Blog Posts by Joel Roberts, Yahoo! News

On the second day of his Middle East trip, President Barack Obama heads to the West Bank for meetings with Palestinian leaders. Obama will hold a working lunch with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, followed by a news conference. Obama has said he is not bringing any new initiatives to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and expectations for a breakthrough are low.

Earlier Thursday, in a stark reminder of the region's volatility, militants fired two rockets into southern Israel from Gaza. Obama was miles away in Jerusalem at the time. He is not planning to visit Gaza during his trip.

Also on Obama's agenda today is a visit to the Israel Museum to view the Dead Sea Scrolls and a technology exposition. Later, after returning from the West Bank, the president will deliver a speech at the Jerusalem International Convention Center and attend a state dinner at President Shimon Peres's residence, where he will become the first sitting U.S. president to receive the Israeli

Sen. Rob Portman (Charles Dharapak/AP)
A prominent conservative senator said on Thursday that he now supports gay marriage.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told reporters from the Columbus Dispatch and other Ohio newspapers that his change of heart on the hot-button issue came two years after his son, Will, told him and his wife that he is gay.

"It allowed me to think of this issue from a new perspective, and that's of a Dad who loves his son a lot and wants him to have the same opportunities that his brother and sister would have—to have a relationship like Jane and I have had for over 26 years," Portman said.

In an interview with CNN, Portman said his son, then a freshman at Yale University, told him "that he was gay, and that it was not a choice, and that it's just part of who he is, and that he'd been that way for as long as he could remember."

The dramatic announcement comes just a week before the U.S. Supreme Court is to hear oral arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex

Immigration remains at the top of the Washington agenda Tuesday, as President Obama travels to Las Vegas to rally public support for his proposals for reforming the nation's immigration system.

The president will deliver remarks in a campaign-style event this afternoon at Del Sol High School.

White House officials said Obama would largely endorse an immigration blueprint announced Monday by a bipartisan group of senators, though the president's plan was expected to be more progressive and include a faster pathway to citizenship for millions of people already in the U.S. illegally.

Also Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee meets to consider Obama's nomination of John Kerry to be secretary of state. Kerry is expected to win overwhelming approval from the panel, which he currently chairs.

Meanwhile, the outgoing secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, hosts a "Global Townterview," in which she will take questions from young people around the world via satellite, Twitter, Facebook,

Washington returns to work Monday for the first time since Friday's school shooting in Connecticut and a major new issue — or, more accurately,  an old one long deemed too politically hot to touch — may be on the agenda.

While President Obama didn't directly address gun control in his emotional speech Sunday night at a vigil in Newtown, Conn., he did vow to wield "whatever power this office holds" to prevent similar tragedies, a suggestion that his administration might be ready to tackle the politically treacherous topic.

Democratic lawmakers, as well as independent Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, went farther, calling for a ban on military-style assault weapons and the establishment of a national commission on mass shootings.

"I think we could be at a tipping point ... a tipping point where we might actually get something done," said New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer on CBS News' "Face the Nation."

Expect the gun-control rhetoric to heat up in the days and weeks to come; whether

The good news on Friday morning is that President Obama and House Speaker Boehner met for 50 minutes at the White House last night in an effort to jump-start their stalled negotiations on the fast-approaching "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and spending cuts.

The bad news is their discussions, though characterized by both sides as "frank," reportedly failed to yield any signs of progress. As Yahoo! News White House correspondent Olivier Knox points out, a "frank" discussion is diplomatic-speak for "an argument."

Boehner plans to return to his home state of Ohio for the weekend and no further talks with the president are scheduled at this point.

In non-fiscal cliff news, President Obama will sign into law a Russian trade and human rights bill Friday morning that opens new export opportunities for U.S. firms. A section of the bill that would punish Russian officials who commit alleged human rights violations has angered Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Later, President Obama meets privately

There's some reason Friday for optimism in the ongoing "fiscal cliff" negotiations — at least, optimism that the two sides will actually sit down and negotiate about the potentially devastating tax increases and spending cuts that will automatically take effect in January if no deal is reached.

While no formal discussions have been scheduled, both the White House and congressional Republicans hinted Thursday that they have resumed low-level private talks aimed at breaking the impasse. Spokesmen for President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner both suggested, in nearly identical words, that the "lines of communication were open."

A day after President Obama visited with a middle-class family in northern Virginia to highlight the impact of "going over the cliff," Vice President Joe Biden plans a similar meeting Friday with an as yet undisclosed group of middle-class Americans.

In non-fiscal cliff news, President Obama will sign the Child Protection Act, aimed at protecting victims of

Washington moves another day closer to the "fiscal cliff" with no resolution in sight.

No face-to-face meetings between the White House and Republican leaders are scheduled for today to work on a deal to avert the potentially devastating spending cuts and tax increases that will take effect in January if Congress fails to act.

President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner did speak by telephone on Wednesday, raising hopes that negotiations could begin again soon.

On Thursday, the president will meet with a middle-class family in a northern Virginia suburb to highlight the importance of resolving the fiscal cliff dispute.

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The president's chief negotiator, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, indicated Wednesday that the administration was sticking to its guns and was "absolutely" prepared to go "over the cliff" if Republicans won't accept tax hikes on

Romney and Obama spar at the second presidential debate. (AP/Shannon Stapleton)Four major national polls out Sunday show that just two days before the election, the presidential race is a virtual tie.

The final CNN/ORC International survey has the race dead even, with 49 percent backing President Barack Obama and 49 percent supporting Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

A new Politico/George Washington University Battleground tracking poll also shows the contest deadlocked at 48 percent.

Two other surveys show Obama with a narrow 1-point edge: The final NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows Obama leading Romney, 48-47 percent; while the latest ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll has the president ahead, 49-48 percent.

A fifth poll, from the Pew Research Center, gives Obama a 3-point advantage, 50-47 percent.