The United States and Syria found a lot of "common ground" on which to cooperate in the Middle East, the State Department's top Middle East official said after talks in Damascus. But envoy Jeffrey Feltman on Saturday warned to "keep expectations in check" as Washington and Damascus re-engage after several years of strained relations. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dispatched Feltman, the assistant secretary of state, and Daniel Shapiro, the top Mideast official at the National Security Council, ...

President Obama on Thursday called for a comprehensive overhaul of the U.S. health care system, warning that soaring medical costs present "one of the greatest threats not just to the well-being of our families ... but to the very foundation of our economy." Obama made his remarks while addressing a group of lawmakers, doctors, hospital officials and advocates at a White House summit on health care reform -- one of the president's top domestic priorities. In a surprising and emotional ...

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking Wednesday to a joint meeting of Congress, highlighted the many bonds between his country and the U.S. and offered a hopeful vision that the world's problems can be overcome. "Working together, there is no challenge to which we are not equal, no obstacle that we cannot overcome, no aspiration so high that it cannot be achieved," Brown said in a speech punctuated by frequent standing ovations on both sides of the aisle. Brown hit ...

It's been a year since Mitt Romney dropped out of the Republican presidential race, but he remains an influential conservative voice — particularly on economic issues. The former Massachusetts governor and star business consultant earned ovations at a House Republican retreat in January and recently signed on to headline a major Senate GOP dinner in April. He spoke with TIME about Obama's Oval Office debut, what's wrong with the economic-stimulus bill and what his own future may hold. ...

Heavy snow -- close to a foot in some cities -- blanketed much of the Eastern Seaboard on Monday and spelled a nightmare for morning commuters battling strong winds and freezing rain. The heaviest snow, up to 15 inches, was forecast for the heavily populated Interstate 95 corridor between Boston, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island, northeast Connecticut and north into the Merrimack Valley in northeast Massachusetts, the National Weather Service said. In Boston, two women, one of them pregnant, died ...

A chairlift cable broke at a ski resort in southern Spain on Monday, injuring 17 skiers, CNN partner station CNN+ reported. Monday's commuters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York; and Boston, Massachusetts, could face a nightmare with blowing and drifting snow, freezing temperatures, gusty winds and periods of sleet and freezing rain. The Northeast is expected to receive 5 to 15 inches of snow, forecasters said. In Boston, two women, one of whom was pregnant, died after their car smashed ...

Susan Fradin has nightmares about Cheerios. Specifically, the Honey Nut variety. Her son Noah is allergic to peanuts and almonds, and her nighttime torment began during his first trip to sleepaway camp, when he was 9. Fradin, a former publicist in Los Angeles, worried that her son would eat cereal he shouldn't and go into anaphylactic shock. "I woke up in the middle of the night thinking, What if he eats Honey Nut Cheerios thinking they are regular Cheerios?" she ...

Four people in two states have been arrested as part of an investigation into the Final Exit Network, an organization that police believe helped a Georgia man end his life in June, authorities said Thursday. Black, a 55-year-old former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, isn't the only person who holds such firm beliefs, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which today released its annual hate group report. The center's report, "The Year in Hate," found the number of ...

Don Black says he despises Barack Obama. And he says he believes illegal aliens undermine the economic fabric of our country. Black, a 55-year-old former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, isn't the only person who holds such firm beliefs, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which today released its annual hate group report. The center's report, "The Year in Hate," found the number of hate groups grew by 54 percent since 2000. The study identified 926 hate groups ...

Low-fat, low-carb, high-protein — there's a diet plan of every flavor. And if you're one of the millions of Americans who struggle with weight, you've probably tried them all, likely with little success. That wouldn't surprise Dr. Frank Sacks, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and lead author of a new study published in the February 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, whose findings confirm what a growing body of weight-loss evidence has already ...