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A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) reached for the first time a federal appeals court. A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) reached for the first time a federal appeals court on Wednesday, gay weekly Metro Weekly reported. The legal group Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) argued Wednesday in Boston that the Clinton-era law which bans federal agencies from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples is discriminatory. The House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) last year appealed two cases in which U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro declared that DOMA violates the constitutional rights of married gay couples. House Speaker John Boehner instructed BLAG to defend the law in court after President Barack Obama said the Department of Justice (DOJ) would no longer do so. Boehner approved a budget of up to $1.5 million and hired prominent lawyer Paul Clement to represent the H

The US maker of the famous Barbie franchise will release a doll next year that is bald in support of children who have cancer and lose their hair in treatment, a Mattel spokesman said Tuesday.

US President Barack Obama on Monday hit back at his likely Republican election foe Mitt Romney, who questioned whether he shared the notion that America is a uniquely virtuous nation.

Webb Simpson was only 11 when he saw Tiger Woods win the 1997 Masters in record-shattering fashion, sparking a dream that culminates this week when the World No. 10 plays in his first Masters.

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the short-handed Chicago Bulls 92-78 on Sunday, delivering a dominant victory that booked their place in the NBA playoffs.

The husband of the late Congressman Gerry Studds is among the plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The husband of the late Congressman Gerry Studds is among the plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging a law that denies federal benefits to married gay couples. The Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) bars federal agencies from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples. Last July, a federal judge in Massachusetts declared Section 3 of the law unconstitutional in two cases filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and the legal group Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). On Wednesday, the federal appeals court in Boston will hear appeals in both cases. For Dean Hara, who in 2004 married Massachusetts Rep. Gerry Studds, DOMA means he is unable to receive the pension provided to surviving spouses of federal members of Congress. ?Gerry and I spent 16 wonderful years together and I miss him,? Dean said in a GLAD profile.

Cancer deaths in the United States continued to decline over the past decade, said a yearly report on US cancer statistics released Wednesday.

The United States on Thursday extradited a Brazilian man back to his home country for his alleged role in a pair of homicides there, officials in Washington said.

Katharine Hepburn made mean brownies. And Liz Taylor adored chicken with avocado and mushrooms. The gastronomic secrets of stars past are being served up in a new book. And they taste good.

French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi said Friday that it will buy the US company Pluromed and push for widespread adoption of its FDA- and EU-approved cardiovascular surgery aid LeGoo.

The girlfriend of a feared Boston mobster accused in multiple murders pleaded guilty Wednesday to helping him stay on the run for 16 years.

National Hockey League star Sidney Crosby said on Friday he wants more contact and intensity from workouts before testing himself in games after struggling with concussion symptoms.

Mitt Romney's campaign said Wednesday it would take "an act of God" for rivals to win the Republican presidential nomination, but the party is bracing for a rough, divisive fight well past Super Tuesday.

Republicans Wednesday eyed a grueling, divisive battle for the party's 2012 White House candidate after Mitt Romney boosted his pole position but failed to knock out rival Rick Santorum.

Mitt Romney edged out rival Rick Santorum in a nail-biter vote in Ohio as he tightened his grip on the 2012 Republican presidential nomination with a string of Super Tuesday wins.

Mitt Romney assured his supporters he would eventually earn the 2012 Republican nomination, as he savored Super Tuesday victories and savaged Barack Obama's "failed" presidency.

White House hopeful Mitt Romney was Tuesday locked in a nail-biting battle with Rick Santorum in Ohio as he looked to tighten his grasp on the Republican presidential nomination.

O507 GMT: "Republicans are not turning out in large numbers," opined CNN analyst Donna Brazile, a Democratic activist. "I think it this is a weak field." Republican David Gergen, who has advised four US presidents, was not impressed by Romney's victory. "I think psychogically ... he dodged a bullet," Gergen said on CNN.

Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney tore into President Barack Obama on Tuesday as he savored his early "Super Tuesday" victories amid cheering supporters in his home state.

Mitt Romney cast his vote in Massachusetts on the biggest day yet in the 2012 presidential campaign, as he hoped to take a leap toward securing the Republican nomination.