Top Stories - U.S. News & World Report

Women were the beneficiaries of the first cancer vaccine--Gardasil, approved in 2006 to prevent cervical cancer. Several weeks ago, the same drug was made available to young males to prevent genital warts. And now it looks as if the first vaccine approved to fight cancer, by enhancing the body's immune response to cancer cells, will benefit males. Last month the Food and Drug Administration committed to deciding the fate of the prostate cancer vaccine Provenge by May 1, 2010. ... Full Story »

Women's health issues continue to be at the forefront of the political debate as the health reform bill gets bandied about in the Senate. On Thursday, the Senate approved the addition of a women's preventive care amendment "to ensure patients receive doctor recommendations for preventive health services, including mammograms and cervical cancer screening, without interference from government or insurance company bureaucrats." Full Story »

Teenage brains and behavior are worth $1 million--at least to a researcher who has been trying to figure out why teenagers do such dumb things, particularly when they're hanging out together. Full Story »

The word on Capitol Hill is that it is going to be a long December for lawmakers. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced that the House may well be in session until Christmas Eve. That hasn't come close to happening since 1982, when Congress stuck around until December 23 to wrestle with highway funding. Full Story »

In a sign that employers are beginning to dip their toes into the hiring waters, a rising number of temp jobs helped shrink November's total job losses to 11,000, a figure small enough for officials to consider employment numbers essentially unchanged for the month. The unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage point to 10 percent. The data were far better than economists' forecasts of 125,000 jobs lost and an unchanged unemployment rate. Full Story »

With interest rates hovering near zero and unlikely to change soon, finding attractive investment yields is tough. But stocks have been surging, and many investors have locked on to those with appealing dividends. Getting a nice yield can combine income with upside market potential. Full Story »

Here's something odd: Consumer spending is drifting upward, raising hopes for an economic recovery. Yet the unemployment rate is spiking like a scary fever, with jobs more scarce than at any time since the 1930s. Full Story »

It's one of the most explosive decisions of the Obama administration so far--prosecuting Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other suspected 9/11 terrorists in a civilian court in New York instead of a military tribunal. And it's a risky move both substantively and in political terms. Full Story »

With the number of doctor visits for H1N1 continuing to drop sharply, it looks like it's safe to say that the swine flu pandemic has peaked for now, at least in the United States. That's great news for worrywart parents like me, because it means our children are less likely to fall ill. It also increases the odds that people who really need H1N1 vaccine--pregnant women and kids with asthma and other chronic health problems--can get it. That's still important, because children are still getting sick and dying, and there may well be a new spike of H1N1 cases in the new year. Full Story »

I love to read advice columnists. It always cracks me up when someone writes in about her "boyfriend of two weeks." Honey, two weeks is not a boyfriend, no matter how much he declares his undying love to you. The fact that you are writing an advice columnist about this fledgling relationship indicates that you should get out now. You don't owe anything to this person, and if he's causing you that much angst, it will only get worse. Full Story »