By backing away from a public option, he increases the chances for his reform proposal overall.

By dropping his insistence on a public insurance option, President Obama angered some of his most loyal supporters but sharply improved the odds of passing a far-reaching healthcare overhaul.

Cementing his value to Obama, the vice president has been tapped to take on key issues. Next up: healthcare.

The gaffes keep piling up: the untimely comments stoking fears of swine flu, dismissals of Russia that seem straight out of the Cold War.

It is the first time an amino acid has turned up in comet material, bolstering the idea that the building blocks of biology are ‘ubiquitous’ in space.

Showing that the ingredients for life in the universe may be distributed far more widely than previously thought, scientists have found traces of a key building block of biology in dust snatched from the tail of a comet.

The Defense of Marriage Act should be repealed, but an Orange County couple’s lawsuit against it should still be dismissed, administration lawyers say in court papers.

A 1996 law banning federal recognition of same-sex marriage is discriminatory and should be repealed, lawyers for the Obama administration said in court papers filed Monday, offering moral support for a constitutional challenge brought by a gay couple from Orange County.

A proposal up for a vote at this week’s convention would permit ministers and lay leaders who were in ‘lifelong, monogamous, same-sex relationships.’

The nation’s largest Lutheran denomination opened debate Monday over a proposal to allow noncelibate gays and lesbians to serve in the clergy.

The secretary of State made an impression with a heartfelt visit to eastern Congo, which is rocked by violence, particularly rape. Some have hope that U.S. efforts can end the conflict.

For most of her recent African tour, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sounded much like any visiting foreign official, male or female. Except in Congo.

Clotilde Reiss is accused of taking part in postelection unrest and must stay in the country pending a verdict. Meanwhile, Heydar Moslehi, a hard-liner, is named to oversee the Intelligence Ministry.

Iranian authorities released a French researcher from Tehran’s Evin Prison into the custody of diplomats Sunday, even as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed the West for the mass protests that followed his disputed reelection in June.

A Catholic priest offers group therapy to troubled teens who had rarely shared their feelings before.

It was the middle of the night. I was asleep. My mom came in and started punching me. She said I didn’t fold my clothes right. I threw her off of me. She was real drunk. She started on me again. The police came. She said: ‘What? I’m just kicking my son’s ass.’ Just another night.

Iran’s opposition leader says he wants the new political movement to be a rallying point but doesn’t spell out a strategy.

A defiant Mir-Hossein Mousavi declared the creation of a grass-roots political movement Saturday, but the Iranian opposition leader failed to spell out a strategy that could invigorate a protest movement that has stalled.

State and U.S. Forest Service fire officials said today that they have been making progress on wildfires across California, including the La Brea fire in the Los Padres National Forest, which is now 25% contained after burning more than 75,000 acres. But firefighters in Northern California worried that impending weather changes could kick up others, including the Lockheed fire in Santa Cruz County.