Unanimous ruling: Iowa marriage no longer limited to one man, one woman  —  REGISTER STAFF REPORTS  —  The Iowa Supreme Court this morning unanimously upheld gays' right to marry.  —  “The Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause …

Inside Obama's bank CEOs meeting  —  The bankers struggled to make themselves clear to the president of the United States.  —  Arrayed around a long mahogany table in the White House state dining room last week, the CEOs of the most powerful financial institutions in the world offered several explanations …

Shooting at American Civic Association  —  Some are released from building  —  At least four people were shot and dozens of others were being held hostage by a gunman at the American Civic Center in Binghamton.  —  At least five people have been taken to Wilson Regional Medical Center in Johnson City …

Question that flummoxed great orator  —  Barack Obama, the World's Greatest Orator (™all news organisations), didn't exactly cover himself in glory when the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson asked him a question about who was to blame for the financial crisis.

Ted Stevens should run against Palin, Alaska Republican says  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Now that the corruption case against former Sen. Ted Stevens has been dropped, Alaska Rep. Don Young wants Stevens to run for governor — a move that would set up a Republican primary between the veteran lawmaker …

Michelle's fashion face-off with Carla  —  It was the moment the fashion world was waiting for: stylish Michelle Obama and chic Carla Bruni-Sarkozy came face-to-face in Strasbourg.  Who came out on top?  —  Last year, we avidly followed the wardrobe manoeuvres of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

Cap and Tax Collapse  —  Congress balks at one more bad Obama idea.  —  Please pass Al Gore a Valium — and better make it a double — because his cap-and-trade dreams just took a dive in the U.S. Senate.  In a vote late Wednesday, no fewer than 26 Democrats joined all 41 Republicans …

Obama's Ultimate Agenda  —  Five minutes of explanation to James Madison, and he'll have a pretty good idea what a motorcar is (basically a steamboat on wheels; the internal combustion engine might take a few minutes more).  Then try to explain to Madison how the Constitution he fathered allows …

THE STRANGE CASE OF EVAN BAYH.  —  Ben Nelson genuinely is a conservative Democrat.  The Poole-Rosenthal rankings — which most consider the leading measure of a congressman's relative ideology — have, for years, ranked Nelson as the most conservative member of the Congress.  Call him Democrat #1.

Obama offers tough love to Europe  —  STRASBOURG, France — President Barack Obama Friday offered a gentle rebuke to star-struck Europeans that it's time for them to stop blaming the United States for all the world's ills - especially now that they've got an American president they can embrace.

Obama's $163,000 Tax Bomb  —  Families well below the president's ‘no-tax’ threshold will get a six-figure bill.  —  The House and Senate are preparing to pass President Barack Obama's radical budget blueprint, with only minor modifications, by using (abusing would be more accurate) the budget “reconciliation” process.

No Good News for Workers  —  Employers Continue to Shed Jobs at a Record Pace  —  Cheryl Fellows of Germantown, MD, searches for jobs on a computer at the Germantown Public Library.  Employers shed 663,000 jobs in March—the third largest one-month fall in employment since 1949.

Levi Johnston Breaks His Silence  —  For the first time, Levi Johnston, the former fiancé of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol, breaks his silence and sits down exclusively with the “Tyra Show.”  —  Levi talks about his relationship with Bristol, what it was like to be thrust …

Little Change in Negative Images of Bush and Cheney  —  Favorable ratings for both are at or near their all-time lows  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Neither George W. Bush's deliberate silence about the Obama administration nor Dick Cheney's ready criticism of it appear to have altered U.S. public perceptions about either man.

Russia's Medvedev hails ‘comrade’ Obama  —  LONDON (AFP) - - Russia's Dmitry Medvedev hailed Barack Obama as “my new comrade” Thursday after their first face-to-face talks, saying the US president “can listen” — even if little progress was made on substance.