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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democratic healthcare negotiators said they agreed on Tuesday to replace a government-run insurance option with a scaled-back non-profit plan and would seek cost estimates on the deal. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration plans to announce on Wednesday that it intends to extend the life of the $700 billion financial bailout fund until next October, administration officials said on Tuesday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government's $700 billion bailout program helped stabilize the financial system, but has done little to boost lending or stave off millions of home foreclosures, a government watchdog group said on Wednesday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday offered modest steps to spur jobs and defended his push to get the U.S. economy growing, amid deep public dismay over double-digit unemployment that has eroded his popularity. Full Story »

KABUL (Reuters) - Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visited U.S. commanders in Afghanistan on Wednesday, promising that President Barack Obama's surge of extra forces would give them what they need for success against the Taliban. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Transportation Security Administration accidentally posted a document online containing secrets related to airport passenger screening practices, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday. Full Story »

BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley on Tuesday won the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death Senator Edward Kennedy, who died in August of brain cancer. Full Story »

LONDON (Reuters) - More than 94 percent of the world's people are not protected by laws against smoking, leaving them exposed to the biggest cause of preventable death, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. Full Story »

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A grand jury in New York is hearing evidence against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-professed mastermind of the September 11 attacks in 2001, and four accused accomplices, NBC News reported Tuesday. Full Story »

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - China led calls by developing nations for deeper emissions cuts from the United States, Japan and Europe at U.N. climate talks on Tuesday, as a study showed that this decade will be the warmest on record. Full Story »