Calif. court takes up gay marriage ban
California's highest court agreed Wednesday to hear several legal challenges to the state's new ban on same-sex marriage but refused to allow gay couples to resume marrying before it rules.
Mayor sorry for kids' anti-Obama chant
The mayor of an Idaho town where second- and third-grade students on a school bus chanted "assassinate Obama!" has publicly apologized, saying there's no excuse for such behavior.
Bush set to relax rules protecting species
Animals in danger of becoming extinct could lose the protection of government experts who make sure that dams and other projects don't pose a threat, under a regulation the Bush administration is set to put in place.
New penguin found, 500 years after extinction
Researchers studying a rare and endangered species of penguin have uncovered a previously unknown species that disappeared about 500 years ago.
Wall Street drops to more than 5-year low
Wall Street hit levels not seen since 2003 on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average plunging below the 8,000 mark amid a dour economic outlook from the Fed.
NYT: Daschle poses conflict-of-interest test
The choice of Tom Daschle for secretary of health and human services poses questions about how broadly Barack Obama will apply campaign promises to limit conflicts of interest among appointees.
Dem sources: Clinton to help wife get State job
The former president has offered several concessions to help his spouse become secretary of state, including releasing the names of several major donors to his charitable foundation.
Al-Qaida No. 2 says Obama betrays race
Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader used a racial epithet to insult Barack Obama in a message posted Wednesday, describing the president-elect in demeaning terms that imply he does the bidding of whites.
Teen lives 118 days without a heart
An American teenager survived for nearly four months without a heart, kept alive by a custom-built artificial blood-pumping device, until she was able to have a heart transplant.
Scientists spot hints of dark-matter blast
A balloon-borne instrument soaring high over Antarctica has found potential evidence of a large clump of mysterious dark matter relatively close to our solar system, scientists said Wednesday.
