WHITE HOUSE

Syrian President Bashar Assad ordered a referendum for later this month on a new constitution that would allow political parties other than his ruling Baath Party as part of promised reforms, The Associated Press said.

Carney told reporters that the president discussed Lin’s dramatic game-winning shot against the Raptors aboard the Marine One aircraft.

President Obama is expected to appoint a replacement soon for out-going World Bank President Robert Zoellick, who is leaving after the administration decided not to reappoint him to a second five-year term.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Wednesday he plans to step down when his term ends on June 30, raising questions whether the United States will insist on holding on to a job that has always gone to an American.

U.S. lawmakers reached a tentative deal on Tuesday on legislation aimed at boosting the economy by extending a payroll tax cut for 160 million workers through this year and continuing long-term jobless benefits, congressional aides said.

U.S. lawmakers were close to a deal Tuesday on legislation that would boost the economy in the short term by extending a payroll tax cut for 160 million workers through this year and continue long-term jobless benefits, congressional aides said.

Bill Clinton's friends and colleagues wills speak up for the first time about their experiences in the White House during the Monica Lewinsky affair in a highly anticipated four-hour documentary about the former U.S President.

Jinping Xi, slated to become China's next leader by 2013, touched down at Andrews Air Force base this morning to begin a busy five-day visit which included meetings with President Obama and other top administration officials at the White House.

President Barack Obama was characteristically reticent on the issue of gay marriage.

Xi is expected to succeed Hu Jintao as both Chinese President and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The 58-year-old communist leader's rise to power had uncertain beginnings, but ultimately followed the formulaic path of political grooming and steady ladder-climbing known to produce China's recent and future leaders. Here are nine things to know about how he rose to power:

President Barack Obama urged Americans to pressure their lawmakers in Washington to pass a payroll tax cut extension.

President Barack Obama on Monday proposed more aggressive deficit reductions through savings from Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs than the White House put forward just five months ago.

President Barack Obama proposed a $770 million aid package Monday for Arab countries undergoing democratic revolutions.

Maine's GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe announced their support of Obama's revised contraception mandate just as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced new legislation attacking the birth control rule.

Rick Santorum may want to discuss economic policy, but the candidate is spending his time talking about social issues as his campaign gets a new surge of support.

Lower value of the United States government's stock in General Motors Co. and American International Group will dump $21 billion more on the 2013 budget President Barack Obama released on Monday.

A top military official is seeking more freedom for the Special Operations forces that are playing an increasingly prominent role in America's military strategy, according to The New York Times.

President Barack Obama will make no further changes to the rule requiring health insurance plans to provide women with coverage for contraception, although U.S. Catholic bishops still object, his chief of staff said Sunday.

The fiscal 2013 budget President Barack Obama will present to Congress on Monday will include hundreds of billions in infrastructure spending and a projected deficit of $901 billion, or about 5.5 percent of the nation's gross domestic product.

President Barack Obama, in an abrupt policy shift aimed at quelling an election-year firestorm, announced on Friday that religious employers would not be required to offer free birth control to workers and that the onus would instead be put on insurers.

President Barack Obama, announcing new rules on birth control coverage, said religious groups had expressed genuine concerns about his original plan but accused his opponents of using the issue as a political football in an election year.