovering from gunshot wounds.

BOSTON (Reuters) – Thousands of law enforcement agents from around the country plan to attend a memorial on Wednesday for a campus police officer who authorities say was slain by the accused Boston Marathon bombers, and Vice President Joe Biden is slated to speak at the ceremony.

The service at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology honors 26-year-old Sean Collier, who police say was shot and killed by Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the MIT campus on Thursday night.

BOSTON (Reuters) – Workers and residents returned Tuesday to Boston’s Boylston Street for the first time since twin bombings struck the downtown artery at the Boston Marathon finish line last week.

Mayor Tom Menino allowed those who live and work on Boylston Street in the city’s Back Bay neighborhood to return with escorts. But the area remained closed to the public after the April 15 bombings that killed three people and wounded 264.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – In the end, nothing could persuade enough U.S. senators to approve the most significant gun legislation in two decades:

Not the carnage from Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were massacred by a gunman in December, igniting a national debate on gun control.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – In the end, nothing could persuade enough U.S. senators to approve the most significant gun legislation in two decades:

Not the carnage from Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were massacred by a gunman in December, igniting a national debate on gun control.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – In the end, nothing could persuade enough U.S. senators to approve the most significant gun legislation in two decades:

Not the carnage from Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were massacred by a gunman in December, igniting a national debate on gun control.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Defying a president from your own party can be politically risky for a senator. But it may be less hazardous than defying the wishes of your constituents.

That seemed to be the message on Thursday as two Democratic senators, Mark Begich of Alaska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas, joined 29 Republicans in voting not to allow debate on Democratic President Barack Obama’s gun-control package.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Joe Manchin walked into a clearing holding a rifle, took a bullet from his jacket pocket and placed it in the gun’s chamber.

“As your senator, I’ll protect your Second Amendment rights” to bear arms, Manchin, then a candidate for the Senate, said in a 2010 campaign video.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – This is a golden era for political consultants – well, except for those Republicans still smarting from the November elections.

But Americans’ political tastes tend to run in cycles, so there is always a mix of hope and wariness when consultants at both ends of the ideological spectrum gather, as they did in Washington last week, to toast the profession’s top operatives.