Meetings between Democratic and Republican leaders at the White House late this week have sparked some optimism: a GOP offer to extend the debt-ceiling deadline, but not end the government shutdown, is reportedly on the table. As the shutdown pushes …

Former Formula 1 test driver Maria de Villota was found dead in her hotel room in Seville, Spain on Friday. A spokeswoman for the Spanish police told media, "We are assuming it was a natural death, but we cannot confirm anything." Officials also said…

In case you forgot, this whole government shutdown initially started with the GOP protesting funding Obamacare. Now, it appears that very protest has actually caused Obamacare to gain popularity. According to a new poll by NBC and the Wall Street Jou…

Looks like the nearly two week-old government shutdown isn't just a drain on American's spirits and wallets: it could also prove hazardous to our health, as evidenced by a recent outbreak of salmonella. On Thursday, the United States Department of Ag…

New details emerging Thursday in the death of Ariel Castro suggest that the convicted kidnapper and rapist may have died from auto-erotic asphyxiation, not suicide. Castro was found hanging from a bed sheet in his prison cell one month into a life se…

Recently unsealed court documents show that two rabbis in New York and New Jersey may have used some decidedly unorthodox techniques to help coerce men into signing divorce papers. Rabbis Mendel Epstein and Martin Wolmark are among a group of four me…

A new study is helping to pinpoint when cities across the globe will see a serious change in weather due to global warming — and those temperature swings may be coming sooner than you thought. The study, published in the journal Nature , tells us tha…

As the government shutdown enters its 10th day, apparently everyone has an opinion on what the incident says about Congress and the Obama administration. Including, um, the Taliban, which has apparently issued a statement expressing their view that t…

As usual, California is on the frontier. On Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed two bills into law that expand access to abortion — the only pro-choice legislation passed in America this year. Assembly Bill 154 addresses the shortage of abortion provi…

U.S. forces had a big victory over the weekend when the captured Abu Anas al Libi, a wanted al Qaeda operative, during a raid in Libya. Libi, who was found by U.S. Army Delta forces, is wanted in connection with two 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in…

If you tweet while watching TV, your 140-character rants are about to have a bigger impact than you probably intended, thanks to Nielsen's brand-new "Twitter TV Ratings" program. Nielsen is a global measurement and information company, which in plain…

It's a day for celebration for airplane manufacturer Airbus, who made a landmark Japanese sale Monday in the Boeing-dominated market. The $9.5 billion order of 31 A350 wide-body jets to Japan Airlines marks Airbus' largest breakthrough in the hard-wo…

There will be no trip this week to Asia for President Obama, who is forgoing the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to deal with issues at home as the government shutdown drags on. After a partial cancellation earlier last week, Obama ni…

Clashes between ruling Egyptian forces and supporters of ousted Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi resumed in several Egyptian cities Friday, as Morsi supporters launched their most ambitious protests in two months to demand the end of milita…

Palestinian farmers got some good news Thursday when they found out their land in the West Bank, seized from them in the 1970s, would finally be returned. The group of Palestinian farmers lost their land in the village of Burka decades ago when the I…

Tropical Storm Karen is making her way towards the Gulf Coast Friday, as furloughed workers are being called back to prepare for what could be the first big storm to hit the U.S. this hurricane season. As everyone waits to see whether or not Tropical…

If you need more proof that the government shutdown is seriously hurting Americans, look no further than Head Start, which has cut programs for 3,200 preschoolers with more closings expected. The lack of government funding has forced the preschool pr…

Good news everyone: reducing the risk of breast, and other, cancers may be as easy as going for a walk. A new study says that walking for seven hours per week can seriously reduce your chances of getting the disease. That's just an hour per day. Wome…

Eight people are dead after a collision between a passenger bus, SUV, and a tractor trailer on Tennessee's I-40. The crash occurred after the bus, carrying a church group of senior citizens from North Carolina, blew a tire and crossed the median, cra…

Tropical Storm Karen is already causing some problems for states along the Gulf Coast Thursday. A hurricane watch is in effect, and there is a "100 percent chance" the storm with be upgraded to a full hurricane by Friday, according to the National Hu…