Obama mandate on birth control coverage stirs controversy  —  WASHINGTON - Congressional leaders and Republican presidential candidates joined Catholic religious groups on Wednesday in denouncing the Obama administration's mandate requiring health insurers to offer birth control coverage, but the White House stood its ground.

States Negotiate $26 Billion Agreement for Homeowners  —  After months of painstaking talks, government authorities and five of the nation's biggest banks have agreed to a $26 billion settlement that could provide relief to nearly two million current and former American homeowners harmed …

Mitt Romney's message from GOP: Step it up  —  Mitt Romney's poor performance Tuesday is prompting congressional Republicans to go public with a bracing message to the front-runner: time to step it up, Mitt.  —  A day after Romney was convincingly defeated by Rick Santorum in non-binding contests …

Eye doctor warns of dangers of political protest on gay marriage  —  It's been called the “most fabulous form of protest,” but according to one medical expert, the potential dangers of “glitter bombing” are far from marvelous.  —  In an increasingly popular form of protest, activists are throwing glitter on unsuspecting targets.

The political transformation of Barack Obama  —  There are two indisputable facts about politics.  —  The first is that every modern president in the fourth year of his presidency resorts to the cheap political stunts, broken promises and truth-fudging it takes to win reelection in what has been and will be a 50-50 nation.

Obama: 10 states to receive No Child Left Behind waivers  —  The Obama administration will free 10 states from the requirements of No Child Left Behind, responding to complaints from teachers and school administrators across the country that the nation's main education law is outdated and punitive.

Santorum: Obama Has Put America On ‘The Path’ Of Executing Religious People By Decapitation  —  Rick Santorum continued to rail against President Obama's so-called war against religion during a town hall in Plano, Texas Wednesday night.  The former Pennsylvania senator …

Aide injured in Giffords shooting will run to replace her in House  —  Ron Barber, an aide to former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) who was wounded in the shooting spree that also injured Giffords, will run to replace her in the House.  —  Barber announced Thursday he would run …

Santorum takes on ‘environmental terror’  —  Oklahoma City (CNN) - Speaking in one of the top energy-producing states in the country, Rick Santorum tailored his stump speech here on Thursday to appeal to a raucous crowd of domestic energy-loving Okies.  —  Reaffirming his support …

First Thoughts: Romney retools his message  —  Romney retools his message — with his biography and even his policy... GOPers and conservatives tell Romney to step it up... Dems break ranks on the contraception issue... Yet polling (for now) shows the issue isn't as controversial …

States line up to challenge stringent Section 5 voting rights provision  —  Conservative activists and Republican attorneys general have launched a series of lawsuits meant to challenge the most muscular provision of the Voting Rights Act 0f 1965 before a Supreme Court that has signaled it is suspicious of its constitutionality.

A Fistful of Rebates  —  It's halftime.  —  Both teams are in their locker rooms discussing what they can do to win this game in the second half.  Diagramming plays.  Texting their agents and German supermodel wives.  Reviewing Belichick's aerial spy photos.  —  It's halftime in America, too.

Israel teams with terror group to kill Iran's nuclear scientists, U.S. officials tell NBC News  —  A car that was bombed by two assailants on a motorcycle in Tehran on Jan. 11, killing Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahamdi Roshan, is removed by a mobile crane.

Sure, Mr. President, if You Really Want Me To  —  ‘Once Upon a Secret’: Mimi Alford on Her Affair With Kennedy  —  The author of “Once Upon a Secret,” Mimi Alford, had an affair with President John F. Kennedy before she was old enough to vote.  Having kept this story under wraps for almost 50 years …