The Starting Point is a snapshot of the news stories that occurred overnight. Look for updates throughout the day on Yahoo! News and in the news box on Yahoo.com. Full Story »

The Starting Point is a snapshot of the news stories that occurred overnight. Look for updates throughout the day on Yahoo! News and in the news box on Yahoo.com. Full Story »

Next week will mark “Sesame Street”'s 40th year on the air, and while many are celebrating the iconic PBS show that's become what the New York Times recently labeled "messianic," some conservatives are crying foul over the re-airing of a sketch that jabs fun at the right-leaning Fox News network. Full Story »

The Starting Point is a snapshot of the news stories that occurred overnight. Look for updates throughout the day on Yahoo! News and in the news box on Yahoo.com. Full Story »

Much was made, some thought too much, about how the outcome of Tuesday's state races would serve as a referendum on President Obama one year after his historic election victory. Full Story »

Washington, DC — We have the best medical professionals in the world, but fewer and fewer Americans can afford to pay for the care they can provide. The trends indicate that problem will get much worse. Full Story »

The Starting Point is a snapshot of the news stories that occurred overnight. Look for updates throughout the day on Yahoo! News and in the news box on Yahoo.com. Full Story »

Republican Rep. Thaddeus G. McCotter is Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee and serves the 11th congressional district of Southeast Michigan. He is currently serving his fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Full Story »

The Starting Point is a snapshot of the news stories that occurred overnight. Look for updates throughout the day on Yahoo! News and in the news box on Yahoo.com. Full Story »

Nearly 100 years later, the case and trial of Leo Frank is making headlines again. Doubts about the 1913 murder of Atlanta teen Mary Phagan and accused suspect Frank — said to be U.S. history’s only Jewish lynching victim — have long fueled conspiracy theories. Full Story »

Earlier in the month, shortly after he burst onto the political scene by presenting his "Die Quickly" interpretation of the Republican health care plan on the floor of the House, we asked, "Is Alan Grayson the Democrats' Joe Wilson?" Full Story »

In June of 2002, then-14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her family's home in Salt Lake City, Utah. In March of 2003 she was found alive, 18 miles away, with presumed kidnappers Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Ileen Barzee. She was returned to her family. In the years that followed, Smart refused to discuss the specifics of her abduction with the press, even though her ordeal captivated the nation. However, in recent weeks she has begun to open up publicly, notably at a women's conference, "Overcoming the Unimaginable," sponsored by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Full Story »

The brothers of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Ahmed -- reported Wednesday to be on the CIA payroll -- and Mahmoud, talk exclusively with The Daily Beast's Gerald Posner. They fiercely deny the CIA claim and blame it on enemies of the Afghan regime and The New York Times. Full Story »

In a presidential campaign, what do you make of a candidate that stands quietly listening to one of his advisors micromanage the way he tells the room to "Fire it up?" Full Story »

On Monday, a French court convicted the Church of Scientology on fraud charges stemming from complaints by two women. The judge in the case levied massive fines as punishment, fueling a long-running battle between Scientology and France, which considers the group a "sect" rather than a religion. The legal ruling is the latest in a string of recent setbacks for the star-studded organization. Here's a recap of what's taken place recently: Full Story »

George P. Bush, or "P" as he's known to some, is thought to be the biggest hope for a fourth generation of Bush family political leaders, with some suggesting that he might run for statewide office in Texas at some point in the next four to eight years. But, as The Daily Beast points out today, any future George P. Bush political ambitions will have to be put on hold as his Navy Reserve unit is set to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan in the coming weeks. Full Story »

This week the White House released the much-anticipated official Obama family photo on its Flickr page. The portrait was taken in the Green Room of the White House on September 1 by famed Vanity Fair photographer Annie Leibovitz, notable for her decades of work capturing the images of rock stars and Hollywood's elite as well as for her multimillion-dollar fortune's recent collapse. The seated and beaming first family looks happy and relaxed, with Sasha and Malia Obama each draping an arm over mom and dad. (See the first family's Flickr photostream.) Full Story »

Embattled health insurance companies are taking a page from Goldlilocks. Last week, a 4-month-old child was denied insurance for being too heavy (the company has since changed its mind). Now the Web is buzzing about a toddler who was denied coverage for being too small. Full Story »