Yahoo! News: Top Stories
Top Stories
Shelling kills 2 Western journalists in Syria (AP)
AP - Syrian gunners pounded an opposition stronghold where the last dispatches from a veteran American-born war correspondent chronicled the suffering of civilians caught in the relentless shelling. An intense morning barrage killed her and a French photojournalist — two of 74 deaths reported Wednesday in Syria.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 6:08 pm
Poll: Obama benefitting from improving economy (AP)
AP - President Barack Obama is reaping political benefits from the country's brighter economic mood. A new poll shows that Republicans and Democrats alike are increasingly saying the nation is heading in the right direction and most independents now approve the way he's addressing the nation's post-recession period.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 6:08 pm
Romney and Santorum seek edge in 20th debate (AP)
AP - Struggling for an edge, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum campaigned Wednesday into the 20th and possibly final debate of the roller-coaster race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 6:08 pm
2nd-degree murder verdict in lacrosse death trial (AP)
AP - Jurors in the trial of a former University of Virginia lacrosse player have found him guilty of second-degree murder in the slaying of his ex-girlfriend.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 6:08 pm
Newark mayor: NYPD Muslim files 'deeply offensive' (AP)
AP - The mayor and police director of New Jersey's largest city said Wednesday the New York Police Department misled their city and never told them it was conducting a widespread spying operation on Newark's Muslim neighborhoods. Had they known, they said, they never would have allowed it.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 6:03 pm
Congress members threatened with biological attack (Reuters)
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.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 5:42 pm
U.S. advisers back experimental obesity pill (Reuters)
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.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 5:38 pm
Stepmom, grandmother charged in Ala. girl's death (AP)
AP - The grandmother and stepmother of a 9-year-old Alabama girl who died after witnesses said she was forced to run for three hours as punishment for lying have been charged with murder and are being held in jail.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 5:34 pm
Teenage girl dies after inhaling helium at party (AP)
AP - Last weekend, 14-year-old Ashley Long told her parents she was going to a slumber party. But instead of spending the night watching videos and eating popcorn two blocks away, she piled into a car with a bunch of her friends and rode to a condo in Medford, Ore., where police say the big sister of one of her friends was throwing a party with booze and marijuana.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 5:30 pm
Study: Colonoscopy cuts colon cancer death risk (AP)
AP - Millions of people have endured a colonoscopy, believing the dreaded exam may help keep them from dying of colon cancer. For the first time, a major study offers clear evidence that it does.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 5:18 pm
Man's childhood comic collection fetches $3.5M (AP)
AP - The bulk of a man's childhood comic book collection that included many of the most prized issues ever published sold at auction Wednesday for about $3.5 million.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 5:18 pm
Obama seeks corporate tax rate cut, loophole limit (AP)
AP - President Barack Obama rolled out a corporate tax overhaul plan Wednesday that lowers rates but also eliminates loopholes and subsidies cherished by the business world. A long-shot for action in an election year, the plan nevertheless stamps Obama's imprint on one of the most high-profile issues of the presidential campaign.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 5:01 pm
Judge strikes down law mandating sale of contraception (Reuters)
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.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 4:13 pm
Home resales at 1-1/2 year-high, supply falls (Reuters)
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.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 3:27 pm
Obama urges corporate tax cut, closing loopholes (Reuters)
Reuters - President Barack Obama made an opening offer in what could be a long negotiation with corporate America on Wednesday, putting forward his first clear plan to cut the corporate tax rate.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 3:00 pm
Iran defiant as U.N. nuclear talks fail (Reuters)
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.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 2:25 pm
Fitch downgrades Greece on debt swap plan (Reuters)
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.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 8:04 am
Could Rick Santorum super PAC do more harm than good? (The Christian Science Monitor)
The Christian Science Monitor - One point being made repeatedly in the media of late is that super PACs are changing the usual dynamics of the presidential nominating process by allowing underdog Republican candidates to remain in the race.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 7:38 am
Stolen Valor Act at Supreme Court: Is lying about being a hero a right? (The Christian Science Monitor)
The Christian Science Monitor - When Xavier Alvarez stood up and introduced himself at a local water district meeting in July 2007, he had no idea he was about to commit a federal crime.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 7:28 am
U.S., French journalists killed in Syria (Reuters)
Reuters - American correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed in the besieged Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday when rockets fired by government forces hit the house they were staying in, opposition activists and witnesses said.
Posted on 22 February 2012 | 6:26 am