• Santorum at center stage in crucial Arizona debate
    MESA, Arizona (Reuters) - Rick Santorum finally got his chance at center stage in a debate of Republican presidential candidates on Wednesday that represented the best chance to address large numbers of voters before a pivotal period in the 2012 campaign.
  • Obama urges corporate tax cut, closing loopholes
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama made an opening offer in what could be a long negotiation with corporate America on Wednesday, putting forward his first detailed plan to cut the corporate tax rate.
  • Assad forces renew barrage on Syria's Homs
    AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces rained rockets and bombs down on opposition-held neighborhoods of the city of Homs, reducing buildings to rubble and killing more than 80 people, including two Western journalists.
  • Fitch downgrades Greece on debt swap plan
    ATHENS (Reuters) - Fitch cut Greece's long-term ratings on Wednesday to its lowest rating above a default, becoming the first ratings agency to make the widely expected downgrade after the country announced a bond exchange plan to ease its massive debt burden.
  • Congress members threatened with biological attack
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several members of the Congress received mail threatening a biological attack and containing a suspicious powder later found to be harmless as law enforcement officials warned on Wednesday that more letters could be on their way.
  • Judge strikes down law mandating sale of contraception
    (Reuters) - A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that Washington state cannot require pharmacists to dispense emergency contraceptives if to do so violates their religious beliefs.
  • Home resales at 1-1/2 year-high, supply falls
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Home resales rose to a 1-1/2-year high in January, pushing the supply of properties on the market to the lowest level in almost seven years in a hopeful sign for the housing sector.
  • Iran defiant as U.N. nuclear talks fail
    VIENNA/TEHRAN (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog ended its latest mission to Iran after talks on Tehran's suspected secret atomic weapons research failed, a setback likely to increase the risk of confrontation with the West.
  • U.S. advisers back experimental obesity pill
    SILVER SPRING, Maryland (Reuters) - Experimental obesity drug Qnexa won the backing of U.S. health advisors on Wednesday, raising hopes for approval of the first prescription weight-loss pill in 13 years.
  • Japan cuts in Iran crude imports could be over 20 percent
    TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is in final talks with Washington on an agreement on cuts in Iranian crude oil imports that could amount to more than 20 percent a year, the Nikkei business daily reported on Thursday, as Tokyo seeks to win waivers from U.S. sanctions.