Fred Thompson (Politician)

ALBANY, New York (Reuters) - A New York State judge on Friday upheld an upstate community's ban on gas drilling, marking the second victory in the space of a week for opponents of the controversial drilling method known as fracking.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala (Reuters) - A federal judge temporarily blocked a part of Alabama's tough new immigration law on Monday that requires residents to show proof of citizenship when registering mobile homes with the state.

Michele Bachmann has said she is disappointed with how NBC delivered an apology over a Jimmy Fallon song flap. Michele Bachmann has said she is disappointed with how NBC delivered an apology over a Jimmy Fallon song flap, the New York Daily News reported. During an appearance last week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, the band played a portion of a 1985 song titled Lying Ass Bitch. The song includes the lyrics, ?She always says she needs you, but you know she really don't care.? Fallon's house band the Roots is led by Ahmir ?Questlove? Thompson, who said that the song was a ?tongue-in-cheek and spur-of-the-moment decision.? Fallon said in a tweet that he was ?so sorry about the intro mess? and Thompson took responsibility for the gaff. ?The show was not aware of it and I feel bad if her feelings were hurt,? Thompson said. ?That was not my intention.? Doug Vaughn, NBC's senior vice president for special programs, also apologized in a letter to the Republican presidential candidate. Bach

Former Penn State coach Paterno dies, family says

Obama pushes colleges to keep tuition under control

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney leads the field vying for the Republican presidential nomination, but fewer than one in four of the party's voters back him as a surging Herman Cain gains ground, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney leads the field vying for the Republican presidential nomination, but fewer than one in four of the party's voters back him as a surging Herman Cain gains ground, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - It was Kenneth Thompson's starring role in the prosecution of New York police accused of beating and sodomizing a Haitian immigrant that put the son of one of the city's first female beat cops on the map in 1997.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The likely entrance of Texas Governor Rick Perry in the 2012 Republican White House race promises to dramatically reshape the field, pushing aside lesser contenders and threatening early leader Mitt Romney.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Lura Lynn Ryan, the wife of jailed former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, has died at age 76 with her husband at her side, officials said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The slow-forming 2012 Republican race for the White House is starting to gain focus, with candidates competing to see who can hammer President Barack Obama the hardest for his economic leadership.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Glenn Beck and cable channel Fox News are ending his daily TV show after falling ratings, a loss of advertisers and months of controversy over inflammatory remarks by the conservative U.S. host.

France's assertive response to deadly unrest in Libya and its embrace of nuclear power amid Japan's atomic crisis drew praise this week from US politicians who eight years ago would likely have sung a very different tune.

A Croatian singer known for his pro-Nazi sympathies has become the centre of new corruption allegations after it emerged he was paid half a million euros not to perform during an electoral campaign.

Judge upholds conviction of ex-Illinois Gov. Ryan, denies his bid to be released from prison. Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan's family, gathered around his cancer-stricken wife Lura Lynn, had high hopes early Tuesday when a federal judge said she would rule on his bid to be released from prison just four days before Christmas.

Appeals court stops inquiry into disputed Texas execution, ruling judge abused his discretion. A Texas appeals court halted an inquiry Tuesday into whether a man convicted of arson was wrongly executed, saying the presiding judge acted improperly by not ruling on a motion for his recusal.

House Roll Call: Bill to extend tax cuts. The 277-148 roll call Friday by which the House passed a bill to avoid a Jan. 1 spike in income taxes, renew jobless benefits and cut Social Security taxes.

House Roll Call: Lifting ban on gays in military. The 250-175 roll call Wednesday by which the House voted to lift the "don't ask, don't tell" policy prohibiting gays from serving openly in the military.

House Roll Call: How they voted on Dream Act for illegal aliens. The 216-198 roll call Wednesday by which the House passed the so-called Dream Act to give hundreds of thousands of foreign-born youngsters brought to the U.S. illegally a shot at legal status.

House Roll Call: How they voted on censure of NY's Rep. Rangel. The 333-79 roll call Thursday by which the House voted to censure Rep. Charles Rangel of New York for ethics and fundraising violations.